Repair Café Comes to Holy Cross

An Interview with Allison Rankin By Jonathan Graves

Some conversations unfold at a kitchen table. Others happen across a parish hall. This one took place over the phone, the kind of easy back-and-forth where you can hear someone smiling before they finish a sentence.

I called Allison Rankin to talk about the new Repair Café coming to Holy Cross. She answered cheerfully, though she confessed retirement has not exactly slowed her down.

“They say when you retire, you wonder how you ever got everything else done,” she laughed.

“So tell me,” I asked, “what exactly is a Repair Café?”

“It’s a nonprofit organization that operates internationally,” Allison explained. “Repair Café Wilmington comes under the umbrella of” Repair Café NC.

The idea began in the Netherlands and has spread around the world. Allison first read about it in The New York Times and was immediately intrigued.

“I was drawn to the idea of recycling and regaining the use of beloved items,” she said. “Antiques. A favorite dress. A lamp you just can’t part with. And I loved that it builds community around that.”

That word came up often in our call. Community.

How did it find its way to Holy Cross?

Allison reached out to the state coordinator and soon discovered two other local women had done the same. They were introduced by email, met, and began imagining what a Repair Café might look like here.

“I told them I couldn’t promise quarterly events right away,” she said, “but I would love to launch the first one at my church.”

From there, planning began in earnest. Meetings every other week. A date set in March. Lists made. Supplies gathered.

The largest task has been recruiting repair coaches. So far, twelve volunteers have signed on. Many are multi-skilled. Some repair electronics and small appliances. Others mend clothing. One will repair stuffed animals. Our very own Mike Norris has volunteered to fix fishing rods and reels, which feels especially appropriate for our coastal community. Two experienced coaches from the Raleigh area will attend to offer guidance.

There will even be a children’s table where kids, supervised by adults, can take apart simple electronics and see how they work.

“That curiosity,” Allison said, “that’s part of the fun.”

“How is this different from a repair shop?” I asked.

“It’s not just a service,” she replied. “It’s a partnership.”

Participants register what they’re bringing so organizers can prepare. They sign a simple disclaimer upon arrival. But the heart of the event is not transactional.

“The most important thing is showing people how to troubleshoot and repair something themselves,” Allison said. “They’re learning. They’re not just handing it over.”

Over the phone, I could almost hear the hum of what that day might sound like. Conversations at long tables. Someone holding a lamp steady. A seam being stitched. Two repair coaches conferring over a stubborn appliance.

It feels less like commerce and more like neighbors gathered together.

At one point in our conversation, I brought up the idea of the village.

It seems we have lost something of that old rhythm. Before delivery apps and constant scrolling, neighbors borrowed sugar. They gave rides to the airport. They shoveled driveways when someone was ill. We relied on one another.

Allison agreed.

“Yes,” she said. “We’ve lost some of that ability to communicate and rely on each other. This is a way to build that back.”

The Repair Café becomes, in its own modest way, a recovery of that shared life. A place where knowledge is exchanged freely and where people linger long enough to talk.

There is also the matter of waste.

Landfills are filling at staggering rates. Electronics are often designed not to last. E-waste frequently leaves our country to be dismantled elsewhere.

“If we can save even one thing from the landfill,” Allison said, “that matters.”

Repairing something small may not solve everything. But it does push gently against the assumption that everything is disposable.

Outreach or ministry?

When I asked how she sees it, Allison answered thoughtfully.

“I come at it from an outreach perspective. We’re attracting people who might not otherwise come to church.”

Then she added, “But lending a hand and helping others, that’s ministry too.”

Perhaps it is both.

The hope is to host three Repair Cafés each year, likely in March, June, and September. For now, the focus is simply on this first gathering and seeing who walks through the doors.

A lamp repaired.

A button sewn.

A fishing reel restored.

A child discovering how gears turn.

All of it unfolding in a church hall, on an ordinary day, because someone picked up the phone, made a call, and said, “What if we tried this?”

Time & Location

Mar 21, 2026, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Holy Cross Episcopal

Event Details