Groundwork RVA’s Bellemeade Community Bike Shop, located in Bellemeade Park, is not just a bike shop. It’s a place for youth empowerment, development and opportunity.
Since 2018, the Bellemeade Community Bike Shop has served as a place for youth and community members to learn how to fix a bike while getting a tune-up, earn a bike of their own, learn to ride a bike and support the environment and community through sustainable practices. The shop is a part of Groundwork RVA, a nonprofit focused on giving youth hands-on opportunities to support and enhance the environment and green spaces in Richmond.
“We are the only bike shop in this area,” said Alexa Santisteban, the bicycle program manager for Groundwork RVA. “There was a need to bring bike education to the community members here but also have tune-up services available.”
Sustainability is one of the core values of Groundwork RVA and the bike shop. The shop never buys new bikes or parts and instead relies on donations from community members. It promotes sustainability by teaching youth and the community how to restore used bikes and parts and return them to their original condition. Bikes and bike parts are always needed, and donations are greatly appreciated.
“Our goal is to teach kids to fix up something old instead of just buying something new after the old thing breaks and throwing it away,” said Celista Money, bike shop educator at Groundwork RVA.
Bike Shop Programs
There are many ways to get involved with the Bellemeade Community Bike Shop. The shop is open Wednesday through Friday from 3-6 p.m. and Saturday from 12-4 p.m. During the shop’s open hours, people can bring in a bike and learn how to repair it.
“This is an educational space,” Santisteban said. “When you’re working on your bike yourself, you gain a better appreciation for it and want to care for it.”
The shop also has an “earn-a-bike” program where youth can earn a bike of their own by volunteering at the shop or around the community. Other offerings include a bike club that meets in partnership with the Bellemeade Community Center, learn-to-ride classes, an adventure bike program and “build-a-bike” classes. In the “build-a-bike” class, kids are taught to completely strip down a bike to the frame and build it back up. They are given the chance to customize their own bike with paint and parts of their choosing.
Camp Spokes is another highlight of the Bellemeade Community Bike Shop. The camp is geared toward middle and high school girls and gender-variant youth. The kids get the opportunity to pick out used bikes, work on them and ride them around the city.
The lessons taught in the shop help children build essential life skills and open them up to new opportunities by providing a method of transportation that can take them places they have never been before.
“Youth are what’s next,” Money said. “How we invest in them now determines what the world will look like in the next few years.”
To learn more about the Bellemeade Community Bike Shop and to sign up for the Groundwork RVA newsletter, click here.
Excellent article and a wonderful example of the important work that Groundwork RVA is doing in the community. Thank you Kate Turnbull for shining a spotlight on this!