Bike and Build

*For those of you simply looking for a way to contribute, click here and select my name from the drop down list. And of course, thank you!

This summer, I'm going to join Bike and Build, an organization that leads groups of people to ride across the country (east-west) and build affordable housing along the way. I was intrigued for a million reasons, but the biggest one is because of their Katrina specialized route this year. One of the routes they're doing is a one across the South (Florida-San Francisco) that crosses through Mississippi and New Orleans and stops for an extended amount of time to help rebuild the hurricane devastated areas. The route even goes right though Lafayette, LA, which is where I'm from.

I know it's not a small thing to take on. It's almost three months of riding and building houses; I've never built houses before. I wouldn't be able to play my flute much, but I talked to my teacher about that, and he gave me some great suggestions for being able to deal with being a flutist on the road. And of course, there is the fundraising.

I've committed to raising $4,000 for Bike and Build; the money will go directly into affordable housing costs. In their words:

Bike and Build organizes cross-country bicycle trips which benefit affordable housing groups. Specifically, we fund projects planned and executed by young adults. We have donated $1,144,231 in our past 5 seasons, and have pedaled over 2.2M miles, spreading the word about the affordable housing crisis in America.

Through pre-arranged gifts, Bike and Build funds affordable housing projects executed by our participants in communities where our events begin. Through our grant program, our organization identifies and supports exciting projects involving young people all throughout the nation. Bike and Build also supports local affordable housing organizations along each route through on the road donations.

Bike and Build garners media and community attention for the affordable housing cause. Bike and Build's expansive national footprint allows our organization to promote the need for and importance of affordable housing in 40 states and hundreds of communities nationwide. Through print and TV media, town-hall style meetings, and informal grassroots interaction, Bike & Build participants bring our organization's message to thousands of people from all walks of life.

Bike and Build fosters leadership and lifelong philanthropic service in our participants. Bike and Build's programming introduces young adults to the affordable housing cause, engages them in a unique and interesting way, and creates a prolonged and intimate connection. By funding building projects involving students and young adults, Bike and Build creates incremental service opportunities among young adults, empowering this crucial demographic.

I know it's a big commitment, but I'm really unbelievably excited about doing something big, about raising the money and accomplishing things I have yet to conquer--riding across the country to be sure, but also learning about affordable housing and even how to build a house.

The catch is that the ride encompasses Coeur d'Alene, but I've gotten permission to take a week off of the ride, and according to the schedule, I'll be in introductory meetings the week beforehand and building the week after. So yes, it's partially crazy to attempt to both do an IronMan and ride across the country in one summer. But, this could be my last summer 'off' since I'll be graduating next year and hopefully joining the ranks of the employed, but besides that--I just really, wholly want to do it.

To any of you who might be surprised that I have any kind of interest at all in building houses, I offer the following anecdote that I wrote about for the application essay...

When I was a little girl, I would look out the window and see my dad building things—a studio for himself, a doghouse, a hammock, a tree house. For the longest time, I thought the grownups just ‘knew’ how to build things. Because I initially didn't know to be proud, it was a big disappointment when I realized that my dad was special, and I was not going to magically know how to create houses or even bookshelves when I got older. I do not know if I inherited any kind of building talent, but I am excited to find out. I might be 'just a girl', but I someday hope to be the kind of mother that a kid would look at and say ‘I want to be able to do that when I grow up.’

I have several fund-raisers in mind, so I'm not begging for money (yet), but if you do want to contribute, just click here and pick my name (Susanna Loewy) from the drop-down list. I've also put a link on the top of the page.