20 for 20 Recipient | Brittaney Nelson

Ms. Brittaney Nelson is thrilled to be one of the recipients for our upcoming “20 for 20” event presented by Heritage | MileOne Autogroup! Ms. Nelson currently resides in beautiful Assateague, Maryland where she is living with family and raising her 20-month-old twins, Tatum and Blair.

Yes, you read that correctly. Ms. Nelson has not one, but two active and wonderful children. “I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when the doctor told I was having twins,” she says. “I thought, two babies isn’t too bad, and then they got here and I was like OH!’”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Nelson took her children to local gym classes where they were able to socialize with other children and work on fine motor skills through play. Now, the family enjoys listening to music, playing basketball and soccer, and baking chocolate chip cookies. The twins sometimes get a little bit of eggshell in the dough, but they’re great sous-chefs none the less.

In 2018, Ms. Nelson worked as the Front Office Supervisor for a hotel but was let go at 8 months pregnant. Between having children and job hunting in a difficult market, it took roughly a year for her to find employment again at Robin Hood International where she put her skills to work in the legal department. In the legal department, Ms. Nelson worked to ensure her team was up to compliance, helped run background checks, and handle other Human Resources responsibilities. Though Ms. Nelson was temporarily laid off in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, she will be invited back when the company is able to operate normally.

When she was able to work, Ms. Nelson relied on both ride-sharing apps and public transportation. Strollers and car seats, while scaled down significantly in weight/size of over the years, are still too heavy to carry back and forth, making taking her twins to daycare via Metro impossible. Between using Uber or Lyft to get her children to daycare, and taking the Metro to work, Ms. Nelson was spending $800 to $900 on transportation each month.

Ms. Nelson is currently enrolled at University of Maryland College Park’s Global Campus studying Business Administration with a minor in Communications. She is still deciding what her dream job is, but knows that the degree she’s pursuing will be useful in a multitude of fields. With a background in hotel management, Ms. Nelson loves to plan events and hopes to do more event planning in the future.

This awarded vehicle is something Ms. Nelson has been looking forward to for a long time. “When Vehicles for Change called me, I tried not to cry but when I got off the phone I screamed!” Ms. Nelson went on to say, “Once I get back on my feet, I plan on giving back to Vehicles for Change. When I have a car I no longer need, I’ll definitely donate it back. Pay it forward. I want to be that blessing for someone.”

So, what are Ms. Nelson looking forward to next? She’s looking forward to being able to save up her money and move to a new home. “We can’t live with my parents forever,” she says. “This new vehicle will save me $1,000 a month and get us back in our own space.” Ms. Nelson can’t wait for more opportunities to spend time with her twins during the week. After “20 for 20,” Ms. Nelson is thinking she might drive straight to the beach – something her children will see and experience for the very first time.

To our friends at Heritage | MileOne AutoGroup, Ms. Nelson says, “This is truly humbling. I want to thank you for the kind and thoughtful gesture, to help people who are in situations where they can’t get ahead because they don’t have cars. I don’t know how I would have done it in a timely manner without them.”