Break Away Bicycle Club donates rides to local nonprofits

James Bennett, Kokomo Tribune, Ind.
·3 min read

Apr. 24—Mary Carden enjoys riding bikes. As an avid member of the Break Away Bicycle Club, she tries to ride seven days a week when the weather is above 45 degrees. She usually covers 2,000 to 3,000 miles every year.

After noticing a growing amount of employed people experiencing homelessness, she approached the bicycle club looking for a way to help. They decided to donate bikes to local shelters.

Initially, Carden set out to donate two bicycles to Coordinated Assistance Ministries and two to the Gilead House. That changed fairly quickly.

On April 3, Carden and her husband stopped by CAM to deliver two bikes. There was another bike being checked for safety, they told CAM's executive director, Dennine Smith, and another coming from Florida.

"Whatever the public brings us, we'll bring them to you," Carden told Smith. She also pledged to come back with lights and bike locks.

Smith called the donations a blessing. She explained several CAM clients use the Howard County Connects van service and the bicycles could become another transportation option.

Referencing a Kokomo ordinance up for final vote that would outlaw homeless encampments in public spaces, Carden said she believed it was more important to try and help people instead of pushing them away.

A week later, a crowd of women gathered on the Gilead House's front porch to watch Carden's husband unload bikes from a van across the street. More bikes had been donated by people rallying behind Carden's wish to help people.

After a relay, four new Huffys were brought inside the substance abuse treatment center. The women posed for photos with the bikes before taking them for a quick spin down the hallway.

Reba Harris, founder of the Gilead House, explained women at the treatment center have to do quite a bit of walking.

After 45 days in the 90-day program, they're able to get jobs. However, they have to prioritize taking classes at the Gilead House, meaning most of the women work afternoons.

They use the Kokomo City Line Trolley, but rides stop at 7 p.m. and it doesn't run on the weekend.

Harris also doesn't like the women hitching a ride from people she doesn't know.

"We have to be very careful that who they hop a ride with, even from work or anyone else, that they're upright," Harris said. "Because they may have drugs in their car, the police may be after them, they may have a warrant. And if they get stopped and a woman gets stopped along with them, they can get the same charges."

Now that weather is getting nicer, Harris said the option to ride a bicycle is safer and could give the women more control over their lives. She added the women will likely ride the bikes simply for enjoyment.

People used to donate cars to the Gilead House, Harris said, but car donations have tapered off in the past few years. She added the treatment center would still accept car donations and give a tax write-off for the donation — potential donors just have to call the Gilead House to schedule a drop-off.

"It's hard to start over," Harris said. "It's one thing to start when you're first starting as a new person. But it's a second thing to start when you have a lot of baggage."

James Bennett III can be reached at 765-454-8580 or james.bennett@kokomotribune.com.