You can probably remember exactly how you felt when you got your first car, but for 20-year-old Jessica Loya, the world opened up in a surprise moment.
Loya lost her dad to brain cancer less than a year ago.
Her mother spiraled back into drugs and is now homeless, leaving Jessica to fend for herself and her 17-year-old brother.
Despite all of her hardships, which included foster care as a youth, she volunteers for an organization called Young Life, mentoring a group of freshman girls at Kearny High School.
She attends their sporting events, bible studies, and camps, and does it all by using Uber.
A group of adults fundraising for Young Life became so captivated by Loya's dedication, they pooled together money for a 2007 Toyota Prius.
The surprise reveal was captured on video.
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"I was crying and then I was good and then I got in the car and was just thinking of my dad and whenever we had hard times as a child, we might have had a situation where we didn't have some place to sleep that night, and my dad's like ‘it's ok, God is going to do something’ and little did you know a church opens up a place for us," said Loya.
Even though Loya now has the car, the fundraising efforts are still underway with about $1500 to go.
A benevolence fund was set up through Clairemont Emmanuel Baptist Church for anyone wanting to provide a tax deductible gift.
