Tonja's Place

Tonja’s Place was created from lived experience, faith, and a deep understanding of what it feels like to be a parent fighting for stability. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where strength and independence started early for me. By the age of seven, my sister and I were riding the city bus alone to school. Those early years taught me what it means to rely on public transportation and the emotional weight that comes with not having dependable support.

As I grew older, I realized my story was not unique. Millions of families across the United States struggle daily because they lack reliable transportation. More than one quarter of single mothers live below the poverty line, and transportation is one of the biggest barriers preventing parents from maintaining stable employment. Research shows that transportation insecurity leads to higher stress, depression, anxiety, missed work, lost income, interrupted schooling, and long term instability for both parents and children. Reliable transportation is not a luxury. It is a lifeline.

Years later, when I moved to Atlanta, I became part of a community program that helped families facing transportation challenges. At that time, I was a single mother trying to rebuild my life. I worked hard, but without a car, everything felt overwhelming. Then I received a 1996 Toyota Sienna, and that vehicle changed everything. It made work possible. It made childcare manageable. It gave me stability, dignity, and hope.

I was so grateful that I began giving rides to strangers who needed help. I helped single parents get to work, moms leaving shelters, and people trying to make it through another day. Those acts of kindness reminded me of my own childhood and the countless moments where having just one person step in could change the entire direction of a family’s life.

That experience planted the seed that would eventually become Tonja’s Place.

Tonja’s Place is named in honor of my mother, Tonja, a woman whose compassion, resilience, and strength shaped me. She taught me how to survive, how to love, and how to push through hardship with grace. This organization exists to carry her legacy forward by providing real solutions, real opportunities, and real hope for families facing transportation barriers.

Today, Tonja’s Place supports families across the Dallas Fort Worth region by offering refurbished vehicles, short term auto insurance assistance, and access to career boosting certifications and licensing programs such as CNA, CDL, Insurance, Notary Public, and other pathways to employment. We help families who are ready to work but simply cannot reach the opportunities available to them.

Our work is rooted in compassion, dignity, and empowerment. We meet families where they are without judgment. We understand the emotional weight of doing everything alone. We know the courage it takes to ask for help. And we believe that every family deserves a chance to rebuild their lives with stability, independence, and hope.

Our mission is simple. Give families the transportation and support they need to move forward. Give parents the chance to work without fear of losing their job over a car issue. Give children the security that comes from consistent routines and reliable transportation. Give families the ability to rise.

At Tonja’s Place, we believe in changing lives one car, one opportunity, and one family at a time. Everything we do is inspired by lived experience, grounded in compassion, and driven by the belief that with the right support, every family can thrive.