My first week at Second Chance Cars was very exciting! The organization is a nonprofit that accepts gently used car donations and awards them to low income returning citizens and Veterans so they can get and keep living wage jobs. The work has been very rewarding because it will benefit the community in the Greater Boston Area, and the lives of Veterans and returning citizens.

• Since it is a startup non-profit there is no office space so I have been doing research at libraries and Cafes along with attending a meeting at a home for Veterans up in Methuen, where we met a potential partner. I also focused on doing research to support the organization. This included an analysis of national and regional programs that are similar to us, to better understand the demand for cars among low income returning citizens and Veterans. I also have been doing grant research to find different grantmakers and grants that would be interested in giving to us, so we can run as a nonprofit. 

• The work environment is relatively casual and more focused on the hard work than the frills/appearance that comes with it. I like that there is a lot of fleixibility in the hours and the appropriate balance of research to interactions (in business meetings and such).