Even though it was a hot day at the end of June, Michelle McKay’s kids argued over who would ride in the front of their new Jeep Compass to give the heated seats a spin.
Now they have it sorted: Her oldest daughter gets the passenger seat, and her youngest daughter straps into the car seat behind her, with her brothers filling up the rest of the back row.
McKay keeps antifreeze in her trunk as the winter months approach, just in case, remembering the 1998 Dodge Grand Caravan that she had to constantly refill until the transmission blew earlier this year.
After weeks of borrowing her brother’s car so she could get to work at Burger King and take her four kids to school and appointments, getting the 2013 SUV was a relief for McKay’s family, who live in Lebanon in Russell County. The vehicle was ready for her with a $100 down payment within a month after she called the Southwest Virginia Workforce Development Board.
That was made possible by the Cars to Work program, which started in 2019 and has funded 88 cars since. Staff at the workforce board, based in Lebanon, buy used vehicles and play matchmaker with qualified participants, who then repay half of the purchase price on a payment schedule of $100 per month.
Funding from the state opioid abatement authority that started Oct. 1 will help expand the program into all the localities the workforce program serves — Tazewell, Russell, Dickenson, Buchanan, Wise, Lee and Scott counties and the city of Norton. The $814,060 grant will go toward their recovery-to-work program, called ROPES, or Recovery Opportunities and Pathways to Employment Success, which helps clients in recovery from substance abuse with services from childcare to driver’s license reinstatements.
One of the biggest barriers to building the workforce in Southwest Virginia is that many people do not have access to transportation, said Rachel Patton, executive director of the workforce development board. And strategies used by other programs across the country, like purchasing bus passes or using a rideshare, are challenging and costly in a rural area.
After lots of problem-solving in meetings, staff at her organization concluded that people cannot work in rural Southwest Virginia unless they own vehicles, she said.
The cars they purchase are typically in the $6,000 range, and Sarah Bundy, director of finance for the board, said she constantly looks for used cars in the area. A few dealerships in Bristol call her before they put a car on the lot, if it’s in the budgeted range, and she sends someone to make sure it’s up to par.
The vehicle must be in good mechanical condition, but she’s also particular about cosmetics — she recently passed on a car with great mileage and an all-leather interior because it had a crack in the front bumper.
“We want people to leave here in cars that they’re proud of,” Patton said. “We buy nice cars.”
Before participants take the car, they have to get their own insurance and take basic financial literacy and maintenance classes. The organization is there to help with any snags along the way. If participants can’t make a monthly payment, the program tacks it onto the end of the loan. If they lose their job, the program will help them find a new one. During the holiday season, people are allowed to skip their payment to cover gifts and meals and pay later.
Patton said Cars to Work has had better than a 90% success rate with individuals who have come into the program and hopes to serve far more by expanding across the region.
It’s been a challenge to find funding for the program over the past few years. Grants from the U.S. Department of Labor typically focus on repairs, Bundy said, not purchasing used vehicles. In 2025, the program was awarded a $150,000, three-year grant from the Wellspring Foundation of Southwest Virginia, which will bring 37 cars to Russell County.
The new opioid abatement funding is renewable for up to five years, and Patton estimates that 20 cars per year will be financed with the money. The program has to work within the limits of funding, and it moves quickly and stretches when needed.
“When we have a good candidate, we find the car,” said Lisa Hubbard, case manager for the program.
And they have, for a kid from Dickenson County who was biking six miles round-trip to catch a bus to work, and a mother in Lebanon who walked three miles to her shift at McDonald’s, sometimes carrying her child on her hip before making a daycare stop along the way.
Both have full-time jobs now and have paid off their cars, Bundy said. By the end of the repayment period, the board turns the title over to the participants, who can continue to drive it or trade it in for what’s next.
“Folks [who] are working hard and trying, and maybe have had a life circumstance that has prevented them from being able to get a car, are able to come here, get a car that’s attainable, that’s not going to put them in a bind, and drive out of here with something that they’re proud of,” Patton said.
McKay said she’s been telling everyone about the program. Her kids ride the bus nowadays to help her save on gas and prevent wear and tear on the car. She planned to keep the vehicle.
As she pulled out of the workforce development board’s lot on Tuesday, however, Bundy told her about a 2016 GMC Acadia that she just bought. Her car looks a little tight for a family of five, Bundy said, and she’d be willing to trade it. The car has three rows, so McKay agreed to check it out.
How to qualify for a car
Anyone participating in the ROPES program who is ready to start work but lacks transportation can qualify for a car under the new funding, Patton said.
From Tazewell to Lee County, those looking to reenter the workforce who have at least six months in substance abuse recovery can contact the workforce board to learn more about the application process.
The Russell County program is designed for people who already have jobs in place, with a lack of transportation being a barrier to retaining those jobs.
Russell County residents can apply directly for a car if they’ve been a resident for at least six months, have a full-time job and are under 150% of the income guideline from the labor department, Hubbard said, adding that a family of four would qualify at $71,000 a year or less. Applicants also need a valid driver’s license and cannot have pending criminal charges.
The program does not require a credit check or any interest on the loan. Residents can fill out an online application and take it to the office in Lebanon at 116S Flannagan Ave, Suite C.
