Summer 2007 - Northwestern College

Alumninews
Northwestern Classic
Marc Veldhuizen
Miniprofile
Alum’s ministry rebuilds lives
through donated cars
by Emily Hennager ’06
Marc Veldhuizen ’93
remembers the first time he
helped his neighbors by fixing
their car—at the age of
16. What was once a hobby
has become his life’s work.
Veldhuizen is the
founder and director of
Good Neighbor Garage, a
Denver-area Christian organization
that repairs donated
cars and places them with
disadvantaged families to
help improve their employment
situation.
“Changing lives for Jesus
through cars—that’s our mission,”
Veldhuizen says. “One
of the biggest factors for
employment success in the
Denver metro area is whether
a person has a car in order to
get to work.”
Fiana-Rose Hopkins,
who received a car from the
organization two years ago,
credits the gift with changing
her life. A mother of two
young children, Hopkins had
never owned a car. She
found that relying on public
transportation made it difficult
to keep a job.
“With that car, I was
able to stay at one job for
two years, and that experience
enabled me to get an
even better job,” she says.
“Plus, it allowed us to be
more active as a family. We
went camping for the first
time ever. We couldn’t have
done that riding the bus.”
In order to qualify for a
car, candidates must meet
certain income guidelines. A
sliding fee scale helps defer
the cost of vehicle acquisition
and repairs.
Known by fellow church
members as “the car guy,”
Veldhuizen was asked by the
congregation’s leaders to help
fix and place donated cars
eight years ago.
“It started very low-key,
as something people just
know you can do, and grew
as God gave the vision to
make this more than part
time,” Veldhuizen says.
A biology major at
Northwestern, he learned the
car industry by working at
dealership service departments.
He previously worked
as an equipment director for
a county’s search and rescue
team and a ski patrol.
Good Neighbor Garage
officially launched in 2003
after five years of research
and visiting similar organizations
around the country.
From the beginning, one of
the ministry’s goals was for it
to be replicated elsewhere.
“We didn’t want it to be
just about our local area,”
Velhuizen says. “We want to
support anyone around the
country who is interested in
getting something like this
started.”
Now he’s fielding calls
from others who want to
open similar garages in their
Using his mechanical skills, Marc Veldhuizen started a ministry in the Denver area with the mission of “changing lives for Jesus
through cars.”
communities. At the same
time, he’s trying to keep up
with the growth of Good
Neighbor Garage. The ministry
had already placed 17
vehicles in the first four
months of 2007, compared
to 26 vehicles in all of 2006.
36 ▲ Summer 2007