After halting operations last year, Repair Clark County has since returned, offering residents free household item repairs and the opportunity to learn valuable maintenance skills.
The Columbia Springs nonprofit, which operates the program, hosts various educational programs for students and adults. Launched seven years ago, the Repair Clark County program offers free quarterly repair services for small appliances, household items, various electronics and more.
Katherine Cory, Columbia Springs executive director, described the program as both a service and an educational opportunity for Clark County residents. In addition to repairs, volunteers also teach participants how to maintain and repair household items. Cory believes this hands-on knowledge is a valuable skill to learn for various appliances and tools.
“I think that when people build a connection to their belongings instead of, say, going down to Target to buy a new lamp, they can fix something of their own,” Cory said. “That connection means they're not likely to throw something away, and so it disrupts a cycle of consumerism that is very bad for the environment. Having something that you can care for and… keeping it going for years and years and years, it’s better for the environment than even recycling.”
Repair Clark County faced significant challenges to stay in operation. In August of last year, the program was paused indefinitely after the Department of Ecology redirected its limited public participation grants to other nonprofit initiatives. Though the program had relied heavily on state funding in the past, it was revived in February with the support of volunteers and local donations. The program now offers four annual meetings instead of its previous eight. Cory said the donations from the public have funded the supplies needed for repairs.
“That said, to run a program with full-time staff is an expensive adventure. I'm looking forward to when the application opens again for the Department of Ecology and public participation grants so that I can go back in and hopefully reinvigorate the program to a more robust state than it was,” Cory noted.
The program performs and teaches various repairs, from lamp fixes to knife sharpening. Common items include toasters, lamps and mixers, though some volunteers specialize in more niche repairs Some, for instance, focus on restoring old and new radios. However, the program primarily handles smaller items, as there are limits to what can be repaired. Complex items such as gas engines, Christmas lights, DVD players and computers are often beyond the program’s scope and resources.
“Say [a] DVD player doesn't want to open or close, that might be something that we can work on, but electronics take a very specific type of skill set, which is actually fairly difficult to find fixers for,” Cory explained. “… People can register that item, and then if we do have people available, we'd be happy to fix a CD or DVD player that won’t open, but if it's a computer, it's probably not something that we can do because that's a pretty complicated machine.”
Since its relaunch, Repair Clark County has fixed 334 items, including 40 household appliances. Most of this year’s repairs have involved sharpening household tools like knives, scissors and pruners — with 200 items sharpened since February alone.
The program’s third quarterly event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 21, at the Vancouver United Church of Christ, 1220 NE 68th St., Vancouver. For more information on volunteering or donating to Columbia Springs, visit columbiasprings.org/repair-clark-county.
