Lien De Brouckere, of Portland and Julie Allen, of Kennebunk, at Today’s “Repair Meetup” at Congress Square Park Discuss a Sewing Project Presented by Lien.

Ali Mann, Organizer of Today’s “Repair Meetup” at Congress Square Park,  Portland.

“There is a diversity of ages, economic backgrounds and political views here,” said Ali Mann, organizer of the “Repair Meetup” at Congress Square Park this afternoon.  “That is one of the reasons for this event.  It’s a great cross section of people from the area.  All getting together,” said Mann who is a graduate of Bates College with a degree in political science and art history.

About fifty people were involved in todays Meetup – some of them providing services to those in need of assistance wtih appliance repair, clothing repair and bike repair while others are on the grateful receiving end of those skills.

Seated at one of the four tables set up in the Textile section, was Lien De Brouckere, a native of Belgium, who now works remotely in Portland.  Lien and Julie Allen, were discussing the best way to repair an item – actually a cloth mop head – so Lien could conntinue to use it in her apartment.

Lien has her own consulting firm, Communities First.  In that capacity, she works remotely for two San Francisco based non-profits.  One of them is a zero waste non-profit and the other is a human rights organization.  The latter focuses on human rights in a mining company in West Africa;  Guinea. “Social justice has always been an interest of mine,” said Lien. She holds a BA in political science from Columbia University and a law degree from McGill University in Canada.

Julie, who lives in Kennebunk, hails from southern Virginia.  Trained as an engineer, she currently is a counselor.  Clients of hers usually come to her over “break-ups” of relationships.  Those broken relationships are with people, beer or drugs, Julie said.  Her husband Glenn Shiwel, owns his own boatbuilding business – Callingctus Boat Works.  He specializes in wooden boats.

“We are always looking for free, large spaces to hold our “Repair Meetups” said Ali.  “They are a great way for neighbors to meet each other and create community.”

There will be two more “Repair Meetups” at Congress Square Park this summer:  The first one is Sunday, July 6 and the second on Sunday, August 10.  Both run from 2:00  pm – 5:00 pm.

For background information on this event, please visit post herein dated June 3, 2025.