Jesse's Bike and Build Travelogues: My Story

I first found myself working with Habitat for Humanity last April during my fourth project in my year with AmeriCorps NCCC. NCCC is a team-based national service organization for 18-24 year-olds that works on a variety of full-time 5-10 week projects. While my campus was based out of Sacramento, CA, all of our campuses split time between our home regions and the Gulf area due to the dire need post-hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike. My team and I lived and worked in a neighborhood of Lafayette, LA, a city in the heart Cajun country in central-southern Louisiana.

There we worked with homeowners and volunteers on two houses in our neighborhood. We started with one house being roofed and another just a blank concrete slab. By the end, both had finished exteriors and were ready for interior painting. We were even able to perform a blitz build during our last week, framing up the exteriors of two more houses before we left.

The great part about my experience with building in Lafayette was the fact that I was able to live in a Habitat community and talk quite a bit with my neighbors. Most were former residents of New Orleans. Many shared stories of their escape from Katrina and of the subsequent diasporas of their families and neighborhoods. Many spent weeks or months in shelters and were left traumatized and out of touch of loved ones. One neighbor was only now just being able to organize a first family reunion since the hurricane. When the waters receded in NOLA, most discovered their homes destroyed and their old neighborhoods had become war zones. Through such trauma, Habitat was there to bring some level of stability back into their life. It’s amazing what a roof overhead in a safe area can do for someone.

I have found that affordable housing programs Habitat succeed because they don’t just build homes, they create communities. Because of Habit’s Sweat Equity requirement, the homeowners had all worked with each other building theirs or their neighbor’s houses. This bond meant they all knew and looked out for each other. During evenings when we would sit or cook on our porch we would be greeted by all of our neighbors as they walked back and forth to each other’s houses. As a result of this sense of community, the area was safer, quieter, and friendlier than the surrounding neighborhoods. It was great to see firsthand what the claims that the organization promotes through its research—affordable houses builds strong communities.

Bike and Build

My next step in helping out with the cause of affordable housing has been through the Bike and Build organization. Bike and Build is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises money for affordable housing organizations including but not limited to Habitat for Humanity. The organization's mission is to... "End poverty housing. Through fund-raising cycling trips, Bike & Build raises money for and awareness of affordable housing efforts. Our events act as a catalyst to build homes, foster the spirit of service, and empower young adults... mile by mile, house by house."

The mission of the program is carried out most visibly through a biking tour of the United States from east coast to west coast, stopping in cities to volunteer at different affordable housing affiliates. In eight different routes across the country, young volunteers (18-25 years old) in groups of about thirty trek through amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesty alike and visit almost every state in the contiguous United States (as well as one Canadian province). The trips average about 70 miles a day and stop weekly for days in which to volunteer at build sites.

I personally will be biking on the Central US route next summer, a trip that starts in Virginia Beach, VA and ends in Cannon Beach, OR outside of Portland. The trip visits such highlights as the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia...