Albuquerque Journal

Single mom receives car donated by Wings for LIFE Internatio­nal

Woman spent hours commuting to work

- JOURNAL STAFF REPORT

Things just got a little easier for a single mother trying to get her life back on track when a local organizati­on gifted her a car.

Wings for LIFE Internatio­nal donated the car to Malisha Toledo, a housekeepe­r with a hotel chain. She had spent hours each day getting to and from work, lessening the time she could spend with her family.

“Transporta­tion is everything,” said Anne Edenfield Sweet, executive director of Wings for Life. “It’s so hard to get a job without transporta­tion . ... It takes her three hours to take a bus and then come home at night to her family.”

Wings for LIFE’s mission is to help break the generation­al cycle of incarcerat­ion by offering parenting classes, helping families apply for benefits, donating cars like they did with Toledo and much more.

Toledo said she hopes the car brings her another step closer to reuniting her family.

“I’m not perfect,” Toledo said. “I’ve made my mistakes, like I said. I just got my daughter back. The only person who is missing is my son right now, but hopefully this will give me a better opportunit­y to get him back as well.”

Toledo hopes to return to school and become a paralegal.

This story will run Friday on KOAT-TV as part of the Good News Files series. To learn more or donate to Wings for LIFE, visit wingsfli.org.

“The Good News File” is a series of uplifting stories in partnershi­p with KOAT-TV and KKOB Radio. The Journal will publish a “Good News” feature the first Friday of the month, KOAT-TV will present its feature each second Friday and KKOB each third Friday.

 ?? COURTESY OF KOAT-TV ?? Single mom Malisha Toledo works as a hotel housekeepe­r, and the hours she spent going to and from the job cost time with her family.
COURTESY OF KOAT-TV Single mom Malisha Toledo works as a hotel housekeepe­r, and the hours she spent going to and from the job cost time with her family.
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