Bike and Build: An Introduction

This summer, I will be biking from the Outer Banks in North Carolina to San Diego, California. The trip is a part of the Bike and Build Program, which sends young adults on cross country bike trips to help build homes and give presentations on affordable housing along the way.

High cost burdens affect 43 percent of all renters, and half of these pay more than 50 percent of their income for their housing costs. In the absence of enough affordable units, households pay more money than they can afford and are constrained from meeting expenses for other basic needs such as medical care, childcare, and food.


Over the summer I will be biking 3,542 miles to inform others of this crisis and tell them how they can help. To match this great distance, I must raise $4,000 to participate in the program. As I train my legs and lungs, I hope to raise awareness among my friends and family. I hope you will become a part of my journey. I have already learned a lot about the difficulties so many individuals face at no fault of their own. If you would like to help enable this remarkable experience for a great cause, please visit My Donation Page (http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/3809) and make your meaningful contribution online.

A portion of the proceeds from this trip will go to benefit the Orange County Habitat for Humanity chapter in Orange County, North Carolina. That is right here near UNC Chapel Hill! They will use the money to fund student-run builds during the 2010-2011 school year. The remainder of the funds will be pooled into Bike & Build’s competitive grant program. The bike and build riders also have the opportunity to help decide who some of the recipients of these funds should be. So, if you know of any local youth-driven housing projects, please let me know so I can help them apply for the grants!

The following is a brief summary of the affordable housing crisis from http://www.afhh.org/comm_ar/comm_ar_crisis.htm:
The affordable housing crisis is most manifest in the gap between household income and housing costs for many Americans. This problem cuts across all boundaries: in no city, county, or other jurisdiction in the United States does a minimum wage job provide enough income for a household to afford to rent a two-bedroom home at the local fair market rate. This gap is growing: monthly housing costs grow 5-15 percent annually while the minimum wage has remained at $5.15 since 1997. In 2003, the national average wage needed to make the national average rent payment was $14.66—almost triple the minimum wage.

I encourage you to visit the Bike and Build website (www.bikeandbuild.org) to learn more about the affordable housing crisis and what is being done to help rectify the situation! And please spread the word and link to my donation page to anyone you believe may be interested in supporting the cause!