Audio Slideshow: Fixers Collective from Natalie Fertig on Vimeo.

The Fixers Collective is a nonprofit organization based out of Proteus Gowanus with a specific mission: to fix people’s things before they throw them away. According to David Kline, one of the fixers, current generations tend to have a disposable mentality about their posessions. When something doesn’t work anymore, they just toss it and buy a new one. But according to the Fixers’ philosophy, many of these items don’t need to be thrown out – they just need a quick fix.

In venues like BRIC, Proteus Gowanus, and the Brooklyn Library, the fixers set up shop and New Yorkers stream in. Record players, umbrellas, stereos, even cell phones – there’s a fixer who has enough knowledge to try and fix it, for free — or a donation if you feel like it. The Fixers’ success rate isn’t 100%, but most visitors go home inspired, if not with a fixed object.