Story from MAM - Heights to Humble Commute!

If you think you have a commute problem, you should try being Doug Humphrey. Doug lives on N. Shepherd, in the Heights. He works primarily as a caddy at Redstone Golf Club in Humble, Texas. Can you imagine doing that without a car? Doug does.

To get his “loop”, Doug walks a few blocks from his home to pick up the 009 METRO bus on Yale Blvd. He takes it downtown and transfers to the 259 bus to Humble. He gets off that bus at the EastTex Park ‘n Ride at US-59 and Aldine Bender. From here, Doug walks about 3.5 miles to get to his job at Redstone GC.

After Doug completes his round, he re-traces his steps. The 7 miles he walks every day is in addition to the walking he does with two golf bags on his back (an average round of golf is about 5 or 6 miles of walking).

Well, not anymore.

Cycle2Success has made Doug’s commute to work quicker and simpler by donating a bicycle it sourced through Chain Reaction Ministries, a program developed by Memorial Drive Christian Church, one of MAM’s member congregations. With a bicycle to go with his bus pass, Doug cuts out more than half of the daily miles he must walk to do his job.

The bicycle not only shortens his commuting time, it saves his energy for the job. For a caddy, more energy means better customer service and, hopefully, better tips.

Doug has a few words of thanks for MAM’s Cycle2Success program and for Chain Reaction Ministries:

“I would like to thank you for the blessing of this bicycle,” said Doug. “It has allowed me to go back and forth to my job as well to give me more freedom in day-to-day activities. You do not know how much I appreciate the assistance you have given me. You and your ministry will be in my prayers, and if there is anything I can do for you in the future please do not hesitate to ask. God Bless You.”

Pay it Forward, David

MAM - Nick Chandler Success Story

Nick will be a sophomore at Spring Woods High School in the fall. Last summer he participated in the Spring Woods at MAM Summer Jobs Program. The program employs at-risk, rising high school students from Spring Woods Middle School. The goals of the program are: to expose students to a safe and accepting work environment, to model appropriate job skills and behavior, to increase students’ self-esteem and value by payment for work, to foster social skills through a mentoring relationship, to provide a compassionate adult sounding board and to broaden and enhance a sense of community. Last summer Nick interned at MAM 25 hours a week. After gaining job and life skills last summer, Nick expects to obtain employment this summer to help purchase school clothes and contribute to his family’s income. Nick hopes to land his job at Chick Fil-A, which is well known to work with high school students and help with college scholarships.

Nick is 15 and too young to drive, and his single mother works full time to pay the bills. She doesn’t have the work flexibility to leave her job to get Nick to and from his job. Nick has to fend for himself, which would have meant a summer of walking almost 3 miles each way from his apartment off Long Point to Memorial City Mall. He would have the option of taking the bus, although the bus is unreliable, takes extra time and would cost Nick money to ride.

With the bicycle, Nick has the problem solved, and he’ll also be able to use the bike to continue his extracurricular activities like swim team and band. The bike will also allow him to stay at the school after the bus leaves to study in the library or work on homework without younger siblings distracting him.
Pay it Forward,David

Chain Reaction Ministries Featured at City of Houston's National Bike to Work Day Kickoff: May 20

National Bike to Work Day is May 20. That morning, Mayor Annise Parker will be having a press conference at 8:15am at City Hall. After her speech, I have been asked to talk about Chain Reaction Ministries and the lives that have been changed through the simple gift of a bike! I am working on the details (and speech obviously) now - but I would love for all of you to come out and support us! Thanks to Dan Raine at the City of Houston for thinking of us! Stay tuned for more details.

Pay it Forward,

David

Bikes, Bikes, and More Bikes!

We are taking them in faster than we can send them out! Good thing we have a workday coming up this Saturday. Dawson and I picked up six bikes from Spring Valley Cycles last week. A beautiful very early Diamond Back. Before they even knew to call them mountian bikes. Its pair was a CoMo Summit that was completely chrome! As an added bonus, Dawson commented on the way home that he really likes "knowing that these unwanted bikes will change someone's life." He's got it!

Last night, I stopped by Betsy Humphries house and picked up five more bikes. They had been loved and ridden (hard) for a number of years by the family and kids. Now they will need some new ones.

Hope you can make it out to Memorial Drive Christian Church this Saturday from 2-4. You don't have to be a mechanic. Looks like we are going to moving inventory to a warehouse, cleaning out the workshop, and of course, cleaning up and repair bikes.

Pay it Forward,David

Workday Announcement: 07MAY11, 2-4pm, Memorial Drive Christian Church

In celebration of National Bike Month, we are pushing hard on ReCycling Freedom! We are having a workday on Saturday, May 7th, from 2-4pm. We have reached out to the CenterPoint Cycling team (thanks to Jeff Stones) and hope that this new partnership will a model for reaching out to other cycling teams in the Houston area with opportunities to serve their community!

We have over 60 bikes that we are still working through, and we keep getting bikes weekly from individuals and our partners at Bicycle World and Fitness and Houston Cycling Centers. What a blessing! Also, we are working on finding warehouse space, and may be moving bikes into new space and cleaning up the shop (if things work out).

P.S. – put May 22nd on your calendar. On the heels of National Bike to Work Day on May 20, we will have a special workday on Sunday, May 22nd, from 8:30 to 10:30am. The members at Memorial Drive Christian Church have been asking about exactly how we go about our workdays, so we are giving them a chance to witness ReCycling Freedom in action firsthand. Come out, prep a few bikes, hang around and meet some of our members and donors to Chain Reaction Ministries!

Hope to see you at one or both of the events! Please feel free to forward and invite a friend!

Pay it Forward,

David

Memorial Assistance Ministries Story

Below is a short note about a bike making a difference.

Gina is a client in MAM’s Employment Services program. She lives near Hammerly and Blalock in Spring Branch, and has been using a poorly-functioning Wal-Mart bicycle for the past 7 months. This old bicycle has continually created problems because of an ill-fitting chain assembly. Whenever she rides that bicycle faster than a slow creep, the chain disconnects itself. Fixing this problem would be far more costly than the bicycle is worth. The refurbished Huffy solves the problem, and will allow her to cover far greater distances in the same period of time.

Gina is looking for employment at a retail store or in a warehouse/distribution facility, and there are many such employment opportunities that can be reached from her home by bicycle. This means she is not limited to job opportunities located directly on METRO bus lines.

Gina is very grateful to Chain Reaction Ministries for the gift of a more reliable, higher quality bicycle that will help her to locate and maintain stable and meaningful employment in Spring Branch.

Thanks, guys, for helping us get her onto a better set of wheels.

Bob King
Employment Services
Memorial Assistance Ministries

Pay it Forward,
David

Workday Announcement: 19MAR11, 2-4pm, Memorial Drive Christian Church

We continue to work through the 110 bikes from Rummel Creek Elementary. We have been ordering parts, and making some repairs, and we hope to make a big push this Saturday from 2-4 at Memorial Drive Christian Church. Come out and say hi, bring a bike, fix a bike, fellowship with us, and help ReCycle Freedom.

Pay it Forward,
David