Vehicles for A Change opens Full Circle Training Center in Salisbury, offering ex-cons a chance to become certified automotive technicians in local dealerships

SALISBURY, Md- A cheap used car for a family in need, refurbished by workers recently out of jail that are training to work at dealerships.

That’s the promise Vehicles For A Change Delmarva made to the Salisbury community during their ribbon-cutting ceremony for their Full Circle Service Center  Thursday in Winterplace Park.

The center will train and pay up to 30 workers for a period of 4 months, allowing them to get critical certifications to go work as automotive technicians in area dealerships.

As they learn, the cars they train on will be donated to families in need on Delmarva, complete with a warranty and financing, in a program designed to tackle recidivism, lack of transport on the shore, and a worker shortage, all at once.

“We take donated cars and then in our program and repair them, identity families that need a car to get to and from employment we sell them the car for 950 dollars we provided a six-month warranty so the car stays on the road and we provide them a 12-month loan so they can build credit,” said Vehicles for A Change Executive Director Martin Schwartz.

Jeffery Diaz was recently incarcerated but is now one of 30 trainees learning to become a technician at the facility.

“We are able to be in the class do book work we are out here getting hands-on it’s really a nice program to be a part of, just helping folks out and getting that training I need,” Diaz said.

Instructor James Martin says dealerships like Pohanka in Salisbury need workers with those skills and he’s never worked with more motivated students.

“I get here they are all here before me, they come they want to work hard, they are dedicated, they excelled and I’ve been proud, they impressed me so much, it is a different group than I usually train but they want it more than any other group I’ve trained,” Martin said.

Members of the group speaking at the event say, it’s not just a job training service, as they will have case workers and wrap-around services designed to set up the workers in the program for success, and overcome all challenges of transitioning to the workforce.

“These places need technicians, we take people we give them a foundation of mechanical skills, electrical skills, tools, knowledge of automobiles and I train them on the systems, but if they have housing needs we train them on that any kind of need they may have we do the best we can to accommodate it,” Martin said.