Christian Myers has a huge impact on his community and families through bicycles. Yes, bikes. His greatest accomplishment? “Knowing you’ve changed someones life”. That is some powerful stuff. So how is that done via bikes? Through the Earn-A-Bike scholarship with the Carpenter’s Shelter in Alexandria, he’s empowering people to work. A bike isn’t just an after-school activity for kids or a hobby for adults. This program enabled a single mom of 3 the transportation to get to work and provide for her family. Before that, she was walking 5+ miles per day to get to and from her job. That’s not it, though. In the Earn-A-Bike Youth program, kids spend 2 days a week at the shop for 4-6 weeks. They learn how to repair the bikes, building their own in the process that they get to keep. That’s still not it. In partnership with the TeensWork program, young adults are placed in a part-time job over the summer. Christian’s favorite part of his job is “To see how kindness can affect and change someones life”. Each of these programs has a direct impact on people’s lives, which is why he opened the shop in the first place. Christian saw opportunity beyond a bike repair shop. A place that makes a difference for the people in the community it serves. Find out more about what Velocity Bike COOP does at: www.velocitycoop.org
