Since the beginning of this year, Jim and Cindy Kientzy have been working with several charitable organizations to get their charity, Wheels of Faith, off the ground. 

Wheels of Faith operates under Faith Christian Family Church to connect those in need with affordable cars with low interest payments. They operate off of donations.

“We are selling it because we have to put some money in it to fix them usually,” Jim said. “So we’re selling them but, basically selling them at no interest with really low payments that are affordable for people in the community that might be underprivileged or marginalized, that’s kind of our target audience.”

While the Kientzys operate the organization, they credit its founding to Jane and Wesley Kelley of Anchor House. Cindy said they were the ones who got the ball rolling before passing it on to her and Jim. 

"She had a billboard on that property, and just had the vision, donate your car, … then asked us if we were interested in running this so really it was her idea,” Cindy said. 

They partner with other existing organizations like Righteous Rides to handle services like repairs and titling of the cars. They do not have a dealer license themselves so all the sales are through Righteous Rides as well. 

Jim described the organization as a “finance company.” While they connect those in need with their dealership their role from there centers around the terms of the agreement and securing financing for the purchase. 

They also partner with Righteous Rides for maintenance on cars that they receive since many of them are in dire need of repairs, and some even need to be scrapped. In those cases, the money from scrapping the cars is funneled back into the ministry. 

While Wheels of Faith has only officially been in operation since January, the Kientzys have been doing work like this in the community for much longer. 

“On a personal level, we’ve done this ourselves for years, just helping people with transportation in whatever ways we could afford ourselves,” Cindy said. 

Now the process is much more official, and begins with an application which can be submitted in person or on their website. According to their website, applicants must demonstrate “significant need,” possess a valid driver’s license and the application must carry a sponsorship from an organization like the applicant’s church, Anchor House, or other similar organizations.

They also ask for some form of income verification, whether that be a job or some other form of financial assistance an applicant may be receiving.  

There are other qualifications as well and applicants are expected to acknowledge that their application may not be chosen, and that Wheels of Faith is only assisting them in purchasing a car, and not selling it themselves. 

Once an applicant is selected and inventory is available, terms are written up and Righteous Rides assists with the sale and titling of the vehicle and receives payments from there. 

Wheels of Faith relies completely on donations for vehicles and has not yet built a significant inventory. Once they do, Jim hopes they will be able to move cars relatively quickly. 

“Once we find one, then we would almost immediately, I mean in days or weeks, pair that up with somebody we have on application to say, ‘we think this car works for you, does this work for you?’ ” Jim said. 

He also provided an example of how a sale could materialize. He said that they hope to keep monthly payments near $100 to $150 with terms no longer than 18 months. The payments would not accrue interest. 

“So that would be like a $2,700 car,” Jim said. 

While they have started work, they have not yet been able to manage their first sale. They said they have two cars that have been donated, one of them will likely have to be scrapped but the other, pending a title, will be available to sell. 

“As funds are available we will also help people with repairs,” Cindy said. 

Unfortunately, since they are selling the cars and inventory is limited, if an applicant is delinquent on payments and the situation carries on for long enough, they acknowledge they may be forced to repossess some of the vehicles, although it was not a measure they took lightly. 

They said they want to handle those situations carefully and work with applicants to try and find solutions before they have to move forward with that process. 

“Repossession would be a last resort,” Jim said. 

For now they are still working on gathering donations, and cars, to build the ministry. 

Those interested in applying, or donating, can find more information on their website at wheelsoffaith.com.