A Vancouver non-profit that refurbishes bicycles for people in need is putting out an urgent call for old or unused bikes as it struggles to meet surging demand.
The Pedals for the People program is one of several initiatives non-profit Our Community Bikes operates, restoring up to 200 bicycles a year that are given away free of cost.
“We are giving bikes to at-risk youth, children facing poverty, newcomers to Canada, people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, people living with disabilities or mental health issues, the whole gamut,” Our Community Bikes executive director Sonia Suderman told Global News.
“Personal mobility is so closely tied to economic and social mobility that by providing people with a bike and transportation, we’re empowering them to find new opportunities, to potentially get a job, to get access to social services, to get out there and get connected to the community. Getting a bike can really change people’s lives.”
But demand for bicycles has surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the rising cost of gas.
Suderman said before the pandemic, the organization had a wait list of about 60 to 70 people. It’s now grown to more than 100 people, many of whom are waiting six or more months to get a pair of wheels.
Al MacEachern is among those currently on the list. When Global spoke with him at Oppenheimer Park on Saturday, he said he’d been waiting for a bike since mid-summer.
“I try to keep myself busy with volunteer work but I only have a small area. If I had a bike I could go more places,” he said.
“I’m not good in tight areas … in a bus, if I get too crowded, I just have to get off, plus paying. So I just don’t bother with buses.”
Suderman said, like in MacEachern’s case, public transit is not a good option for many of their clients either due to cost, time, or inflexible schedules.
Getting a bike gives people the freedom to move on their own terms, she said.
Freedom was the first thing to come to mind when bike recipient and Downtown Eastside peer worker Chuck Minaga was asked about the program.
Minaga said he lives in a single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel and he’d been relying on a mobility scooter until he got the bicycle six months ago, but that he rarely ever uses it anymore.
“It’s changed my life. I go out and I ride, I feel well, I do well, I sleep well,” he said.
“I live in a nine-by-nine room. So during the pandemic, it was really important to have a way of just getting out and clearing your head and staying away from people.”
Suderman said Our Community Bikes currently has enough donations to see them through about two weeks, but won’t have anything to refurbish after that.
She said they’re in particular need of youth bicycles (bikes with a 24-inch wheel size), but adult bikes are also always in demand.
Back at Oppenheimer Park, MacEachern said he is hopeful the backlog will clear up enough for him to get his own set of wheels soon.
“I think there’s a lot of people out there that have old bikes, kids bikes, adult bikes they’re not using,” he said.
“Instead of just letting them rot away, donate them. They will go to good use. A lot of good people could use them.”