Acts of Kindness
Broken car helps woman homeless at 17 discover passion to become successful aircraft mechanic
It wasn’t easy, but she completely turned her life around.
Khadjia Bilal
06.04.20

There are many things we often take for granted. Having a roof over one’s head and a safe place to sleep each night might seem simple to many people, but there are countless individuals out there who, for one reason or another, find themselves without homes of any kind.

Porsha Lippincott was one of those people. Porsha was made homeless at just 17 years of age.

Forced to survive on the streets, she took shelter in an old refrigerator box, sleeping rough each night, but with the help of some good people and plenty of hard work of her own, Porsha managed to turn things around in a big way!

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Porsha was working at Sonic as a teen. Each day, she’d go to work, then head back to her cardboard box each night.

It was a horrible cycle, and it lasted for three whole months until Porsha got a call from a counselor and simply broke down, telling her story and hoping for help.

A few minutes later, the counselor put Porsha in touch with an independent homeless shelter, who offered her a place to live!

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Porsha couldn’t believe her luck. The shelter offered her very own living space in a lovely house, as well as assistance with going back to school, learning new skills, and getting her life back on track.

She moved in that very same day, and things only got better from there.

With a roof over her head and a beat-up Jeep Grand Cherokee to get wherever she needed to be, Porsha started to turn things around.

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She spent $1,000 on the Jeep and used it every day, coping with its little faults as well as she could, until one day, it broke down and simply wouldn’t start.

The mechanic told Porsha that she’d have to spend $1900 to repair the oil pan gasket. She had no idea what an oil pan gasket was, but she wanted to learn, so went online and watched a YouTube video of the part being replaced.

Watching the video, Porsha started to feel confident. She felt like she could do the whole job herself for a fraction of the cost, so decided to give it a try.

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She spent seven hours working on the car, following the steps she’d seen in the video and repairing her car all by herself. Not only was it running, but it actually ran better than before!

From that point on, Porsha knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life. She graduated high school and then became a fully qualified mechanic.

She started working three separate jobs, fixing up cars and trucks non-stop, and it was all thanks to her Jeep breaking down! But later in life, she became pregnant and realized that she needed to make some changes, as she was still struggling to earn enough cash and support herself.

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She was placed on some government assistance programs and ended up at the Metro Technology Centers Aviation Career Campus, ready to learn all about aircraft engineering!

She received a whole bunch of benefits, including having all of her tools and books paid for, as well as aid with things like gas and rent, giving her enough money to pursue her dreams while also looking after her young son.

Thanks to that help, she was able to get through school once more and get a great job at the Tinker Air Force Base!

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Since then, her career as an aircraft mechanic has grown and grown. She’s finally making a great salary, meeting military people and pilots every day who thank her for her efforts.

She’s even helped the Air Force Base save a whopping $2.5 million through her intelligent, problem-solving approach to her work.

Her story is absolutely inspiring, and Porsha works hard every day as a way of thanking all the folks who helped her out. Learn all about her in the wonderful video below.

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