20 for 20 Recipient: Rosario Gonzalez

We’d like to wish Ms. Rosario Gonzales congratulations on her soon-to-be awarded vehicle at “20 Cars for 20 Families,” presented by Heritage | MileOne Autogroup! Ms. Gonzales is the mother of three active, creative daughters living in Glen Oak. The Gonzales family moved from Towson, MD to Glen Oak just a few months ago and are loving the neighborhood.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Gonzales worked as a Ticket Agent for Greyhound and Peter Pan Bus lines. To get to work each day Ms. Gonzales and four of her coworkers worked together to carpool whenever possible, but frequently relied on public transportation which added two and a half hours to her morning commute.

Obtaining reliable, personal transportation has been a challenge for Ms. Gonzales. In previous years the Gonzales family, unable to save enough money for a vehicle throughout the year, would wait until tax season to purchase a low-cost vehicle. Unfortunately, few of these vehicles were able to run after 6 months of use.

Now, Ms. Gonzales is less than two weeks away from being awarded a vehicle at “20 for 20.” We asked her where she’s heading to first: “Ocean City! Ocean City is the first plot… The fact that we’re going through a pandemic, we can go there and sit on the beach,” she said. This will be the first time Ms. Gonzales’ children see the beach, and we could not be more excited for them!

The Gonzales family is also looking forward to more time spent eating meals together, watching movies, painting, and riding their bikes. They enjoy taking walks around the many reservoirs in Baltimore – most notably Lake Montebello, an area that brings her family peace and comfort as it reminds them of Ms. Gonzales’ late mother.

Ms. Gonzales has put her own plans on hold for a while now, using her time to care for her girls and turn over a new leaf in life. With her new vehicle, Ms. Gonzales plans to continue pursuing her studies in Criminal Justice.

If Ms. Gonzales had the opportunity to speak with someone from Heritage | MileOne Autogroup she would say, “Thank you so much for being a part of an organization that’s helping people. The thought that someone that’s more fortunate than I, especially with everything going on around us, would take the time to help another family… that says something about them. I hope God blesses them and looks after them for helping family like mine.”

Ms. Gonzales is looking ahead to a brighter future and hopes to someday donate a car to Vehicles for Change herself.