About Bike & Build
Bike Bike & Build is a non-profit organization that engages young adults in service-oriented cycling trips that benefit the affordable housing cause. Over the past 12 years, 2,660 riders have participated in the program and more than $5.1 Million and 185,000 service hours have been donated to affordable housing groups throughout the country.
This summer, Bike & Build will facilitate 8 cross-country trips across North America. Along the way, Bike & Build participants (myself included!) will stop in hundreds of communities where we will meet with local residents, give presentations about affordable housing issues, and build affordable homes with local housing groups.
The Affordable Housing Crisis
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers housing to be affordable to a low-income family or individual as long as the cost of housing, including rent or mortgage/tax payments plus basic utilities minus telephone and internet service, does not exceed 30% of the family or individuals income (before taxes). Unfortunately, more than one third of US families and individuals must pay a disproportionate amount of their income on housing.
Although affordability is the primary issue, overall housing problems can be broken down into the following areas:
Cost Burdens: Residents pay an excessively large percentage of income on housing costs. The total number of all renters in 2009 experiencing a housing cost burden (using the 30% rule) increased to 18.5 million from 17.4 million in 2008. An additional 14.3 million housholds spent over 50 percent of their income on housing.
Physical Inadequacy: Lack of hot water, electricity, toilets, bathtubs, and showers are examples of severe physical deficiencies. Unsafe stairs, ramps, and roofs account for just some of the structural dangers families live with. One in seven low-income families live in housing which is physically dangerous or inadequate.
Overcrowding: Overcrowding refers to the condition in which the number of people living in a house is greater than the total number of rooms in the house. This is notoriously difficult to track and log; however, it is estimated that about 6.1 million households suffer from overcrowded conditions.
This summer, Bike & Build will facilitate 8 cross-country trips across North America. Along the way, Bike & Build participants (myself included!) will stop in hundreds of communities where we will meet with local residents, give presentations about affordable housing issues, and build affordable homes with local housing groups.
The Affordable Housing Crisis
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers housing to be affordable to a low-income family or individual as long as the cost of housing, including rent or mortgage/tax payments plus basic utilities minus telephone and internet service, does not exceed 30% of the family or individuals income (before taxes). Unfortunately, more than one third of US families and individuals must pay a disproportionate amount of their income on housing.
Although affordability is the primary issue, overall housing problems can be broken down into the following areas:
Cost Burdens: Residents pay an excessively large percentage of income on housing costs. The total number of all renters in 2009 experiencing a housing cost burden (using the 30% rule) increased to 18.5 million from 17.4 million in 2008. An additional 14.3 million housholds spent over 50 percent of their income on housing.
Physical Inadequacy: Lack of hot water, electricity, toilets, bathtubs, and showers are examples of severe physical deficiencies. Unsafe stairs, ramps, and roofs account for just some of the structural dangers families live with. One in seven low-income families live in housing which is physically dangerous or inadequate.
Overcrowding: Overcrowding refers to the condition in which the number of people living in a house is greater than the total number of rooms in the house. This is notoriously difficult to track and log; however, it is estimated that about 6.1 million households suffer from overcrowded conditions.