Women With Drive Foundation (WWDF) provides a car to women in transition in exchange for their participation in an assessment that identifies their particular barriers to independence. Once identified, a two-year plan is established by our participants in conjunction with a WWDF program officer that is designed to build their skill sets so that they may become fully independent. Poverty rates are highest for families headed by single women. According to the University of Michigan’s Center for the Education of Women, women comprise the bulk of those in poverty: 56% of Americans over 18 who live in poverty are women. Further, according to U of M’s National Center on Poverty, “Poverty rates are highest for families headed by single women, particularly if they are black or Hispanic. In 2004, 28.4 percent of households headed by single women were poor, while 13.5 percent of households headed by single men and 5.5 percent of married-couple households lived in poverty.” (Source: Center for the Education of Women). Further, in establishing the link between [lack of] transportation and poverty, the Surface Transportation Policy Project cites numerous factors suggesting that inadequate transportation hinders welfare recipients’ ability to seek (and keep) employment. Crucial to the WWDF model is tapping existing resources within our communities, so that we build upon the successful models other nonprofit organizations already have in place. This feature helps eliminate redundancies, increase efficiencies and helps all of us help more people with the resources we already have. This is good news for our investors and stakeholders, because we are using their dollars wisely in the service of others. This systemic approach targets the root cause of dependence for women, enabling them to not only elevate their own productivity and prosperity, but also provide an example to their children. Having this level of independence has a positive effect on their income, the economic vitality of their communities and the lives they touch.