The Affordable Housing Cause

Pedaled for Affordable Housing from 2003 to 2023

Before the trip, each rider was expected to spend at least 15 hours volunteering on a build site with a local affordable housing organization. Riders must have also participated in our Affordable Housing Curriculum in addition to the required build hours.

What Is Affordable Housing?

A home is affordable if payments plus taxes and basic utilities do not exceed 30% of a household’s gross income.

Unfortunately, far too many people in the United States do not have the financial means to rent or own a home that is affordable, safe, and durable.

Extremely Low-Income (ELI) individuals and families, whose income as at or below 30% of the median income in their area, often spend over 50% of their incomes on housing. This leaves them with few funds left over for basic nutritional, medical, and educational needs. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) 1 out of 4 rental households (11+ million households) in the U.S., fall into this category.

As the federal minimum wage has stagnated at $7.25 since 2009, it is increasingly difficult to keep pace with rising costs. To afford the national Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, an individual would need to work 94.5 hours at minimum wage.

Because of rising costs, many families are relegated to homes that are inexpensive but considered physically inadequate. Such homes may lack access to basic utilities (e.g., electricity), or they may include units with structural deficiencies (e.g., handicap inaccessibility, poor insulation, and damaged roofs). These realities impact millions of homes across the country.

Advocacy

Our riders were very much ambassadors for the affordable housing cause. Riders prepared host presentations for the various church congregations and other community members who may have hosted them overnight or for a meal in order to talk a little bit about the cause, and why they dedicated their summer to this cause. In communities through which they passed, riders talked to local residents and spread the message of what it means to pedal for affordable housing.

Service

On the road, rider teams stop about every fifth day and riders trade their bikes for hammers or saws to help on an affordable housing build site with a local affiliate. For Bike & Builders, “days off” are really “days on” as riders serve alongside local community members in a hands-on application of Bike & Build’s mission to impact affordable housing. Additionally, prior to the trip every rider must complete 15 hours of “sweat equity” volunteer work on a local affordable housing affiliate site in their communities.

In 2019, Bike & Build introduced “Affordable Housing Days” – a chance for teams to take a day off of their bikes and connect with local communities about local affordable housing issues and community solutions.

Education

Every Bike & Build rider participates in a curriculum designed to inform not only our riders, but also the community members that our riders meet during the summer. Pre-trip, riders will read about and discuss in small groups the various issues surrounding the cause: public housing; sustainability; socioeconomic influences; etc.

They will also meet with an individual in their community impacted by the crisis. During the trip, each rider will share what they’ve learned from those conversations, both with their fellow Bike & Build teammates and with the community members they meet on the road.

Gaining Knowledge to Become an Advocate

The educational component to any Bike & Build program went beyond learning through experience. While all Bike & Builders gained first-hand experience with affordable housing organizations around the US, they also participated at varying levels in our Affordable Housing Curriculum to dig deeper into the cause.

The Affordable Housing Curriculum

1. Town Facts

Whether riding or volunteering for one day or eighty days, Bike & Build participants researched the towns and cities through which they rode in order to provide context for the trip. They learned about housing-specific movements and work, while also highlighting the quirks and fun facts in communities large and small.

Community Rides
Hubs
Cross Country

Regional
VAAP

Hubs
Cross Country
Regional
VAAP

2. The Foundation

Bike & Build shares five resources with Participants to provide the context necessary to understand the affordable housing crisis today. These resources (watch, listen, read) introduce terms and concepts relevant to their Bike & Build experience such as “redlining,” “fair market rent,” “housing first,” and others.

3. Interviews

To further contextualize the cause, participants conducted interviews of affordable housing affiliates in their communities prior to their participation in a Bike & Build event. These affiliates could include leaders of local housing nonprofits; government leaders advocating for affordable housing; Community Development Corporations; or others.

Hubs
Cross Country
Regional
VAAP

Hubs
Cross Country
Regional
VAAP

4. Small Group Discussions

Understanding all there is to know about affordable housing is no simple task. To help participants start to grasp the issue, they would participate in weekly discussion groups for 6-8 weeks. Each person would take turns in their small groups facilitating discussions with teammates around the multifaceted issue that is affordable housing.

Weeks 1-2: Groups would discuss the history of affordable housing in the United States, the discriminatory practices that created housing inequities along racial lines, and policies in the US that influenced where housing is today.

Weeks 3-4: From there, groups would learn about how housing issues vary across the US; how urban affordable housing differs from rural affordable housing; and what kinds of programs and policies exist to provide housing in these areas.

Weeks 5-6: Groups would then look at the intersectionality of affordable housing with other social justice issues, including LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, transportation equity, sustainability, and others.

Weeks 7-8: To close out the curriculum, groups would take a more focused look on affordable housing in their communities and who is taking action at a political, nonprofit, and community organizing level.

5. Sweat Equity

The final piece to the Affordable Housing Curriculum is direct service. Participants would spend 15+ hours volunteering with an affordable housing organization in their community prior to their program, gaining insight into the work being done by organizations locally.

Hubs
Cross Country
Regional

Research

These organizations have a wealth of resources on affordable housing:

Volunteer

Find out what is going on in your community. Organizations are always eager for volunteer help. Here’s a few to check out:

Supporting Affordable Housing Since 2003

Between 2003-2019, Bike & Build granted more than $6.7 million to 1,450 affordable housing organizations.

Our Competitive Grant recipients put our support to good use. On average, each grant allowed:

16

homes/apartments to be built or renovated

135

residents to benefit from these efforts