A number of University students are planning to volunteer this summer for Bike & Build — a national non-profit organization that raises funds and generates awareness for affordable housing. Each volunteer will ride his or her bike 4,000 miles across the country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, working along the way with local non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Rebuilding Together.
Justin Villere, Bike & Build’s director of operations and outreach, said that although the volunteering is demanding work, most riders do not have extensive prior experience. Rather, the group seeks individuals who are committed to service.
“Most Bike & Builders actually are not experienced cyclists or builders when the summer begins,” Villere said in a news release. “We strive to engage young people with a passion for service and adventure. Because of this, our riders make an incredible impact in hundreds of communities.”
During its 10 years of operation, Bike and Build has raised $4.5 million to fund housing groups and other projects initiated and organized by young adults. Second-year Nursing student Daniel Poehailos — who will volunteer for Bike & Build this summer — said helping families pay for housing lets them focus on other important budget areas, like education.
“Forty million Americans are paying over 30 percent of their income on housing, 20 million of that 40 million are paying over 50 percent,” Poehailos said. “The families aren’t focusing on family education, healthcare, etc. It becomes a vicious circle where family is at at risk for the future. [A] family [that] has [a] mental onus for disabilities or mental backgrounds will not be able to get out of the situation if they don’t get helping hands.”
Poehailos said he thought the effort will also draw needed attention to an important societal issue.
“I think that 240 young adults biking across the U.S. is in and of itself a feat that immediately draws attention to the public,” he said. “Across the U.S. we will be stopping into cities as big as Seattle to towns with populations barely in the hundreds to give presentations about the affordable housing cause.”
Poehailos will be riding along the route beginning in Providence, Rhode Island, and ending in Seattle, one of eight east-to-west routes available this year. Harmony Pham, a third-year Nursing student, will be participating along the route from Virginia Beach to Canon Beach, Oregon.
Pham, who works with the Habitat for Humanity program here at the University, became interested in the program after members of her service fraternity participated last year. Through growing close to community members, Pham said she has seen the impact that affordable housing can have on families.
“It’s often overlooked,” Pham said. “We don’t realize how much of an impact having affordable housing has on your life.”
Pham said the program will help raise awareness about affordable housing by giving presentations in all of the cities that they stop in. Volunteers will also stop at scheduled build sites along the way, where they will assist in building houses.
“At each build site… we have either one or two days,” Pham said. “We just build at whatever point they are, just like how Habitat for Humanity here works.”
In order to participate in the trip, each rider is required to raise at least $4,500. All of the money raised is donated directly to housing projects. Communities can then apply to the program for grants to build houses.
“Up to this point, most of my fundraising has been writing letters to friends and family,” Poehailos said. “If given the time, I want to set up a bike trainer somewhere on the Corner — see if I can get the attention of some students!”
Both Pham and Poehailos said they are excited to be participating in the program this summer and encouraged students to check out the organization’s website to learn more about the housing problems and how to help.
“I believe the most important way to participate is educating yourself about the homelessness issue around the country as well as your hometown,” Poehailos said.
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