Troy Bike Rescue
Location
We are a collective of people committed to removing bikes from the waste stream and getting them back on the streets to low income community members who need affordable transportation. Operating on a volunteer basis out of donated spaces, we also organize educational events on bicycling as transportation, urban renewal and community building.Troy Bike Rescue also brings people together across class and gender divides to come and share spaces and learn about each others lives.
About You
About You
First Name
Carolyn
Last Name
Braunius
Organization
Troy Bike Rescue
Country
United States, NY, Rensselaer County
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Troy Bike Rescue
Organization Website
Organization Phone
518-269-1917
Organization Address
51 3rd Street Troy NY
Organization Country
United States, NY, Rensselaer County
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Your idea
Name Your Project
Troy Bike Rescue
Country your work focuses on
United States, NY, Rensselaer County
Describe Your Idea
We are a collective of people committed to removing bikes from the waste stream and getting them back on the streets to low income community members who need affordable transportation. Operating on a volunteer basis out of donated spaces, we also organize educational events on bicycling as transportation, urban renewal and community building.Troy Bike Rescue also brings people together across class and gender divides to come and share spaces and learn about each others lives.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
Troy Bike Rescue's (TBR) motto is "mutual aid and respect."
This translates into an all volunteer project that promotes bicycling as environmentally friendly transportation and works to create an open space for everyone. Racism, misogyny, hetero-sexism and other forms of oppression are not tolerated in our shop or other events. TBR addresses oppressive actions or statements that take place within the shop environment.
TBR also addresses the income and class disparity in Troy. Many volunteers come from the prestigious university located in our city. Traditionally, the university told its students to stay out of the downtown neighborhood where the shop is located. TBR provides one of the only spaces in the city where the two communities can come in and interact with one another, learn from each other, and work together.
Community partnerships are also a fundamental part of Troy Bike Rescue. Social Change does not occur in a vacuum. Instead, it takes a consistent, encompassing approach. TBR is expanding partnerships with local groups, non profits, and religious organizations to build bicycling into their programming. From TBR's work with the Missing Like Street Ministry, to the bicycle tours of different parts of Troy's urban culture, the project has seen a steady increase in cycling as a bridge building activity in a run down city.
Troy Bike Rescue works to encourage everyone to ride bicycles. The program assists people who cannot afford automobiles with an affordable option, while encouraging people who can afford a car to ride a bike instead. With reducing carbon emissions and the environmental impact of petroleum consumption, TBR sees bicycling as an affordable green alternative that can be a very applicable option to slowing down the effects of global warming.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
No
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
Troy Bike Rescue's (TBR) motto is "community aid and mutual respect."
This is a volunteer project that promotes bicycling as environmentally friendly transportation and works to create an open space for everyone.
TBR has hosted one open night shop each week in Troy for the past two years, and 20-30 individuals typically pass through the shop looking for assistance at that time. During this time, volunteers show people how to repair their bicycles or assist them with project bikes. Project bikes are bicycles that are donated to the shop, and need some repair work. Once repaired, the bicycle adopter can take the bike home. TBR usually asks for a suggested donation of either money to cover the shops operating costs, or for the individual to come back and volunteer for the organization.
TBR has seen a steady increase of people coming to the shop for repair assistance. This open shop has helped a lot of low income individuals who didn't have access or could afford a local bike shop's prices maintain their primary means of transportation.
Last year, TBR talked to several people of color, low income individuals and college students who had been ticketed by the police for not having bells and lights on their bikes. TBR started stocking bells and lights at cost or for free for people who needed them for their bikes. This year, TBR has established a positive relationship with the community police force, which has alleviated some of the oppressive actions. TBR is still working on improving the city's relationship with all kinds of cyclists. TBR is also working with the local community police agencies at their bicycle events to bridge a link between the police and people.
TBR is a place for kids to come in off the street and hang out in a structured environment and earn a bicycle.
For the past two years, TBR has also donated recycled kids bicycles to the local domestic violence program's housing project. This project gives bikes to kids may not get one otherwise.
Problem
Troy NY is a small, economically depressed city that lacks some fundamental resources for its community. About 14.3% of families and 19.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over, according to the census in 2000.
TBR focuses on promoting bicycles as a reliable form of transportation considering the current focus on oil shortages, economic recession, and climate change. Troy NY does not have an expansive public transportation network, and many of its citizens cannot afford a car. A bicycle provides an effective, green, self-reliant mode of transportation.
TBR also addresses the income and class disparity in Troy. Many volunteers come from the prestigious university located in our city. Traditionally, the university told its students to stay out of the downtown neighborhood where the shop is located. TBR provides one of the only spaces in the city where the two communities can come in and interact with one another, learn from each other, and work together.
Actions
Troy Bike Rescue has a regular shop schedule, community events, and is expanding its outreach opportunities.
Monday nights are open shop. This night focuses on teaching people how to fix their bicycles, and helping people repair their project bikes. This is currently the most popular shop evening.
Wednesdays are Learn & Earn. This night focuses on teaching specific skills or participating in shop projects. Here attendees learn how to specific bike repair skills, like wheel rebuilding. Shop projects include sorting and cleaning parts for recycling.
TBR also added a Women, Femmes, and Trans night to the shop, to promote the idea that everyone was welcome in the shop. Currently it is once a month, but it has had a positive effect on diversifying the shop's attendance during other nights. Once people knew everyone was welcome, the shop clients became more diverse.
TBR has organized a variety of community events, such as group rides, film festivals and Bike Bike Northeast. This programming focuses on expanding bicycle culture and awareness of community bike projects in the Capital District and beyond.
Results
Troy Bike Rescue is becoming a bridge organization between city projects that have either served the upper white middle class in the area, and the low income people of color population in the city.
Troy Bike Rescue has seen a lot of people pass through the shop and participating. Kids have been coming in off the street to learn about bicycles and have stayed on to volunteer. Troy's community police force has come out in support of the project, after being anti-cyclist over the past two years.
The growth of the core volunteers has also added exponentially to what the project can accomplish. New programs are being implemented and tangential community contacts are being solidified.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
First Year:
1. Formalize organization structure and volunteer roles. Currently, TBR is examining what it would mean to stay a small business or transfer into a non-profit. Troy NY has traditionally been opposed to non-profits, so TBR is weighing whether or not it would be effective for the organization to do it.
2. Expand the core volunteer group. Over the next year, with more core volunteers, new programming and organizational networking is occurring.
3. New relationships are being established with community groups and local farmers markets.
4. Implement strategic planning with its expanded membership to see what options will be possible in the next 5 years. Carolyn Braunius, one of the original core volunteers, is trained in facilitated leadership models and strategic planning from the World Bridge Institute.
5. Begin looking at available spaces within the Troy area to see if expansion is viable and economically possible.
6. Organize community events focusing on expanding bicycle culture.
7. Add satellite bike spaces in the north end of the city, beginning with a mobile repair unit with the Missing Link Street Ministry.
Second year:
1. Evaluate last year's work and see what projects should be continued and what projects might need revamping.
2. Continue to expand community connections and participation. See if moving to a larger space would be a possibility.
3. Develop allies within the community to expand bicycle culture and participation.
4. Continue to recruit and train volunteers.
5. Expand the mobile repair units to more solidified structures, within the north end of Troy. This may include purchasing a shipping container to be the base of operations there. The Missing Link Street Ministry already owns a vacant lot in North Troy and has offered it to TBR for program use.
Third Year:
1. Find a larger space for operations and storage for Troy Bike Rescue's central location.
2. Repeat Year 2 Goals.
3. Evaluate last years work and see where the program can expand and improve.
What would prevent your project from being a success?
Troy Bike Rescue relies heavily on donated space. Our current shop and storage place are donated by sympathetic landlords. If we lost our spaces, we would have to reorganize our shop and inventory of donated items, which would most likely halt our community involvement. Finding a secure location to base TBR operations would help secure the organization's presence in the community.
TBR also relies on volunteer hours to complete all administrative and shop functions. Currently the main shop organizers are hosting shop hours and performing all administrative tasks. New volunteers are coming in that are interested in helping with more of the administrative shop work.
How many people will your project serve annually?
101‐1000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
$100 ‐ 1000
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Yes
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
Is your organization a
For‐profit
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
The Sanctuary For Independet Media
How long has this organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have a non-monetary partnerships with government?
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
TBR's partnership with the Sanctuary For Independent Media has provided the organization with a venue for doing larger bicycle culture promoting events. TBR has hosted several events at the Sanctuary, which have been well attended.
The Sanctuary connected TBR with the Missing Link Street Ministry. This relationship brings TBR into a direct connection with an undeserved population in Troy. The Missing Link has provided TBR with an outdoor space for bicycle clinics and rodeos on an ongoing basis.
TBR is also building a relationship with the local social services organization Unity House, to provide families receiving services from them with bicycles. TBR is looking to expand that project and other programming within the organization.
TBR also has worked with the Honest Weight Food Cooperative and the Community Gardens to promote cycling and local food as urban environmental activism.
This network of community organizations brings together communities that have been previously polarized. This diverse growth creates sustainability.TBR is able to bring services to people who need them, while raising awareness in the activist community on issues concerning urban poverty.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
1. Space: We have currently outgrown our donated workshop space and have been unable easily assist everyone who comes into Troy Bike Rescue for open shop or other shop programs. TBR is also developing a fleet of cargo bikes for community involvement; however, the shop doesn't have a place to store them inside, out of the elements. The organization has also received a lot of donated bicycles. Currently, there is a free space to store them in a building that is for sale. If the building is sold, TBR would have to relocate or dispose of the backup stock.
2. Time: TBR has been give a lot of bicycles and other donations from the local communities. However, there is now a large pile of bicycles throughout the city that need to be processed, into either bikes for the shop or stripped down for steel recycling. Since everyone at the shop volunteers and the shop is operating at capacity, it has been difficult to carve out time to sort through the large pile of bicycles that TBR has accumulated. TBR is developing a plan to streamline its operations, it is just now looking to schedule time for volunteers to come and help process the inventory. TBR also needs to support itself and formalize its organizational structure, and data keeping from paper to an electronic system.
3. Resources. TBR is expanding its programming and is planning on purchasing a large amount of tools and supplies to support project expansion. TBR also has to purchase new items for bicycles that cannot be recycled, such as brake pads and tires. Since the organization will not refuse services to someone if they are unable to make a cash donation, TBR sometimes has to swallow the cost of these items.
The Story
What was the defining moment that you led to this innovation?
Troy Bike Rescue, in its infancy was merely a social mechanism to bring people together (often over a potluck or parking lot barbecue) to fix bicycles. The inspiration was truly the heaps of twisted bicycles that were found in dumpsters, garbage piles, and roadsides in the city of Troy. These bicycles were at once symbols of the culture of over-consumption, the ubiquity of disposable goods, and human expertise at waste production.
As early volunteers collected them, and brainstormed ways to involve the community in addressing these issues, it became apparent that the mechanical simplicity of the modern bicycles, as well as its many interchangeable parts could be a powerful icon of the creation of a more sane and sustainable culture that thrives on re-use and recycling. In the months and years that followed, the project naturally evolved to become one that could sustain itself through varying kinds of leadership and participation and take on a meaningful relationship with the larger community and city. Today TBR is a well-respected collectively organized project that interfaces with community members on a daily basis, meeting needs, building allies, making friends, and continuing to grow and evolve.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Andrew Lynn began Troy Bike Rescue as part of his Master's Project at Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute. He began pulling bicycles out of dumpsters and repairing them. His solo project slowly began gaining volunteers, produced a free bicycle fleet for the city, and taught a lot of people about maintaining their own bicycles. Andrew left Troy in 2004 to go to NYC. There, he became involved in bicycle advocacy groups and other community bike projects. When he returned to Troy in 2008, he became involved in the project again, and started expanding the vision of what a community bike space could do in the community.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Friend or family member
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
 | Carolyn TBR said: Hi Rebecca, Great question! We've seen the relationship between the local community police force and people who use bicycles for ... about this Competition Entry. - 526 days ago read more > |
| Carolyn TBR said: Hi Rebecca, Great question! We've seen the relationship between the local community police force and people who use bicycles for ... about this Competition Entry. - 526 days ago read more > |
| rstone said: Thanks for posting your entry- this sounds like a great program with a lot of impacts! There was one aspect that really interested me ... about this Competition Entry. - 545 days ago read more > |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 576 days ago |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 584 days ago |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 584 days ago |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 584 days ago |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 584 days ago |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 585 days ago |
| Carolyn TBR updated this Competition Entry. - 585 days ago |
Comments
Thanks for posting your entry- this sounds like a great program with a lot of impacts! There was one aspect that really interested me and I was hoping you could say more about it. Can you point to any results so far that show how the project is connecting people from different neighborhoods and demographics and forming lasting community connections? Or, more generally, how the project is really strengthening the whole community (and not just providing bikes)?
Hi Rebecca,
Great question! We've seen the relationship between the local community police force and people who use bicycles for transportation this past year.
If you could come to our shop, you would see a mix of people from all walks of life coming together to work. Troy has a lot of NYC transplants, who moved here for the lower cost of living. We also have a lot of people whose families have been settled in Troy for a long time. There families have been living in a post-industrial urban landscape for awhile.
Our city keeps people pretty segregated. However, we see them come together during our open shop nights. Everyone is treated equally at TBR and we all come together to accomplish projects.
Since most the bikes that are available for adoption need at least two nights of work to make them road worthy, people need to keep coming back and working with volunteers to get there project done.
Best,
Carolyn
Hi Rebecca,
Great question! We've seen the relationship between the local community police force and people who use bicycles for transportation this past year.
If you could come to our shop, you would see a mix of people from all walks of life coming together to work. Troy has a lot of NYC transplants, who moved here for the lower cost of living. We also have a lot of people whose families have been settled in Troy for a long time. There families have been living in a post-industrial urban landscape for awhile.
Our city keeps people pretty segregated. However, we see them come together during our open shop nights. Everyone is treated equally at TBR and we all come together to accomplish projects.
Since most the bikes that are available for adoption need at least two nights of work to make them road worthy, people need to keep coming back and working with volunteers to get there project done.
Best,
Carolyn