When traveling through Tampa, the city with the second-highest rate of homelessness in the U.S., Jon Dengler was struck by the crazy amount of abandoned bicycles he found lying next to the streets. This in combination with the large number of homeless and poor people he was confronted with, lead to his striking idea for a social innovation that inspires me like no other : WELLBUILT bikes.
In a nutshell, the organization tries to teach homeless people the necessary skills to fix abandoned bicycles, which then shall be sold or even used by these same people.
An idea so simple and yet so genius, as it solves many problems at once : by teaching the homeless these new skills, they get access to new ways of transport, a possibility to earn money and even to a new purpose in their lives whilst at the same time the issue of the spoiled landscapes solves itself naturally.
Also, thanks to the organization, the poor can get a bike with the “earn a bike” program, which provides bikes for the poor in return for 10 hours of work in the bike repair shop. Overall, the project is non-profit, which makes it possible that the sold bikes are relatively cheap and therefore accessible for anyone.
It inspires me to see how one simple idea that originated from something so obvious anyone could have seen when driving through Tampa, can lead to the change of so many lives and have such a great impact on an societal and environmental level.
