Phoenix Bikes’ mission is to educate youth, promote bicycling, and build community. Phoenix Bikes has supported local youth in the DC Metro area since 2007 – providing a safe, nurturing and educational environment that reinforces teamwork, hard work, and entrepreneurship through bike maintenance education programs. Since our launch, we have had the opportunity to engage over 2000 youth, with over 700 earning their own bikes so far.
Local youth are invited to participate in bike refurbishment and retail operations as they contribute to the daily operations of the Phoenix Bikes shop at Arlington Mill Community Center, located in South Arlington, VA, leaving with tangible mechanic and business management skills as well as scores of other success skills for life.
Organized by a dedicated group of local citizens and cyclists, the non-profit was built around the remnants of Community Spokes – a community bike shop sponsored by the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation – which remains an active partner of the organization.
Looking forward, we are planning to extend our community impact through the expansion of our community bike shop and programs for both youth and adults. We are currently increasing our supply of bikes to local human services agencies and supplementing our youth development curriculum with additional training, mentorship, and leadership opportunities.
