Strategic Plan 2016-2020 New Hope Community Bikes
Building community through bicycles
2
Board of Directors Jeff Neven - Co-founder/President Jeff works in the affordable housing industry and is passionate about affordable transportation as well. He brings experience with charitable governance and non-profit governance.
Mandy Dreyer Mandy is a Registered Massage Therapist and personal trainer. She has raced competitively and won the Paris to Ancaster on a number of occasions.
Rob Kloet - Treasurer Rob is a Certified Management Accountant and a seasoned cyclist. Rob cycles hundreds of kilometers a week usually before the sun rises.
Luke Wilson Luke has an MBA and is the Ontairo Director for an environmental non-profit, ARocha. He brings expeirnece with non-profit operations and visioning.
Nicola Gladwell Nicola works in Social work and is passionate about getting youth out into nature. She has also worked at New Hope Bikes and is an experienced mechanic who helps out with women’s nights.
Students of W.H. Ballard Public School participate in Ride Smart School based cycle safety program, Spring 2015
3
Message from the Manager Often I describe my job at New Hope Community Bikes as, “the dream job I never knew existed.” Every day at NHCB looks different from the one prior, and the same is true each year. When I started in 2010, I could not have imagined what NHCB would be in 2015, and I’m excited to plan for what the next five years will hold. We have played a strong role in building and strengthening our neighbourhood and the cycling community in Hamilton. Our two strategic commitments of Community Leadership and Education are the core of where we have come from and where we are going. These commitments will move us forward to be even more involved in our community and have a larger impact than ever before. 2015 was a big year for NHCB, our new school based cycle program helped us to focus our energy and resources and was an overwhelming success in its first year, training 729 students in safe cycling skills. It is this kind of large impact programming, balanced with one-to-one repair training that will continue to drive our organization forward. Like the variety of cog sizes found on a cassette, NHCB’s success will come from engaging all different sizes of groups, and shifting a diverse group of people into the environmentally sustainable, economically viable and joyous activity of cycling. Thanks for being interested in our story! Andrew Hibma Shop Manager
A class of elementary students from Oakville Christian School help with spring clean-up at 1422 Storefront.
4
Timeline 2012
Dirty hands = clean bikes
2011
2010
2009
In the late months of 2012, Indwell, NHCB”s landlords, purchased two properties on the south side of Main Street, 1422 and 1424. Both of these properties had been eyesores, and places of illegal activity. Indwell initially purchased the properties with the intent of tearing them down, but, after some conversation and dreaming decided to refurbish them and turn the 1422 location into the new home of NHCB. Once again, volunteers pitched in. This time to help refurbish the building which had to be gutted down to the studs. Indwell worked with NHCB staff to dream and design what the new storefront could look like and how the space could be welcoming to everyone.
In 2011 NHCB started working with schools, providing after school bike repair and teaching safe cycling principles. To make these repair events easier, the aptly named “Pig” was built. This 300lb tricycle was built from the frame of an old “Dickie-Dee” ice cream bike and became a mobile bike shop that could take all the tools needed to locations throughout the city. Named the “Pig” because of how difficult it was to ride, staff and volunteers rode the oversized trike to many events, including up rail trails to events at Redeemer and Mohawk College. To build cycling culture and celebrate existing cycling infrastructure in the city, the Steel City Bike Festival was started in 2011, as a way to bring cyclists together and has grown and continued ever since.
Space at 1429 Main St. E. was renovated in 2010 and NHCB moved across the street to 1418 Main St. E. The space worked alright as a bike shop but staff relied on space heaters, gloves and toques to stay warm in the winter. The 1418 space brought some major transitions including: the hiring of year round part time staff and the development of a website. NHCB was no longer just a dimly lit place where people could go and get their hands dirty, it was slowly becoming a place where bike culture and community was fostered and created.
New Hope Community Bikes started when Jeff Neven pitched the idea of a bike co-op to then Redeemer student Sid Slotegraaf. The two avid bike riders met at a 24 Hour Bike Race and Jeff shared his experience of starting a bike co-op in Michigan. Shortly after this connection, NHCB was started as an outreach of New Hope Church, by offering simple bike repairs at the Ottawa Street Farmers Market. With the help of a Canada Summer Jobs grant, Sid was able to continue this work during the summer of 2009 and the shop opened with a physical location that occupied the old dance floor of the former Jam Rock Night Club at Main and Kenilworth in Hamilton.
300-400 Bikes Refurbished Each Year
5
2015 2014
Ride Smart Cycle education program was the biggest achievement in 2015, it also charted a new direction for the organization as the educaitonal focus moved outside of the storefront location and into schools, community events and parks.
By the beginning of 2014, NHCB was well established in its new home, and at the same time was granted its own charitable status as an educational charity. Also, in 2014, with the funding help of the Hamilton Community Foundation New Hope Community Bikes started a cargo bike rental program, intended to provide more people with access to cargo bikes and sustainable transportation. The program was an overwhelming success and all 6 bikes had waiting lists for when they could be rented out next. The program made access to bikes, that would otherwise be too expensive, easy so that more people could experience what a more cycle-centric city could look like.
729
Students received Ride Smart training in 2015
2020 GOAL:
In 2015, Hamilton got it’s first cycle advocacy group “Cycle Hamilton�. Bike lanes are just the beginning! Long standing volunteer Tyler Gorr at the 1418 location in 2010.
20162020
600
Bikes refurbished per year by 2020
Space is always a major concern for NHCB. The nature of accepting donated bikes and refurbishing these bikes with new and used parts means that storage space and work space is always lacking. Especially in summer months, when demand for repairs and workspace is high there is never enough space for sumemr staff, volunteers and people who want to work on their own bikes. New directions in the future will be made around dealing with this ever growing need for space. Background: A refurbished Norco turned into a city hybrid
6
A Bicycle Education Charity New Hope Community Bikes has a core focus on education. Whether it’s teaching youth how to repair their own flat tire, or teaching the art of wheelbuilding, activities inside and outside of the shop derive from the goal of empowering people with new skills related to cycling and bike repair. What it looks like Our educational outcomes are delivered in formal and informal situations. Formal education includes: Ride Smart, our week long school based cycle education program for students in grade 5-7, monthly basic bike repair classes, monthly women’s only classes, quarterly wheel building classes, and contract workshops for businesses and
organizations such as the City of Hamilton. Informal educaiton happens anytime the shop is open, where anyone can come in to work on his or her own bike, skilled mechanics are always ready to lend a helping hand to teach riders how to maintain their ride. Our workspace is equipped with five complete workstations that everyone is welcome to use on a pay-what-you-can basis. The suggested donation for this is $5/hour if you don’t need a lot of staff oversight, and $10/hour if we work alongside. NHCB is a sought out voice for everything bike related in the city of Hamilton.
Top: 1422 Storefront and DIY Space, tool bench with ParkToools Left: Ride Smart bikes ready to be used by Grade 5-7s at Franklin Road School
7
Mission, Vision, Values Mission
New Hope Community Bikes is a learning hub for building and repairing bikes, offering safe cycling education, providing access to affordable transportation, and fostering a rich and inclusive cycling community. Vision Building community through bicycles Values Community: It is everyone’s bike shop for everyone. Care: We care about our neighbours; we love our neighbours and our neighbourhood, and we want it to be better. This includes active healthy living, safe cycling and access to transportation. Repair: We believe that God is at work in restoring all things, and that fixing bikes is part of this story of redemption--all things being made new! Below: Volunteers help customers repair their own bikes and get them ready to ride again.
Education is at the core of everything NHCB does and has many different gears including: Ride Smart Cycle Education In-School Program, Drop-in DIY shop space with staff oversight available 1800 hours per year; and monthly formal bike repair workshops.
8
Strategic
Commitment 1: Experiential Education Build & deliver the best cycling education programs for Hamilton and the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Goal: Develop Ride Smart into a regionally recognized and sought after program. Measure: 1,000+ youth educated in cycling skills each year. 2,500 students per year by 2020, more than doubling the program capacity. Impact: Cycling skills help develop a healthy, active lifestyle, and are an important part of a child’s physical literacy. Skills developed at a young age will become lifelong skills and will even carry over to creating safer driviers. Goal: Expand cycle repair education opportunities with training courses, partnerships with schools and new programming. Create a certificaiton program for youth to receive training in bike mechanics. Measure: 7 new trained youth mechanics per year.
Students at W.H. Ballard School play a balance game called Elimination during the Ride Smart program.
Impact: Learning to repair and refurbish a bike is a great stepping stone to a career in the trades. Trainees will learn proper tool use, safety as well as valuable problem solving skills and customer service.
New Hope Community Bikes started piloting school based cycle education in 2013 in co-operation with Hamilton Public Health and Lisgar Public School. Using a curriculum developed by Physical and Health Educaiton Canada, the program was a huge success and students quickly developed stronger cycling skills. From this pilot, the idea of having a self contained school program was planted. A capital grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation allowed Ride Smart: Cycle Educaiton Program to formally launch in spring 2015.
Ride Smart
b DIY Shop open 1800 + hours per year b Monthly workshops
“I watched as my students began with reservations of even getting on a bike to in the end high-fiving and hugging each other for successfully overcoming the ultimate teeter-totter obstacle. Thank you to your team and your organization for providing one of the most memorable experiences my students have ever had.” - Gr. 5 Teacher at Queen Victoria about Ride Smart: Cycle Educaiton Program
Strategic
9
Commitment 2: Rooted Community Leadership Emphasize and progress our role as a leader in the local cycling community Goal: Be a leading agency for cylcing related projects in the city of Hamilton, a sought-out voice that commands attention. Measure: 50% Growth in contracted projects such as School Travel Planning, and on site education/repair events that provide year round sustainability. Impact: A stronger cycling presence in Hamilton will mean a more liveable city. Just a few of these benefits include: streets built for people not cars, reduced air pollution, more face to face interactions, healthier citizens and improved walkability. Goal: Grow the impact of community based DIY bike shops. Reach new communities through a community assessment a multi stakeholder project design process. Measure: 60% growth in customer and and participant base by 2020. Impact: A community bike shop gives back by teaching skills and making cycling more accessible to all ages and socio-economic demographics. Barriers to entry such as cost, stereotypes, and lack of skill are broken down through an educational approach to everything bike related.
Above: A volunteer helps sort through and organize old tires.
New Hope Community Bikes has established a leadership role around cycling related activities in Hamilton. The Steel City Bike Festival, started by NHCB in 2010, offers annual events to promote cycling and cycling related activities in the city. The largest Festival event features a group ride with over 100 participants riding through the downtown of Hamilton.
10
We hope you join us! Get Involved 1. Come to an event or class Monthly classes include basic bike repair, women’s only basic bike repair, wheel building. If you already have some bike repair skills consider volunteering with our bi-weekly newcomer/youth bike build nights. Other events to build our cycling community include the Steel City Bike Festival, a full event listing is found at www.steelcitybikefest.ca 2. Give Financially We are looking for monthly supporters to support our ongoing efforts. Giving $30 a month helps us mentor more youth, refurbish more bikes, and teach more students. Giving can be done easily online with Canada Helps through our homepage. 3. Host a Bike Drive Bike donations allow us to keep providing affordable transportation solutions, and help reduce waste. We require 300400 bike donations per year to meet our demand for bikes. Bike drives have been hosted by for-frofit companies (Stoney Creek Furniture, Arcelor Mittal Dofasco, DeLaSol Yoga), as well as non-profits or charities (Meadowlands Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, Paramount Alliance Church) and are our primary source of bikes. Please consider how your workplace, or community organization could help in this area.
year Hamilton becomes more Epeopleach“cycle-friendly” and the number of choosing to cycle grows. With it comes demand for cycle education and affordable bikes! Since 2010, Bike for Mike have given out 1900 free bikes in Hamilton. The only requirement for children and families that recieve bikes is that they ride them! NHCB partners with Bike for Mike to ensure that students that recieve bikes also receive safe cycle training, giving them the confidence to explore the city on their new ride. 100s of bikes ready to be given out at Bike for Mike
Newcomer bike give aways
b Bike donationsb Building cycle culture
11
Diverse Revenue Sources
N
ew Hope has built a sustainable shop model where donated bikes are refubished by staff and volunteers. The space is also available for anyone who wishes to work on bikes, stands and tools are rented at a “pay-what-you-can� rate of $0-10/hour. Workshops are also hosted in this space to offer formalized instruction in a small class setting. Other major revenue comes from paid repairs that are completed by volunteers under the supervision of skilled staff.
Granting and Community Partners ARCELOR MITTAL DOFASCO BIKE FOR MIKE CANADA SUMMER JOBS CANADIAN TIRE JUMPSTART CITY OF HAMILTON CROWN POINT COMMUNITY PLANNING TEAM HAMILTON COMMUNITY FOUNDATION HAMILTON HELMET INITIATIVE HAMILTON WENTWORTH DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD HAMILTON WENTWORTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MINISTRY OF TRANSPORTATION NEW HOPE CHURCH ONTARIO TRILLIUM FOUNDATION ONTARIO SUMMER EXPERIENCE PROGRAM WILLIAM VOORTMAN FOUNDATION
1422 Main St. E. Hamilton, ON L8K 1C3 | www.newhopecommunitybikes.com 905-545-1991 | facebook.com/newhopebike | twitter.com/newhopebike Charity # 847169844RR0001