Blog & Events

Last Saturday was a very rainy day here in our Evilena’s Red Dresser neighborhood! It also happened to be the day of our Garden Walk. Weeks of planning and preparation went into this very special benefit event. Our goal was (and still is) to raise $20,000 to give to Ms. Pearl’s Good News Daycare & Coffee House in Chicago. This is a vibrant organization in the heart of one of Chicago’s most impoverished neighborhoods.  We had the privilege of visiting the Good News Daycare a few weeks ago, and our hearts were deeply touched and stirred to support this exciting...

“God is unstoppable.” Ms. Pearl Willis sat on the front porch of the Good News Coffee Shop in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago, and shared with us story after story of God’s “unstoppable-ness.” Her testimony is a story of hope, and of the providence and provision of the Lord, and Ms. Pearl was happy to share with us the many blessings that she has seen over the past 30 years in her Roseland neighborhood. Ms. Pearl began by saying “This is not something that I had planned to do with my life...but I truly believe the Word of God when...

What Is Growing In Your Garden?   Don’t you just love seeing the beautiful blooms popping up in the garden during this time of year?   Do you bury bulbs in the Fall and pray that the squirrels don’t find them? I have a lovely cluster of iris just about ready to bloom by my front door - and I’m impressed that their bulbs somehow eluded the Squirrel Thieves that scurry across the yard gathering their snacks for winter! Hooray for those stealthy iris! (Applause, applause.)   Do you plant seeds in the Springtime? Or do you buy plants that...

Welcome to Spring, friends! We hope you are enjoying these days of sunshine and blossoms and warmer temperatures! This month in our Evilena’s blog we are going to introduce you to one of our sun-shiniest employees, Dawn!  Dawn is our store manager, or, in her own words, “Jan’s sidekick.”   You can catch her doing a little bit of everything around Evilena’s.  She will often share new arrivals with you on our daily 1:30 FB Live videos. Dawn is a creative soul who enjoys designing, merchandising, and helping others, and she is simply a delightful and friendly presence around the...

“Living In Color” Imagine, for a moment, if our world was only black and white. There are lovely hues of whites, grays, and blacks, and of course, there’s nothing as classy as a little black dress...but oh, what a pop of color does for the soul!  How wonderful it is that God created COLOR! Just think of the lovely contrast between green leaves against a bright, blue sky.  Or tall, dark green pines set against the rich sedimentary layers of red, purple, and gold in the rocky face of a mountain.  We use color to describe many things other than...

Do you know how Evilena’s Red Dresser came to be?  Well, pull up a cozy chair, pour a warm cup of tea, and enjoy the inspiring story of Evilena’s Red Dresser! Once upon a time, not so very long ago, in a not-so-very-far-away land of Frankfort, Illinois, there lived a nurse named Jan who had a desire and a dream of helping others. She had already been actively serving others through her job as a nurse for 30 years, but she wanted to do more.  Her interest led her to take some business and marketing classes at a locaI college....