Bike Works

Our mission is to build sustainable communities by educating youth and promoting bicycling. Bike Works has been working for kids, bikes, and community since 1996. Our programs invest in young people and encourage bicycling as a clean and healthy transportation alternative. Bike Works is an innovative organization centered around bicycles that combines youth development, community engagement, bicycle recycling and a social enterprise bike shop to help build a sustainable and healthy community. THE NEED Located in the heart of Columbia City, Bike Works provides programs and resources to a richly diverse neighborhood that, compared with Seattle as a whole, has high rates of poverty and poor community health indicators: 30% of Columbia City residents live below the poverty line, and King County Public Health data shows 20% of SE Seattle residents report no physical activity and 57% are overweight or obese. SE Seattle residents experience higher rates of diabetes and asthma than any other King County community. In addition, this area is home to some of the lowest performing schools in the county. HOW BIKE WORKS MAKES A DIFFERENCE Youth Development We empower youth to lead healthy and productive lives. Our programs introduce youth to the joy and freedom of bicycle riding, and provide opportunities for them to get out and explore their world by bicycle. In our classroom and out in the field our youth participants build confidence, critical thinking and life skills. They also learn what it means to give back. As they log community service hours in order to earn their own bicycle, our youth discover they have valuable skills to offer others in need. Learn more about our Youth Programs. Community Engagement From adult classes to volunteer opportunities to community events, Bike Works runs a series of community programs designed to engage the people in our neighborhood and promote bicycling. With the thousands of hours of volunteer help from our youth mechanics and community members, Bike Works also donates recycled bicycles to community-based organizations that serve homeless and disadvantaged populations. We also donate bicycles to communities abroad. Learn more about our Community Programs. Bicycle Recycling & Reuse All of our programs are run using bikes donated to us by the community. We view each and every bicycle donated, refurbished, and recycled back into the community as one less bike in the landfill, and hopefully one less car on the road. Learn more about our Recycle & Reuse Program. Non-Profit Community Bike Shop Bike Works aims to make bicycling accessible and affordable to people from all walks of life. Our bike shop sells affordable recycled bicycles to the greater Seattle community while generating revenue to run our youth programs, and helps further our mission to get more people riding bikes. Learn more about our Bike Shop.

ADULT EDUCATION: Already known far and wide for quality youth education in bicycle repair and beyond, Bike Works also offers excellent adult programs for people over 18 years of age. These programs include: -Repair classes for grown-ups of varying skill levels -Adult riding opportunities -Partnership programs for community organizations as well as corporate sites -Volunteer Repair Parties (VRP) where adults can practice their repair skills while building bikes to give back to the community -Bikes for All which provides low or no-cost bikes to people who need them for transportation, -Open Shop where adults can work on their own bikes using Bike Works? space and tools. Bike Works offers reduced fees for our adult classes in return for volunteer service. The volunteer work trade model is a way for us to give back to our volunteers and to invite our students to participate in our volunteer community. YOUTH EDUCATION: EARN A BIKE: Kids, Bikes, & Sweat Equity In our signature Earn-A-Bike program, kids build skills and self-confidence as they work with their hands and learn how to repair bikes. They also experience what it means to give back to their community, as they contribute community service hours refurbishing bikes which are donated to local nonprofits. After logging 18 hours of community service, kids earn their own bikes and build them with their own hands! STREET BURNERS: Ride It Like You Earned It! Our Youth Ventures program keeps youth from our Earn-A-Bike and partnership classes engaged in bicycling. It is not enough to help kids earn bikes and learn to fix them; without support and a riding partner, it is difficult to make cycling a part of their regular activities. Activities include neighborhood rides, safety rodeos, field trips to community and cycling events, mountain biking, BMX trick riding, and track racing. Our tag-line ?Ride It Like You Earned It!? captures the spirit of this program. SUMMER RIDING CAMPS: Bike Works offers summer riding camps, including self-supported bicycle touring camps. We developed these programs to give our youth participants the opportunity to experience the natural environment of the Pacific Northwest, and to encourage bicycling as an alternative and fun means of transportation. COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS: Many youth don?t have opportunities to become involved in after-school activities, and can?t attend our regular EAB classes. Our Community Partnerships program connects us with schools and community organizations to reach more youth. COMMUNITY BIKE SHOP: Each and every bicycle donated, refurbished, and recycled back into the community is one less bike in the landfill, and potentially one less car on the road. Our bike shop sells affordable, refurbished bicycles, and runs entirely on bikes donated from people just like you! One hundred percent of income raised in our shop goes to support youth programming - accounting for over 50% of our annual operating revenue. BICYCLE DISTRIBUTION & EXPORTS: A great deal of our resources and time is dedicated to returning defunct bicycles to the streets of Seattle. After a bicycle is fixed up by an Earn-A-Bike student or a volunteer, it may be repatriated to the community in a number of different ways. FareStart, a restaurant jobs-training program for homeless adults, receives Bike Works bikes for each graduate. Additionally, we donate extensively to Treehouse, a resource center for foster families.