And you wont' believe what happened next! We paid 80% of their bill for them. "Why" you ask? "How" you ask? Two words: JumpStart Fund.
Barb and Doug have a large family and so need a large vehicle. Vehicles for larger families are harder to come by and therefore more expensive. The vehicle they brought in, although it needed a lot of repair work, was in relatively good condition. This is the first item on the JumpStart checklist. The vehicle we are repairing needs to be worth more than the amount of money we are investing in it. Doug is working full time now but had been out of work for awhile due to health concerns, financially things had gotten behind. Barb has her own business. Doug and Barb both volunteer for local organizations , doing what they can to make a better community. This is the item two and three on the JumpStart checklist. The customer is employed and/or volunteering and need a vehicle to make their life work. Our JumpStart Fund is designed to assist people who are classified as the "working poor". The term "working poor" is pretty much what it sounds like. The person is working but they are still struggling financially! The experts say an unexpected bill of $200.00 for the working poor can start the slide into crisis. In our experience , a large vehicle repair bill can lead to people having to make really hard decisions - like choosing between food, rent and vehicle repair. Or the repair bill can begin a debt spiral which could take months or years to dig their way out of. Our safety repair grant offers one time repair assistance so people can keep moving forward. This is how we were able to help pay Barb and Doug's repair bill. We use our profits (after operating costs) to fund JumpStart. This means every one of our customers is part of helping to pay it forward. And in the times we don't make a profit (it happens a lot in the mechanic industry!) we partner with local organizations to make it work. Barb and Doug are safely back on the road today because of each one of our customers and help from other community organizations. We look forward to helping many more families safely get back on the road. Do you know someone who could use a JumpStart? We would love to meet them. If you would like to see how else you can help by using our shop CLICK HERE Kimberly Ferland/Good News Auto
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AuthorHome of Car Care Challenges and the JumpStart Fund Archives
January 2021
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