About the Nonprofit
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Mission: Neighborhood Bike Works inspires youth and strengthens Philadelphia communities by providing equitable access to bicycling and bike repair through education, recreation, leadership, and career-building opportunities.
We provide quality youth programming for low-income families in Philadelphia. We use bike rides, repair lessons, and field trips to improve students’ mental and physical health, build problem-solving skills, and spur social and emotional development. Bikes serve as a natural hook to engage youth who genuinely love to ride and practice hands-on repairs. Our programs capitalize on this enthusiasm by teaching engineering concepts, financial literacy, natural history, environmental and watershed education, and problem-solving. NBW provides a safe, constructive out-of-school environment where youth learn to develop healthy relationships with peers and adults.
Our youth programs are organized in a tier structure called the Youth Bike Education and Empowerment Program (YBEEP). In YBEEP, youth progress from basic bike repair and riding classes through increasingly advanced opportunities that instill confidence, inspire a spirit of adventure, and build skills for future success. There are 3 tiers to the YBEEP structure – Entry Level Programs (Earn-A-Bike, Ride Club, Summer Camp), Graduate Level Programs (Drop-in Repair Clinics, Monthly Group Rides, Bicycle Coalition Youth Cycling Team, Freedom Riders), and Advanced Level Programs (Leadership & Advanced Mechanics Course, Youth Council, Assistant Instructor Positions, Mechanic Apprentice Positions).
Based in West Philadelphia in the Mantua/Powelton neighborhood, we use bicycle education programs to increase youth confidence, mobility, active participation in exercise, and job readiness and to provide access to bikes and the means to service them.