Bicycle Mechanic Skills Academy Graduates First Class
By Henry Street Settlement
Some 28 proud New Yorkers – with friends and family cheering them on – graduated from the first ever Bicycle Mechanic Skills Academy at a ceremony held on March 20, 2014 at Henry Street’s Workforce Development Center.
The ten-week job program, an initiative of Henry Street and Recycle a Bicycle – combined hands-on classroom training with internships at local bike shops.
David Garza, Executive Director of Henry Street, congratulated the graduates, noting that the Academy is the latest of Settlement “firsts.” “We put the first nurse in a public school and opened the first shelter for homeless families,” he said. “And now, we’ve created the first bicycle mechanic skills training academy.”
One graduate, Steve Chabra, said that after he was laid off from his job in technology at a large bank, he considered working in a bike shop but didn’t know how to get started. “This is a terrific program,” he said. “I was really impressed with the large workspace filled with professional quality tools and equipment. When I saw that, I knew it was the real deal.” Today, he has a job he loves at Bicycle Habitat.
The graduates – one-third of whom have found jobs prior to the job placement phase of the program — are a diverse group. Nearly half are under age 25; and 25 percent are women. Karen Overton, Executive Director of Recycle a Bicycle, specifically recruited women for the program because they are underrepresented in the bicycle industry.
The Academy’s curriculum included the gamut of bicycle repair and maintenance, said Jeff Underwood, one of the instructors. By the end, graduates had the skills to build a bike from scratch. Students split their week between classroom instruction and apprenticeship placements.
The Lower East Side Employment Network (LESEN) a consortium which Henry Street co-founded, is a partner in the program and is helping to identify potential jobs for graduates. These jobs pay a living wage salary.
This innovative program was made possible with funding from Robin Hood, the Heckscher Foundation for Children and the Consortium for Worker Education.
