PROJECTS
1
THE SHOP
We offer a full range of bike shop services and sales. Our volunteer shop mechanics refurbish and up-cycle bike donations into safe and affordable bikes for the community. If you have a question about inventory call the shop at 610 507 4820.
We aim to create a safe space for many folks who are traditionally left out of, or isolate themselves from, community spaces.
4
ROLL.RIGHT.
READ. & EARN A BIKE
In partnership with Reading Public Library, Reading Bike Hub launched 'Roll, Right, Read!' last November through May 2016. Roll, Right, Read! uniquely combined bike education and literacy in an interactive after-school program that was funded through a national grant award from The Association for Library Service to Children, through a fund from Disney.
During the Hub's first year volunteer instructors led 10 students through an intensive Earn-A-Bike program where students built and earned their own bikes through program participation.
2
ROLL.RIGHT.RDG.
We support community members to organize and lead weekly bike rides.
We each ride for our own reasons: to enjoy a unique perspective of our city; to educate our community that people on bikes belong on the road as legal road vehicles; to educate people on bikes how to ride safely; to get out of the house and to enjoy each other's company. (Official season is April through September.) Volunteer as a Ride Guide.
5
MENTORING.
Many students 'hang out' at the Shop during the high-risk after-school hours and are informally mentored by Hub crew members. Young or transitioning adults also often spend time at the Shop, building relationships with each other and being mentored by adult crew members.
Both students and adults participate in informal bike education, teaching each other how to fix and maintain bicycles.
3
POP UP PARK
Community members mobilized to transform a blighted lot into an active community space featuring Reading's first outdoor bicycle recreational facility, and community gardens built by local students.
6
COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
Hub crew members advocate for the implementation of the Complete Streets policy, adopted in a proclamation by Mayor Spencer in summer 2015. Complete Streets consider all people who use our streets, including people who walk and who ride bicycles.
Reading Bike Hub is guided by the framework of STAR Communities, which rated Reading low in the category of social equity and empowerment. We work to include folks who are traditionally left out of the established power structure. We are taking community revitilization out of the Board Room and into our Shop, streets and community spaces.