Throughout the summer, kids showed up to the Berston Field House in Flint around 4:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The recreation center is known for its boxing and basketball programs, but these students came for a somewhat less popular sport – bicycling.
The Berston Bicycle Club Project started in 2012, when founder Angela Stamps moved back to Flint after spending years in Los Angeles. She started riding in California out of necessity – her car had gotten repossessed so she needed a low-cost way to get around. Her boyfriend bought her a bicycle and her life was never the same after that.
“A bike can change everything,” Angela said. “The community thinks they have scarce resources, but what do they have? A used bicycle fleet.”
The Berston Bicycle Club is a nine-week class for Flint youth ages 10-18. Students ride for at least an hour-and-a-half two to three times a week and if they complete the program (ride a minimum of twice per week), they take home a free bike, helmet, bag, and safety gear.
The main goal of the program is to give kids a mode of transportation and teach them about bike safety, but students learn a ton more than that: they get healthy, meet new friends, learn about their city, and gain valuable independence.
Encouraging youth to bike can lead to changes throughout the community. Angela said since the program began, there seems to be more people biking throughout Flint and a wider acceptance for narrowing roads and adding bike lanes. Although she doesn’t think the bike club has facilitated the change alone, seeing more bicyclists on the street encourages others to do the same.
Bicycling can have a positive effect on a community’s health and well-being. In Boston, for example, leaders went so far as to prescribe low-income patients free bike-share membership to help tackle obesity, heart disease, and other illnesses. Research also shows that walking and biking improves mood, attitudes, diet, and happiness – something everyone has room to improve on.
And, possibly most importantly, biking gives everyone equal opportunities. Public spaces shouldn’t be designed for cars, they should be designed for people. Building trails, protected bike paths, and designing streets for all users is a great way to prioritize democracy and equality.
“Some kids spend their entire summer indoors playing video games, sitting on the computer, and watching TV,” Angela said. “They need to get out of the house and see new places in their city. Biking gives them a mode of transportation and the independence to explore, go to school, and get to work without having to depend on anybody.”
Fostering independence, healthy lifestyles, and stronger communities is exactly what the Berston Bicycle Club is about. Read the complete case study here and learn how to replicate a similar project in your own community.