EXAMPLE IN SHORT WELLBUILT bikes STORY IN FOCUS
EXAMPLE IN SHORT WELLBUILT bikes STORY IN FOCUS Seeing thousands of homeless people that the city of Tampa (Florida) did not care for, and hundreds of thousands of dilapidated bicycles that only bothered, Jon Dengler decided to combine them, creating something new. He called his solution "Wellbuilt bikes". His organization teaches homeless people from Tampa (the second city in the US in terms of the proportion of homeless people in society) how to build and regenerate bicycles to sell them at a fraction of the value of a new bike. Well. Built Bikes is more than a vehicle to get from point A to point B, Well. Built Bikes is a vehicle of social mobility and community transformation. JON DENGLER, AGENT OF CHANGE OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES GENERATING IDEAS When Jon Dengler traveled through Tampa, he observed two surprisingly sad and in a sense similar phenomena. On the one hand, thousands of hungry, homeless, poor people who, thanks to the mild winters of Florida are able to survive on the streets all year round. On the other hand, hundreds of thousands of abandoned, unwanted bikes that deteriorate and spoil the landscape. He came up with the idea how to combine these two quandaries. He started to teach homeless people how to repair and build bicycles for their own use, as well as for further resale. His mission turned out to be changing human lives. Homeless jobseekers have suddenly gained incomparably wider spectrum of access to classes requiring reliable, own transport. They were no longer limited by the distance they would be able to walk on foot every day. The "Earn-a-Bike" program introduced by Dangler ensures free bicycle after 10 hours of maintenance work in the "Well-built repair shop". One of the homeless said that he was so excited about the newly discovered freedom that he drove the whole state (several hundred miles!) to visit his son in prison. Another one was able to help middle-class girl on an expensive bike that had broken down – he took out his bike tools and had her back on the road within minutes. Dangler also launched a non-profit point of sale of used bicycles, which is a combination of bicycle shop and pawnshop. The more expensive bicycle offered in it is much cheaper than the cheapest sold in a commercial store and does not pose a threat to the traditional market. Profits from the sale of bicycles are allocated for the implementation of the "Earn-A-Bike" program. Jon Dengler continues his mission to get worlds of the poor and the rich to talk. He says that there is an unhealthy relationship between them, yet in his opinion they actually need each other desperately. DEVELOPING & TESTING IMPLEMENTING & FINANCING GROWING & SCALING CHANGING SYSTEMS © Social Innovation Academy. Inspiration, sources, credits: 1) https: //www. bikeshoptampa. com/ 2) https: //real-leaders. com/6 -successfulsocial-innovationprojects/? _ga=2. 206668763. 936252315. 1562506584 -2098938919. 1562506584 3) photo: https: //www. freepik. com/ For more social innovation examples, visit www. socialinnovationacademy. eu 1
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