This story really shows how someone was looking out for her, as this lady gradually got her life back together after enduring some difficult times. Congratulation to Melissa!
When Melissa Stalker drove her 1995 BMW off the lot of an Escondido car dealership on Simpson Way on Friday night, she was leaving behind more than her old clunker ---- a 1991 Isuzu Trooper that wouldn't start on cold mornings.
"She came in homeless, she came in jobless, and she's gotten a job, worked really hard ---- and just a couple of weeks ago she secured permanent housing," said Traci Chester, the director of family housing for Interfaith Services, where Stalker has been living with her three children and one grandchild. "If that isn't a success story, I don't know what is," added Chester.
The BMW was a gift from All German Auto, whose owners, Martin and Jane Christensen, said they wanted to give back to the community after 20 years of business near the Escondido Auto Park.
Earlier this year, the couple enlisted the help of the Escondido Charitable Foundation to identify a deserving single mother living in Escondido, and Stalker's name topped the list.
Beginning in January 2009, said Stalker, "I lost my husband, I lost my job, I lost my best friend, I lost my whole world and I went backward ---- quite a few steps backward."
But now she has a job as a senior care provider in San Marcos ---- an occupation she said will certainly benefit from a more reliable vehicle.
"I work with seniors, and I'm supposed to take them to their doctors' appointments ... and if it's a rainy day I'd just pray that it's going to start," she said of her former transportation. "One (client) actually said, ‘Have you seen her car? I will not get in that car.'" That's not likely to happen again.
"This is amazing," Stalker said when asked about the BMW she was being given, along with registration, insurance and maintenance for a year. "I don't even know what to say about this. This stuff don't happen to me."
Jack Campbell, chairman of the Escondido Charitable Foundation, said the board received more than a dozen nominations from local charities matching the Christensens' criteria: The candidate had to be a single mother in need of transportation.
"It didn't take very long" for the foundation's 25 board members to agree on Stalker, said Campbell. "Melissa was the ideal candidate."
"She's amazing," added Jane Christensen. "She is really a strong, composed person. From what she's been through, I'm just amazed."
The Christensens said they started the dealership shortly after immigrating from Denmark in '91, and have since expanded to 17 employees and 18 service bays. That is small by corporate dealership standards, but it is one of the largest independent shops in the county.
On Friday, to mark the 20th anniversary, All German Auto held an open house in the afternoon, and presented Stalker with the keys to her BMW 525i ---- estimated to be worth around $10,000 ---- just after 6 p.m.
After several years of hardship, the single mother and Escondido resident was behind the wheel of a luxury car, 3-year-old twins buckled in the backseat, as the Christensens and about 150 others looked on.
"I have seen her work so hard," said Chester, of Interfaith. "She was a little broken when she first came to me."
From inside the car, her 3-year-old son asked a question that was inaudible to onlookers, but earned a smile from his mother.
"Because it's ours now," she said, and then climbed behind the wheel and drove away.
Story by: BY TOM PFINGSTEN - For the North County Times
http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/c68fa1fc-174e-5f7f-a88a-442c20b7549f.ht
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