We’d love to bring one to your community!
Repair Café Silicon Valley (RCSV) partners with libraries, local governments, nonprofits, and community organizations to bring free repair events to neighborhoods throughout Santa Clara County.
We bring the volunteers, tools, and experience. You help us provide a welcoming place for neighbors to come together, fix their belongings, learn something new, and keep useful things out of the landfill.
Join our community
At a typical Repair Café, around 40 volunteers welcome 120 visitors over four hours. Our skilled fixers help repair electronics, small appliances, clothing, bicycles, toys, and all kinds of household items.
These events do more than fix broken things. They bring neighbors together, share practical skills, reduce waste, and demonstrate that repair can be a better alternative to replacement.
We make hosting easy
RCSV has 14 years of experience organizing community repair events. We handle the operational details so our partners can focus on welcoming the community.
What RCSV provides:
- Skilled volunteer fixers and event coordinators
- Tools, equipment, and basic repair supplies
- Event planning, volunteer scheduling, and on-site coordination
- Our digital check-in system to manage visitors and repairs
- Event promotion through our website, email newsletters, and social media
- Liability insurance for our repair events
What our partners provide:
- A suitable, accessible venue
- Tables, chairs, electricity, and other basic facilities
- Help promoting the event within the local community
- Optional financial support for refreshments and event supplies
Partners can provide a venue, financial support, or both.
What makes a good Repair Café venue?
We’ve hosted events in public libraries, community and senior centers, schools, places of worship, and other neighborhood gathering spaces.
A typical event welcomes around 120 visitors and 40 volunteers over four hours. We generally look for enough space to accommodate 80–100 people at a time, including repair stations and a waiting area.
Essential venue features:
- A large, accessible space with room for repair stations, check-in, and waiting
- Tables and chairs for volunteers and visitors
- Plenty of electrical outlets and good lighting
- Nearby parking and accessible loading and unloading
- Adjacent outdoor space for bike repair
- Restrooms with handwashing facilities
- Safe emergency exits and appropriate fire-safety equipment
Helpful, but not always essential:
- Wi-Fi for looking up repair guides and manuals
- A place for coffee, snacks, and refreshments
- Trash and recycling facilities
- Permission to display temporary event signs
Our events usually run from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM on weekends, although we’re flexible on the start time. We also need approximately 90 minutes before the event for setup and an hour afterward for cleanup.
Because repairs sometimes involve dust, small parts, and tools, spaces with durable furniture and surfaces work best. We protect work areas as needed and take pride in leaving venues clean and orderly.
Indoor, temperature-controlled spaces are preferred, but outdoor events under our pop-up tents may also be possible.
Not sure whether your space would work? Get in touch! We’re happy to discuss different layouts and event sizes.
Partner with us
Repair Café Silicon Valley is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We rely on community partnerships and donations to make our free repair events possible.
There are two ways your organization can help.
Become a venue partner
Provide a suitable space for a Repair Café and help bring a valued community service to your neighborhood.
We’ll handle event operations and recognize your organization in our event announcements, newsletters, and social media posts.
It’s an opportunity to welcome new visitors, build community connections, and support local sustainability efforts.
Sponsor a Repair Café
Financial sponsorships help cover refreshments, supplies, and other event expenses so that repair services can remain free for everyone.
Event sponsorships generally range from $400 to $600, depending on the size of the event.
Sponsors receive recognition through event signage, social media posts, and email newsletters.
Organizations are welcome to sponsor an event, provide a venue, or do both.
Join our community of partners
We’re proud to have partnered with organizations and venues including:
- Public Libraries: Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Santa Clara City, and San Jose Public Libraries
- Community Centers: Mountain View Senior Center and Billy DeFrank LGBTQ+ Community Center
- Educational Institutions: West Valley College and local schools
- Community Organizations: Museum of American Heritage, Maker Nexus, Hacker Dojo, and Willow Glen Neighborhood Association
Each partnership helps us reach new neighborhoods, bring people together, and keep more usable items out of the landfill.
Want to see what a Repair Café looks like? Explore our Instagram to see photos, community participation, and the results of our repair efforts.
Your organization could be next!
Let’s bring a Repair Café to your neighborhood!
Do you have a space that could host a Repair Café? Represent an organization interested in sponsoring an event? Or know a neighborhood that would benefit from one?
We’d love to hear from you!
Email info@repaircafesv.org and tell us a little about your organization, your location, and how you’d like to get involved.
Together, we can make repair more accessible to communities throughout Santa Clara County.