Day 2 : First Build Day

8/7/2022

Day 1 of getting down to the nitty gritty here in Portland.

Today was our riders’ first chance to get into what Bike & Build is all about. We volunteered with a local organization called Taking Ownership PDX. On their website, Taking Ownership PDX says:

Taking Ownership is dedicated to raising funds and awareness with a team of passionate activists aided by volunteers hitting the streets and making a significant difference in the lives of our Black neighbors.

At our volunteer site, our site supervisor, Jed (a volunteer/on-site coordinator), briefed the team on the background of Taking Ownership PDX (TOPDX) and our project for the day. TOPDX serves the Black communities around the city of Portland – the US city with the largest percentage of white majority at just over 75%.

TOPDX is a newer LLC coming in at just over two years old. In those two years, they have been able to bring in over a million dollars of funding that pushes forward the ever-growing list of 150+ projects. These funds are used to go towards home maintenance projects and to keep Black families in their homes, in turn, increasing generational wealth. And, in a neighborhood that sees a five-year turnover for homeowners, has been increasing space for a local university, and has been putting up more AirBnB rentals, this is huge.

The B&B team got to get dirty outside on today’s volunteer site. We helped a homeowner spruce up the curb appeal on their home through a variety of weeding, tree cutting, and rubbage removal tasks. At day’s end, a trailer of debris and miscellaneous plant cuttings were removed, giving the front and back yards a new look to the pink craftsman-style house previously hidden from the street’s view.

P.S. – HUGE shout out to Paladin Pie of Portland for feeding our troops with some donated ‘za and some fresh veggies to supplement.

-Jordan Crawford, DW'22 Leader, NUS '18

Leaders Noelle and Jordan recreate "American Gothic" with all smiles on the inside of course!!