MONROE — Kathy Johnston moved from Georgia to Matthews seven years ago to take a job as an office manager. She was laid off on Good Friday and moved from a two-bedroom to one-bedroom apartment to save money for her and her 9-year-old son.

“It was hard to swallow,” she said. “It was very scary.”

Johnston took a part-time job at Walgreens three weeks ago, but said her 1997 Ford Taurus has taken a hard hit.

“It hadn’t been worked on in quite some time, just because I haven’t been able to afford it,” she said. “Everything you work for goes into bills.”

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t getting maintenance.

Johnston is one of several people in the area being served by a car maintenance program started by Next Level Church in Stallings. Volunteers from the church target families who can’t afford to fix their vehicles on their own. Many participants are single moms; others are college students or married couples who must spend money elsewhere.

Some volunteers are mechanics; some work on cars as a hobby. The owners pay for parts and volunteers provide free labor.

Matt Bell is one of those volunteers. The full-time design engineer said he first learned how to work on cars from his grandfather, who was a mechanic.

“He instilled the no fear, take it apart, see how it works, put it back together” mentality, he said, adding that he was “built” to fix things.

With the economic downturn, he said a family could be forced to choose between groceries or getting new brakes.

“I don’t believe that people should be faced with that decision,” he said, and works to ensure families can get where they need to go.

Johnston said she uses her car to run errands, take her son to school or go to work to pay for the car. Next Level volunteers have worked on her car several times. Bell planned to stop by again Wednesday, but said it wasn’t safe for Johnston to drive her son to school that morning and came by Tuesday night, too.

“You don’t find people like that anymore,” Johnston said, adding the volunteers have saved her at least $500.

Volunteer Jason Lock said maintenance can include oil changes, air conditioner inspections, valve repairs, changing spark plugs and a number of other adjustments.

Lock works as a technical service representative for a chemical company, but spends about 15 hours every month on car repairs. Several of his clients are single moms.

With a wife and two children of his own, Lock said “even with two parents, life gets awful busy.” Church volunteers are “just a few guys with a common interest,” he said, who want to use their skills.

Church volunteer coordinator Melissa Jackson said the program grew out of the church’s home maintenance projects.

“These guys just want to serve, just want to work on cars and be of some help,” she said. “Not to stereotype, but women tend to not know a ton about cars.”

Jackson puts herself in that category and said car maintenance is generally something her husband does.

Jennifer Boone said neither she nor her husband are car savvy. Her husband, who works as a manager at a cafe and bakery, has a 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee that has been the subject of several maintenance sessions.

The needed repairs came right after the couple bought a car for Boone, eating up part of her income. Boone is a stay-at-home mom, but works part time at a day care.

The program “couldn’t have come at a better time,” Boone said. Although the couple has found ways to be more “thrifty,” Boone said car repairs aren’t exactly in the budget.

“You can tinker on it all you want,” she told volunteers.

If maintenance on a car is necessary and a family “absolutely can’t afford” to fix it, Jackson said, the church will come up with a plan to fix the car, whether through payment plans or church donations.

Bell said a reliable car is a must. “I put it right behind putting a roof over your head.”

For more information, call Next Level Church at 704-841-6133.