Who We Are​
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Who Are We?
Community Cycles of California is a 501c3 nonprofit, established in September 2017. The proceeds from our nonprofit bike shop and repair center fund our charitable community programs that provide free bikes, service, and job training to those in need. We sell quality refurbished bikes, and we guarantee our work through a 60+ point refurbishment, safety repair, and quality assessment. For each bike or service we sell, we donate a bike or service to someone in need. Our shop is at 35 Wilson Avenue, San Jose 95126.
Our Mission
Powering Economic Independence
Our mission is to strengthen our community by promoting economic independence for individuals facing barriers to employment through our nonprofit bicycle shop, charitable bike programs, and vocational training.
Our Programs
Our Nonprofit Bike Shop sells quality refurbished bikes, and we guarantee our work through a 60+ point refurbishment, safety, and quality assessment. Sales and repair center proceeds combine with charitable contributions to fund our charitable programs.
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Our paid Small Business Operations Training program teaches bike mechanics and retail management fundamentals through hands-on experience, qualifying trainees for living-wage jobs. After a successful partial program pilot in 2020, we launched with the support of Santa Clara County in 2022 and will soon be stewarding our first graduates and welcoming future cohorts!
Through Earn-A-Bike, participants volunteer for 6 hours and receive a free bike upon completion of their service.
Our Free Mobile Repair Clinics at human service organizations provide easy access to those who rely on their bikes daily.
Our flagship Housing-Based Bike “Kitchen” at the Laurel Grove apartments assures repair tools and manuals are always available to tenants of this affordable housing complex.
During the holidays and at special events, we partner with organizations focused on public health, affordable housing, and education to offer Children's Bike Giveaways. A favorite program of our volunteers and staff, these giveaways provide free bikes and safety gear to children from low-income families.
We collaborate with numerous Nonprofit Partners to provide Bikes and Safety Packages within a wide range of organizational budgets, helping those teams get bicycles to their clients; children in low-income households and adults who rely on bicycles as their primary means of transport.
Guiding Principles
A 2019 article by Dr. Anne Lusk from the Harvard School of Public Health explains, “… urban cycling investments tend to focus on the needs of wealthy riders and neglect lower-income residents and people of color. This happens even though the single biggest group of Americans who bike to work live in households that earn less than $10,000 yearly, and studies in lower-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Boston have found that the majority of bicyclists were non-white.”
This is why Community Cycles is focused on placing bike kitchens in affordable housing complexes, why our free repair clinics are held at service hubs where folks in need come for meals and groceries, and why we give bikes away through our Earn-A-Bike program and nonprofit partnerships. Our hallmark program, Small Business Operations training, contributes to upward economic mobility by helping hardworking people move out of that $10K poverty bracket and into living-wage careers.
These commitments inform our guiding principles:
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Create and nurture partnerships that reduce barriers to living-wage employment
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Provide agency on two wheels – free bicycles and repairs for those in need
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Empower through education and hands-on training
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How can I get involved?
Volunteer: We always need bike mechanics and may need retail and administrative support.
Give: One-time gifts, monthly sustainers, tribute gifts, Donor Advised Funds, and Amazon Smiles.
Donate a Bike: We accept quality bikes of all types and sizes.
Network: We’re always eager to meet partners in human services and affordable housing.
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For more information about each way to get involved, email or call us!