Early Entry Winner
CommunityMatters and Ashoka’s Changemakers are partnering to offer the Strong Communities: Engaging Citizens, Strengthening Place, Inspiring Change competition!
Early Entry Winner: Troy Bike Rescue
Congratulations to our Early Entry winner, Troy Bike Rescue! Based in Rensselaer County, New York, the people at Troy Bike Rescue (TBR) are much more than your standard bicycling advocates-- they're actually using bikes to bridge longstanding gaps in the Troy community. This program helps people who can't afford cars acquire and maintain bikes as their primary mode of transportation. Whether it's hosting open night shops to help people with bike repair, giving low-income residents the necessary safety gear or working with local law enforcement to build positive relationships within the community, TBR has found many ways to make bicycling the common ground in Troy.
Because of its economic struggles (19% of the population lives below the poverty line), Troy doesn't have a quality public transportation network, and many residents don't own cars. The downtown has often been regarded as undesirable, and local university students had been advised to avoid the area. TBR alleviates this disparity by inviting university students to be volunteers at its downtown shop, which is one of the only places that the different groups come together.
TBR's motto is "mutual aid and respect," and their entry details how they're truly living it by welcoming everyone in to the world of pedal power.
