Bike repair program gives wheels to FoCo homeless

Friday afternoons, bicycles are scattered along the sidewalk leading up to the doors of the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, 242 Conifer St., in Fort Collins.

Their owners hover around a makeshift bike repair shop out front, pointing out broken parts and squeaky wheels to the volunteers who share their repair skills each week.

Some days, the fixes are simple — a patch here or a twist of an Allen wrench there. On others, a new bike rises from a pile of used parts.

Murphy Center volunteer Mark Brewer started the homeless day shelter and service hub's repair program  — a recipient of the Coloradoan's Make a Difference Day Bike Drive — in January. Since then, Brewer and a handful of volunteers, including homeless individuals who have benefited from the program, have performed more than 170 bike repairs.

No matter how simple or complicated the repair, Brewer said the bikes moving on and off the repair racks each week are life-changing for the people who now have free, reliable transportation.

For Clay Taylor, 55, "any little thing can be a big thing." Because he doesn't know much about bike repair, Taylor said it's extremely helpful to have knowledgeable mechanics to turn to when something doesn't seem right.

Friday, he said his Trek bike wasn't shifting into higher gears. Within a few minutes, Brewer helped Taylor fix the problem and the man was on his way.

"(My bike) lets me do everything," said Taylor, who is homeless. "I can get around pretty quick to multiple places in town not too much slower than a car. It makes things a lot easier."

Brewer said he and volunteers average about 12 bikes per week. Word has spread quickly about the free repairs, which are funded by Brewer, other volunteers and through donations and discounts from area cycling shops.

The donations the program receives through the Coloradoan's Oct. 22 bike drive will help individuals like Taylor find mobility, Brewer said. The Coloradoan hopes to collect more than 70 gently used adult and children's bikes for the Murphy Center, Catholic Charities, Fort Collins Rescue Mission, Harvest Farm and The Matthews House. Extra children's bikes will be donated to Realities for Children's Bikes for Tykes drive.

Have a bike that's beyond repair? The Coloradoan will donate it to Brewer's program for parts to help someone at the Murphy Center get back on the road.

"We're kind of scroungers," Brewer laughed. "We get what we can get, and we ask people for help."

Catholic Charities Regional Director Guy Mendt said last year's drive, which collected approximately 50 bikes for Catholic Charities, Fort Collins Rescue Mission, Redtail Ponds and the Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope, "made a huge difference ... often times making the difference in keeping a job" for bike recipients.

How to help

The Coloradoan hopes to collect at least 15 gently used children's bikes and 56 gently used adult bikes for area nonprofits at this year's Make a Difference Day Bike Drive. 

Donations will be accepted at the Fort Collins Coloradoan, 1300 Riverside Ave., 8 a.m. to noon Oct. 22. Email sarahkyle@coloradoan.com to set up an alternate drop-off time if you can't make it to the drive. 

Your bike will be tuned up and donated to Catholic Charities, Fort Collins Rescue Mission, Harvest Farm, Sister Mary Alice Murphy Center for Hope and The Matthews House to benefit adults experiencing or at risk of homelessness and at-risk youth. Extra children's bikes will be donated to Realities for Children's Bikes for Tykes drive.

Have a bike that's beyond repair? We'll take those, too. Bikes beyond repair will be donated to the Murphy Center's bike repair program or to the Fort Collins Bike Co-op for parts.

Other accepted items include new adult and children's bike helmets, new or gently used bike lights and locks (with key or combination, please) and bike trailers, which will be renovated by the Murphy Center's bike repair program and turned into mobile storage units for homeless individuals.

Follow Sarah Jane Kyle on Twitter @sarahjanekyle or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/reportersarahjane. Keep up with social issues in Northern Colorado by subscribing to the Life Connected newsletter.