WORCESTER, Mass. - Second Chance Cars teamed up with Worcester Technical High School to refurbish and donate a car to Veterans Inc. employee Kenneth Newman, who said his new car is going to make a huge difference.

“I take public transportation right now," Newman said. "It's $400 a month and it takes me four hours, you know, it takes me two hours to get here and two hours to get home.”

In an unveiling at Worcester Tech’s auto shop, Newman said his commute from Boston to Worcester has been made a lot easier, and he’s thankful to everyone involved with Second Chance Cars.

“I've heard about these sorts of things and, you know, they kind of were like a unicorn to me," Newman said. "But I also want to thank the kids here, the students here at Tech for doing the work and all the other work that they do. I'm very happy and very thankful. And also, to Peter and his wife, Sarah, for donating the car.”

“To see him and hear his story and hear about how productive he's become, and all these things that he wants to do and the car that we donated is going to be instrumental in that is just a fantastic feeling,” said Peter Atwood, who donated the car.

It’s been a long road for Newman, who formerly experienced homelessness and is in recovery.

“I was hit by a car on my bicycle in Boston and I spent four months in the hospital, and while I was in there I lost everything," Newman said. "I was supposed to move into an apartment on the 15th and start a new job on the 15th. I got hit on July 10, so I just spent four months in the hospital and during that time, I lost my job, my apartment and I left the hospital as a homeless person.”

After spending about a year living on the streets of Boston, Newman said his road to recovery involved months of programming through Veteran’s Inc. in Worcester. He’s since been able to get an apartment once again and is pursuing an undergraduate degree in sports medicine.

Newman is also working to become a full-time recovery coach for Veteran’s Inc.

“It took me 30 months to get an apartment, you know, and so I can imagine," Newman said. "And these are men and women that have served our country, you know, and they come home, and they really need help. And as a person in recovery myself, I'm the perfect person to help them to do peer-to-peer support.”

Newman said he’s already started working with a few veteran clients to help with things like receiving benefits. Now, with his own car, he’ll be able to spend less time commuting and more time helping others on their journey.

“There's plenty of services to help folks," Newman said. "But if people don't know where they are or don't know who to ask, it can be a tough process to navigate your way through.”

Newman’s newly refurbished Subaru marks the second time Second Chance Cars and Worcester Tech Automotive have teamed up. The plan is for collaboration will continue with more cars in the future.