At 16 years old, most teens are spending their time hanging out with friends, cruising around in someone’s “new” car, or living for Friday night lights and football games.
For 16-year-old Maiya James, things are a little different. Her free-time isn’t so free, and her mind isn’t completely focused on where she’ll be applying to college.
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Maiya’s sister Mariah is severely disabled and needs 24-hour nursing care. Her mother, Miss Catherine, struggles every day to make ends meet while also getting Mariah to her doctor appointments.
Their life is a constant struggle. You can imagine their stress when the family van broke down, and Maiya’s mother lost her only mode of transportation. She couldn’t get her girls to where they needed to go, and she couldn’t get to work to earn money that would cover the cost to repair it.
Desperate to help her family, Maiya began searching the Internet for resources. After an extensive Google search, she came across Dani’s Autos, a local family-owned car dealership who she believed might at least hear her out.
With an email to the owner, Maiya shared her family’s story.
The owners, Joe and Dani Levi, were blown away by what they read in the email, and immediately felt compelled to help.
Joe explains that what was special about the email was, “It wasn’t just someone asking for help, there was a story behind it.” He continues, “I could relate to the story…I saw the struggles that the family went through, and it made me feel like it was something I wanted to be a part of.”
And so it began. The team at Dani’s responded to Maiya’s email, then soon after, they showed up to the family’s home.
Miss Catherine was taken completely by surprise. The teen knew that the team from Dani’s was coming to repair her mother’s van, but she never expected what they did next.