Bike & Build Riders in Green River, Utah
We’ve been awarded an additional Bike & Build grant! The $2,200 grant will go towards our Fix It First program through which we perform home repairs for qualified homeowners in Green River, Utah. Through a revolving micro-loan, homeowners repay the cost of the repairs at an affordable rate. Homeowner payments are put back into the fund to perform future projects, creating a perpetual construction/payment cycle. The grant is part of an annual competition sponsored by Bike & Build, a national nonprofit that engages young adults ages 18-28 in service-oriented cycling trips across the United States.
Bike & Build operates eight cross-country routes each summer. Approximately 30 riders team up on each of these routes to pedal from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, along the way stopping in hundreds of communities to build with local housing affiliates like the Epicenter and to advocate for the need for increased availability of affordable housing for low-income Americans.
The grant awarded to the Epicenter was made by the Providence, RI to California route (P2C). The 30 riders on this trip, hailing from all over the United States, raised over $149,000 to donate to various housing nonprofits. Bike & Build riders both fundraise the money to support these organizations and make the competitive funding decisions. The P2C group valued the proposal submitted by the Epicenter because of its promise to engage young adults in addressing this serious need in Green River.
“We are deeply proud to support the Epicenter as they work to provide area low-income residents with stable, affordable homes. Our riders work extraordinarily hard to raise the money that funds Bike & Build grants. They are excited to see that effort pay off with such an innovative project idea,” said Justin Villere, Bike & Build’s Director of Operations and Outreach.
Based in Philadelphia, Bike & Build is a nonprofit organization that encourages young adults to address the country’s affordable housing crisis by participating in cross-country bicycle trips each summer. Trip participants, ages 18-28, support the affordable housing cause by fundraising and building. Since 2003, Bike & Build has engaged over 2,000 young adults to contribute over $4.5 million and 160,000 volunteer hours to housing nonprofits throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.bikeandbuild.org or call (267) 331-8488.
For more information about Fix It First, or if you would like to donate, contact Armando Rios at 435.564.3330.