Daniel's Bike & Build: Blog for Affordable Housing

This webpage is my official blog documenting my experience before, during, and after my experience across the US this summer with Bike & Build. Enjoy!

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Bike & Build Blog Update

Hello my very patient readers!  

So I set a goal to post a biweekly update on my Bike & Build experience.  Unfortunately, I have not been fulfilling that goal I set.  

On my ride day out of Ithaca to Savona, I fell from my bike when signaling to slow down.  By some miracle while I was going around 25-30 mph I didn't fall into any oncoming traffic (it was a fairly unpopulated road) and didn't break any bones or need any stitches.  I did, however, receive a nasty road rash all over my right arm and leg, hip, and of course my butt (some pics are to come from my future updates!)  When that happened on my thirteenth day on the road I didn’t feel like posting a blog post, and you will notice that I only updated my instagram twice since that day.  Because of these injuries, I have been off the road for the past 6 ride days.  I will elaborate on this experience in a future post.

However, the injury has been healing quickly enough this past week to where I can hopefully ride tomorrow out of Youngstown and take on the state of Ohio!  The support of my B&B team members and family back at home have been amazing these last couple days, and my overall experience with the entire trip is still overwhelmingly positive.  I love the team, love the riding, love the communities, and have so much to look forward to.  

So here is my plan: I will be organizing my blog posts by weeks, and start trying to catch up in the next couple days so my week 3 update comes in on time.  These posts will hopefully have some pictures from my instagram attached to them as well as more specifics as to what I have seen and experienced so far.  Stay tuned!

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Thank You Round 3!

I’VE FINALLY MADE IT.  I have as of today fundraised over $4,500 dollars on my rider’s page.  These past couple of months of training and fundraising have been so rewarding, and I once again thank these new donors as well as the past donors mentioned for supporting the affordable housing cause...

Eric Minor

The Graff Family

The Larson Family

The Sochor Family

The Wilson Family

Nona and Pop-pop!

Paul Walton

Martha Fernandez

Jack O’Halloran

The Rains Family

Shannon Wendling

The Yates Family

Karen Olsen

Patricia Ellis

Trevor Martin

Mary Gibson

John Priestly II

The Brannon Family

Lynn Simpkins

Dad!

Cooper Surgical

Any money raised over my fundraising minimum goes straight to Bike & Build, so if you still want to donate to my rider’s page please do (http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7855)!  Thanks for the help everyone, and I’ll be sure to keep all donors updated as I near the beginning of the trip!

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My BEA-UTIFUL bike has arrived.  This bike has been lost in the depths of UPS shipping for about a month, but thankfully it was found and made its way to my house this past Friday!  Time to make up some lost time and get on the road.  

http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7855

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Thank You Round 2!

Wow, I have been blown away the last two weeks with the amount of support I have received from friends and family.  Together this group of people has fundraised more than $1000, and thanks to their generosity I am over halfway done with my fundraising for my trip.  Big shoutout to the following!

Carolyn Pugh

Aunt Billie and Uncle Tom

Graham Rockwood

Lynn Coyner

The Bailey Family

The Bond Family

Roberta Gibson

The Sheehan Family

I still have a long way to go, but I’m confident that with your help I can reach this goal.  As always, consider donating to my trip (http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7855) and thank you all for checking up!  More to come in the following weeks as my bike is hopefully recovered from UPS.  

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A cool idea!  You download the app and for every mile biked 10 cents goes to the charity of your choice (or 25 cents for every mile that you run if you aren’t into biking).  If I use this for training and on my 3940 mile route with Bike & Build I can raise over $400 to organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Feeding America, Wounded Warrior Project, etc.  Worth a try!

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The Homeless Homed

The Daily Show knows what’s up!  Check it out.

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One of the Habitat for Humanity build days that I volunteered my time on February 6th!  This day some friends and I from my Co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega helped habitat set up ceiling drywall on the main floor of a Habitat house.  Over the past 2 months or so I have done around 21 hours of volunteering with Habitat, each time learning new skills and using new tools.  

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Thank You Round 1!

I plan on about every two weeks or so thanking all of the my supporters that have donated to me.  Without the help of each and every one of you, this summer journey would not be possible.  

Kyle Ruempler

Maggie Graff

Aaron Jacobs

Ali Jawetz

Ryan Laychek

Isabella Piccininni

Sunny Sowards

John Bakewell

Katy Karg

Leslie Bergin

Momma Poehailos

The Aiello Family

The Barbero Family

Connie Lee

The Haluska Family

The Ferrer Family

There is still plenty of work to be done!  I am only at 27% of my $4500 fundraising goal, so please support me at my rider’s bio page (http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7855)

Once again, THANK YOU for all of the support so early on.  You guys rock!

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The route I am going to be taking this summer.  Starting from Providence, RI and ending in Seattle, WA, it is going to be an amazing adventure to see the country on top of my bike saddle.  Let me know if I’m stopping by a community near you!

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Why Affordable Housing?

Far too many people today do not have access to an affordable and durable home.  According to a survey in 2011 with the U.S. census bureau, 40 million homes had costs that exceeded over 30% of the household’s gross income, and 20 million of those homes were paying over 50% of their gross income.  The rising costs of living are exceeding the income of homeowners.  Those who can find inexpensive housing often find housing that is physically inadequate for living. This includes problems like overcrowding, lack of utilities, damaged structures and roofing, poor insulation, etc. 

This becomes a crippling problem for both the homeowner and the family on every aspect of living.  Paying too much for housing is taking away money to be spent on education, healthy food, good medical care, and other essentials. Living in a physically inadequate home takes away the security and comfort one should expect in a shelter, and gives the family members of all ages obstacles to develop and succeed outside of the household if they are never rested.

That is why affordable housing.  This summer I will be stopping at around 20 different build sites across the US on my bike to make an impact on the availability of affordable housing.  In addition to this, we (me and 30 other young adults) will be raising awareness to affordable housing by giving presentations to local communities along the way.  

Before I start my 3940 mile road journey I NEED YOUR HELP!  By donating here at my rider’s bio below you are making an impact on these families and communities that need our help. I’m at 27% of my fundraising goal of $4,500, and I’m confident that we can make it.  Every donation matters!

http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7855

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A Troubling Fact

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The Journey Begins!

With the temperatures warming up to the 60s and my bike on route to my residence in Charlottesville, I decided to finally start up my blog for Bike & Build!  As the description says, I will be posting before, during, and after my summer experience with Bike & Build to keep everyone involved and interested in my journey as informed as possible.  

To begin, I would like to thank everyone who has given me advice and donated to my page so far.  With all of your support, I have $1215 dollars raised for affordable housing!  I still have both financially and physically a long way to go before this summer, but this is an amazing start.  

More letters and fundraising opportunities will be worked on as the temperatures raise up, so lastly I just ask for your continued help!  My bio page is here (http://bikeandbuild.org/rider/7855) where you can donate and get better insight on why I am doing this.  Thank you in advance for helping not only me, but the 40 million Americans that will benefit because of your support.