“Never take broken for an answer” Following the Ifixit motto, the Repair Café Volunteers will do their best to bring your beloved items back to life… with your help!
So, what is this all about?
Repair Café’s are free spaces where people fix things together. Besides the obvious money saving, RC’s help keep stuff out of the landfill, promote connection, collaboration, skill-sharing and community self-reliance… and we proudly support Evanston’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan goals! Oh! And it is co sponsored with Citiziens’ Greener Evanston. Check them out!
So give it a try! Find that broken item you never brought yourself to throw away (remember, there is no “away”!) and sign up for a slot that matches the type or repair you need.
Once at the Repair Café, you’ll have a chance to help our volunteers repair your item! They will also be able to diagnose and recommend next steps and any spare parts needed.
If you already know what is wrong with your item, bring any necessary spare parts to maximize the chances of getting it repaired!
What can I bring?
Depending if you are attending a weekend (SAT) event or a smaller weekday one (TUE), we will be able to help you with the following:
- GENERAL REPAIR: (SAT & TUE) Small appliances and common household items (lamps, toasters, fans, blenders…) Includes GLUING of wood, ceramic and plastic of household items: toys, picture frames, crockery..
- BASIC SEWING/MENDING: (SAT & TUE) Clothing and other textiles. Please wash before bringing item.
- BASIC JEWELRY REPAIR: (SAT & TUE) Restringing, replacing clasps, links. Soldering up to silver.
- BIKE REPAIR: (SAT) Slipped chains, loose bolts, stuck seats, handlebars… Simple repairs and tune ups only.
- ELECTRONICS DIAGNOSTIC: (SAT) Bring your item to learn what’s wrong with it, what you need to fix it and the difficulty level of the repair. Bring it fully charged and with all its cables.
Where do Repair Café´s take place?
Robert Crown Community Center Lobby – 1801 Main St., Evanston, IL
- Saturday events: 10 AM – 1PM
- Tuesday events: 10 AM – 12PM
Where do I sign up?
Go to the Repair Cafe event date on this page or on the EPL events page, and find a slot for the item you need help with. Please sign up for ONE time slot per event. We will delete multiple time slots.
REGISTRATION WILL OPEN ONE MONTH PRIOR TO EACH EVENT DATE.
Would you like to volunteer?
We are always happy to have new volunteers! You don’t need to be an expert in the field or be available for all the events dates. If you’ve always been the handy person that friends and family would turn for help -and you enjoyed it,- you are our perfect candidate!
Contact Bea at becheverria@cityofevanston.org or webuildcommunityevanston@gmail.com.
