Cause

About Bike & Build:

Started in 2002, Bike & Build is a nonprofit that organizes cross-country bike trips to benefit the affordable housing cause in the U.S. The following information is pulled from Bike & Build's website:

• Mission Statement: Through service-oriented cycling trips, Bike & Build benefits affordable housing and empowers young adults for a lifetime of service and civic engagement. 
• Core Values: Young adult driven, safety, empowerment, integrity, fun. 
• Over ten seasons, Bike & Build has contributed more than $4.5M to affordable housing groups.
•  By funding building projects involving students and young adults, Bike & Build creates incremental service opportunities among young adults, empowering this crucial demographic.
• According to their 2013 Annual Report, in that year 286 riders participated in Bike & Build's trips, pedaling 920,000 miles and volunteering over 21,000 build hours on 119 build days across the country. In the same year they contributed $468,640 to 468 affordable housing organizations.
• Bike & Build currently organizes 11 cross-country and regional routes. Each ride typically consists of 30 riders and 4 leaders. 

About Affordable Housing:

Affordable housing, it turns out, is a cause that affects each and every one of us. The need for shelter and a place to call home is a basic human right. To read more about why I personally care about the issue scroll down a bit further, but here are some of the facts:

• The U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development states that affordable housing is "for a household to pay no more than 30 percent of its annual income on housing. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care."
•  According to HUD, "an estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more then 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing, and a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States."
• In 2001, 4.8 million low to moderate income working families spent more than 1/2 of their income on housing. By 2010, this number had jumped to 9.5 million - just shy of doubling in just 9 years. Working Americans are not making enough each year to keep pace with rising living costs. (National Low Income Housing Coalition)
• There isn't a single county in the country where a person can work 40 hours per week at the minimum wage and afford even a one-bedroom apartment at the local Fair Market Rent. (National Low Income Housing Coalition)

Note: There is much more to the affordable housing problem in America than these few facts, which I will be exploring and learning about in the coming months and all along the trip. As shocking as the facts are, I will stop here and move along to a more personal account. 

Why I Care:

I was first introduced to the affordable housing cause through Habitat for Humanity in middle school. During high school and college, I worked on building projects during service trips to rural West Virginia, Alabama and the Gulf Coast, post-Hurricane Katrina. We hammered nails, cut boards, painted houses and attached shingles, but we didn't really delve into the bigger issue - the affordable housing crisis taking place all across America.

It has been through my career and work with low-income youth and families that has really put a face on the cause and helped me understand the deleterious effects of a lack of affordable housing.  I used to run afterschool and summer enrichment programs at an elementary school where nearly three quarters of the students are on free and reduced lunch. Over the course of three years, I became familiar with many of their home situations – many of which include spells of homelessness, sleeping in cars, motel rooms, and overcrowded houses of friends.  I saw parents come into the school in crisis mode because they lost their job, got evicted, lost their trailer home, left their home because of an abusive situation, and more. I heard their stories firsthand through sobs, tears, and fits of anger. I saw the effects an unstable living situation has on a child – they can become withdrawn, anxious, hyperactive, depressed, defiant, and unmotivated.

While I have seen these situations go from bad to worse, I’ve also seen them go from worse to better – a family got a housing voucher, applied for a Habitat house, got a better job that pays the rent, found an affordable housing unit, and so on. The effects of affordable housing on the families I've worked with have been immediate and noticeable. Parents are more involved and pleasant when they pick up their child, and kids do better in school and social settings. A heavy weight appears lifted off of their shoulders. This is why I feel it is important to raise money and awareness for affordable housing – not just for the cause, but for the children, families, and individuals whose lives are improved because of more access to affordable housing. Every pedal stroke of the way I will carry the children and families I have worked with in my heart and remember that they are the ones I'm pedaling for.