Accomplish With Kylie: 'Lift Garage' Provides Low-Cost Vehicle Repairs

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An unexpected car repair can be a devastating blow to a family's finances, but finding low-cost car repair can be nearly impossible.

That's why Cathy Heying started the Lift Garage, to provide low-cost car repairs to people who can't otherwise afford it.

It's so popular there is a three-month waiting list for those who need car repairs at a price they can afford.

"We just can't keep up with the need," Heying, Executive & Operations Director of Lift Garage, said. "People are overwhelmed and they are struggling."

That is why Heying started the business in 2013.

"I kept seeing a chronic problem of people in need who needed car repairs," Heying said.

The cost is about a third of the charges at a regular mechanic.

"We don't mark up the parts in any way," Heying said.

Cathy has no background in fixing cars, but as a social worker she heard the same story for years.

"They'd say, 'I'm not going to be able to get to work and if I can't get to work I'm going to lose my job,'" Heying said.

With a Master's degree in Pastoral Ministry, going back to school at 38 for auto repair is the last thing she expected.

"I didn't know what I was doing," Heying said. "It was a really overwhelming experience. I cried a lot in that first quarter."

But the people she'd be serving kept her going.

"Knowing the many, many people I knew and had met who needed a service like this," Heying said. "Compared to the struggles and lives that they were facing, going back to school to get another degree, that's not a struggle, that's a privilege."

For Howard Pauna, Lift Garage has been a life changer.

"It's the biggest gift that's been given to the earth I think for low income people," Pauna said.

His truck is one of nearly a thousand repairs that Lift Garage has done over the last few years.

"It went from a totaled out truck, to now, there's nothing wrong with it," Pauna said. "I would've never been able to fix it at another shop."

Heying now has three full-time mechanics at Lift Garage.

"It's the hardest work I've ever done. With that it's been the most amazing work, the holiest work, most astounding work I've ever done," she said.

The Lift Garage has saved more customers more than $350,000 since opened. To donate, volunteer or learn more information, click here.