Homeless connect with free bike repair, safety tips

Project Homeless Connect-2.jpg

Tony watches as Ian Stude from
the PSU Bike Co-op adjusts
the brakes on his bike.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Community groups and local bike shops came together yesterday to keep Portland’s homeless population rolling smooth on two wheels.

Thousands of families and individuals in need of basic health and social services came to the Memorial Coliseum in Portland yesterday for the annual Project Homeless Connect event. Among the many stations offering services was a transportation area that offered free bike helmets, lights, maps, and tune-ups.

Ian Stude from the PSU Bike Co-op and Alex Criss from River City Bicycles worked non-stop throughout the day to tighten, clean, repair and replace parts on numerous bikes. One bike makeover recipient was a man named Tony (he didn’t want to share his last name).

Project Homeless Connect-3.jpg

Tony said he paid only $19.99 for his bike and that he’s always been, “hesitant to spend $60-70 on a repair.” He was concerned about “mushy” feeling brakes. “It was taking me half a block to stop, a whole block in the rain,” he said as he pointed out a pair of newly-installed brake pads.

Tony was extremely grateful for the assistance and said, “Helping out some homeless guy with a bicycle, come on, you can’t beat that.”

In addition to free bike repair, trauma nurses from Legacy Emanuel Hospital fitted attendees with new helmets and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) hosted bike safety clinics.

The BTA’s Michelle Poyourow said they decided to ask each participant to attend a five-minute clinic before receiving the free services. She was initially worried that people would shy away from the clinic, but she soon realized people were eager to learn, especially if it meant they could get a free helmet, a set of lights, or a tune-up.

“We filled up the classes all day,” she said, “We had about 160 people go through…much more than last year.”

Read more about the event on the BTA’s blog.

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Jonathan Maus (Publisher/Editor)

Founder of BikePortland (in 2005). Father of three. North Portlander. Basketball lover. Car owner and driver. If you have questions or feedback about this site or my work, feel free to contact me at @jonathan_maus on Twitter, via email at maus.jonathan@gmail.com, or phone/text at 503-706-8804. Also, if you read and appreciate this site, please become a supporter.

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Qwendolyn
16 years ago

cool beans.

janis
janis
16 years ago

I just want to give a shout out to Ian and Alex. When they got there we already had 5-6 bikes lined up and bikes kept coming in all day.

They worked really hard and were very upbeat about it all. Thanks guys!

Janis
Transportation Options

Dabby
Dabby
16 years ago

I personally think Ian is a great guy. No matter what they say! (just kidding!)

Good job!

bahueh
bahueh
16 years ago

nice work, everybody.

interesting…trauma nurses putting on helmets…maybe they know something a lot of folks on this website don\’t..

Ashley
16 years ago

Totally awesome!

Austin Ramsland
16 years ago

What a fantastic and generous thing. Nice work Ian and Alex.

Bryan
Bryan
16 years ago

Oh man… free helmets, lights, and tune-ups for the homeless – what an awesome idea! Three cheers for Ian, Alex, all the trauma nurses, and everybody else involved!

Jean Reinhardt
Jean Reinhardt
16 years ago

The bicycle business\’ pay scale keeps bike business employees very aware of every working person\’s potential for homelessness; this is likely the source of their empathy.

anomalily
anomalily
16 years ago

As much as I dislike it when Jean R trolls here, she\’s so right this time around.

Lisa
Lisa
16 years ago

I hate to say this, but I\’m sure that not all of the homeless paid for their bikes like Tony did. I was wondering if anyone was checking the stolen bike registry?

\\\'jefe
\\\'jefe
16 years ago

Right on Ian, Alex, RCB, PSU, and BTA!