Your fan stopped running or your lamp won’t stay lit or your puppy chewed the cord on your vacuum cleaner. We see these problems, that typically require some basic repair skills, all of the time at our Hennepin County Fix-It Clinic. Are you curious what your experience might be like?
First step: Bring your item to check-in
You’ll be greeted at the check-in desk by a friendly volunteer who weighs your item (so we can tally up how much we diverted from the waste stream) and asks you what’s wrong with it. Then our announcer announces you and your item to the volunteers in order to pair you with someone who can help. A volunteer raises their hand, and you join them at their table.
Second: Meet with a volunteer and fix it
You will talk with the volunteer about your issue and problem-solve together to come up with the best fix. You’re encouraged to participate as much as you can because that way you learn about your item, learn how to troubleshoot and disassemble, pick up some basic repair skills and have a much more fun and engaged experience.
Third: Learn a new skill
The volunteers will give you lots of encouragement and support as they teach you new repair skills. Repairs can take anywhere from five minutes to a few hours, depending on the complexity of your repair. There’s great community spirit with multiple people chipping in to help, and happy victories when something gets fixed and reused.
Fourth: Plan for any additional repairs or recycling
Sometimes your item can be fixed right then, sometimes you need to order a part and come back to finish the repair, and sometimes your item can’t be repaired, in which case you’re responsible for the recycling or disposal of your item.
Fifth: Check out and go home
After you’ve finished, you check out at the same desk where you checked in and answer a few questions. Then you’re on your way with your (hopefully) newly repaired item and a few new repair skills to fix other items.
Intrigued by the idea of giving your broken items a new lease on life and learning valuable repair skills along the way? Join us at the Hennepin County Fix-It Clinic and actively reduce waste and recycle responsibly. Come fix it with us.
