There's a workshop housed in a church on the west side of Toledo where people inject new life into used, over-used and mis-used bicycles.
It's not just bicycles that are improved here. The children and adults who bring in their bicycles learn new skills, everything from fixing a tire to building a bicycle from the frame up.
Mark Hannon, co-founder of the Toledo City Bicycle Co-op, told the Toledo Blade that bikes arrive in all kinds of conditions:
“Some come in really bad shape. It really is truly amazing that, with relatively simple tools, you take something that was going to end up in somebody's trash and turn it into a working machine.”
Programs
The Toledo City Bike Co-Op, housed in the basement of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2272 Collingwood, is three years old and is partially funded by a Toledo Community Fund grant.
One of the most popular programs at the Toledo co-op is the bike repair workshop, where people can bring in their broken bicycles and fix them with the help of the co-op's tools and volunteers.
They also offer “build-a-bicycle.” Children take a frame and learn how to add all the components to make a working bike, which they get to keep.
North American co-ops
It's just one of 110 to 150 bicycle collectives and co-ops in North America.
Washington state, for instance, has four such collectives. They are Bike Works and the Bikery in Seattle, The Hub in Bellingham and Pedals2People in Spokane.
See a list of 110 bicycle collectives.
Some of their members will be meeting at the Bike!Bike! national conference in Minneapolis to learn how to better serve their communities. The Aug. 27-30 conference is hosted by the Grease Pit in Minneapolis.
Read up on some other bike collectives in the US and Canada at Momentum magazine.
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