ADRIAN - Jennifer Robb took the keys to a 1988 Chevy Celebrity this week, confident that her days of relying on others was coming to an end.

The 23-year-old single mother of two said she would have continued making it to work even if Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Michigan had not given her a car for free.

But she admitted she was pretty excited to have a car, thanks to the agency's new Workers On Wheels program. “I have two kids and a full-time job,” said Ms. Robb, who lives in Hudson and had been borrowing her sister's car to drive to her job in Adrian, about 20 miles away. “It's hard to depend on other people. This just makes it a whole lot easier.”

Workers On Wheels is a nationwide program offered by several Goodwill agencies across the nation. But locally, people needing financial help to buy a car were forced to look somewhere else.

That changed recently when Goodwill of Southeastern Michigan began the vehicle donation program in Lenawee County.

Now, officials hope to expand the program to Monroe County.

Executive Director Bev Lyell said the goal of the program is to help low-income residents become self-sufficient by providing them with reliable transportation to help them get or keep a job. Only residents who have demonstrated a willingness to elevate themselves off welfare by completing job-training opportunities will be considered for the vehicles.

“They have to show that they are willing and want to better themselves,” Ms. Lyell said. “They have to show that they have worked very hard and the last barrier to eliminate is transportation to get or keep a job.”

Workers On Wheels is available through four of the state's 10 Goodwill regions. Others are considering it, Ms. Lyell said.

The initiative would help phase out other more costly transportation programs that provide rides for people to get to work but often nothing more. To help the program get off the ground in Adrian, the agency has hooked up with several community partners, including the Family Independence Agency, which provided $50,000.

The state has also pledged support to the program, offering Goodwill up to $1,200 per vehicle to ensure that it is road worthy and safe. And community partners have assisted by offering recipients affordable insurance.

“Our goal is to place 20 cars by the end of September,” Ms. Lyell said, adding that the agency has accepted five donated cars but not all have been matched up with a recipient.

Although vehicle donations are offered through other agencies, Goodwill said its program is different in that cars are given based on need and that recipients do not have to pay for them. It's a program that Goodwill Industries of Northwest Ohio has slated to look at within the next few years, president Bob Huber said.

The agency's Toledo-area chapter has offered cars to individuals at a nominal fee, Mr. Huber said, but only when a car in good condition is donated. The agency has yet to seek vehicle donations.

But the program was added to the agency's long-range plan. And as the agency continues to move into more rural counties, a vehicle program will likely become more important, he said.

“A lot of people we work with in Toledo get around on TARTA, but this program could be another step,” Mr. Huber said. “We have in our plan to move into the surrounding counties more fully in the next few years. As we do that, it would probably be more to our advantage and to the consumers advantage.”

First Published April 23, 2003, 11:48 a.m.