Dakota County celebrates five years of Fix-It Clinics

Posted 1/25/23

Dakota County is celebrating five years of hosting Fix-It Clinics, helping thousands of residents to learn repair skills, fix their broken household items and avoid throwing items in the trash. Since …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Dakota County celebrates five years of Fix-It Clinics

Posted

Dakota County is celebrating five years of hosting Fix-It Clinics, helping thousands of residents to learn repair skills, fix their broken household items and avoid throwing items in the trash.

Since 2017, more than 2,000 residents have visited a monthly Fix-It Clinic, which are typically held at Dakota County library locations. Participants are matched with eager volunteers who fix household goods and clothing. The fixers repair nearly three out of four items brought to the events. All that hard work and troubleshooting has kept 15,000 pounds of materials from landfills. Participants leave with a sense of satisfaction and knowledge of how they might fix something in the future.

Inspired by similar programs elsewhere, a group of local volunteers started the first monthly clinics with a grant. After their successful trial year ended, Dakota County took over the repair events.