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When Mountain View resident James Ford attended a hiring event at San Francisco International Airport a few weeks, he arrived on a bicycle he recently got from the nonprofit Hope’s Corner, after it had been repaired by the Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange. Ford, who also used a bus to reach the event, said the bike helped him get to his interview on time – and ultimately secure a part-time job handling baggage.
For Ford, who is unhoused and seeking transitional housing, the bike is an essential part of his life and livelihood. Besides riding it to get to his new job, Ford said he uses the bike to get groceries at area nonprofits like Hope’s Corner. After receiving the bike about four weeks ago, Ford said he has been able to get places much faster than when he previously had to walk.
“It gave me the confidence that I would be there on time, without breaking a sweat,” Ford said in a message to this publication.
In a region where housing costs are sky high, Mountain View’s homeless population has been growing. A report last year found that the number of unhoused people in the city had spiked 56% since 2023.
As local governments work to meet the rising need for social services, some area nonprofits have also stepped in to address a more specific gap: transportation. For years, a web of organizations have partnered with one another to repair and distribute bicycles to people in need. The Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit, provides the nuts and bolts – sometimes literally – of the bike supply operation. SVBE’s team of staff and volunteers refurbish used bikes that are donated by community members.
The bikes are then given to social service agencies like Mountain View-based Hope’s Corner, who distribute them to the people they serve. Hope’s Corner began as a small operation in 2011 in the parking lot of Trinity United Methodist Church and now operates out of the church’s building. Over the years, the nonprofit has received grants from Santa Clara County and Google that have allowed it to expand its meal services and provide showers, laundry and bicycle repairs.
Providing bicycles to those in need
On Saturday mornings, Hope’s Corner provides its normal social services and hosts various nonprofits that offer additional housing and health services for unhoused people.
JoAnne, a Mountain View resident who declined to share her last name, told this publication on a Saturday in late January that her bike was key to exploring the community and finding employment.
“It provides transportation so I can get a job so I can move on and get back on my feet,” said JoAnne, who had spent the previous evening at the church’s shelter.
That day, JoAnne’s cruiser bike was getting a tune-up from volunteers at Hope’s Corner, who also attached a bike lock so that she could keep it secured.
Another client, who declined to give his name, received a bike from Hope’s Corner after his original bike was damaged in a car accident. Because he sleeps in an inoperable vehicle, the man said that getting around was difficult without a bike. He also uses other services at Hope’s Corner, including warm meals and shower facilities.
“Maybe a lot of the residents would prefer we go away, but when you’re in dire straits, this is fantastic,” he said. “It’s invaluable.”
Many of those who received a bike or bike repair service at Hope’s Corner said biking was their main form of transportation, providing a reliable way to get to work, medical appointments and other services.
For Kevin Thompson, who founded the bike repair program at Hope’s Corner 13 years ago, Saturdays are the best day of his week. Thompson goes to SVBE to pick up bikes to distribute, as well as spare parts for those who need a quick repair on their existing ride. Last year, his team serviced 751 bikes, Thompson said.
“People just need someone to care, you know?” he said. “I know the recipients and they know me. They trust me, and they know that I’ll do whatever I can do for them.”
Working to get donated bicycles ready to distribute
When Thompson gives out a bicycle at Hope’s Corner, it has already been repaired by a team of volunteers at SVBE. Dave Fork, a Google employee, co-founded the Bicycle Exchange in the 1990s. The organization originally operated out of Mountain View’s Community Services Agency but eventually moved its facility in 2018 to a building on East Bayshore Road in Palo Alto that’s owned by Google. The move was intended to be temporary, and SVBE has been on the lookout for a permanent home, Ford said.
The organization manages 800 volunteers annually and works with over 20 partnership organizations to distribute the bikes. It hosts dozens of workshops and repair sessions per month, where novice and experienced volunteers gather to learn about bikes.
“We repair bicycles, but it’s really about what we create as a community that drives us forward,” Fork said. “We’re not a social service agency in our own right. We don’t have social workers. So it takes a village to make everything come together and work.”
In addition to donating 909 repaired bicycles to community members in need, SVBE also sold 829 repaired bicycles to the public last year, Program Manager Kelly Boyett said. These bicycles are sold at a fraction of the cost of a new bike – typically a hundred to a few hundred dollars – and account for 65% of SVBE’s revenue, Boyett said. The group then uses that money to buy the supplies it needs to repair more bikes to distribute for free.
On a Wednesday afternoon in January, SVBE’s work area teemed with volunteers tinkering with bikes and swapping advice. For SVBE volunteers, it’s the impact of their work, the tight-knit community and a love for cycling and mechanics that keep them coming back.
Judy Colwell, a Menlo Park resident and avid cyclist, has volunteered at SVBE since 2013. When she first started, she knew only the basics. Now, she is an experienced mechanic who does quality control checks on the repairs. Colwell described the Wednesday volunteer team as “a family” who know and support one another, but said that SVBE’s mission is what stands out most.
“That’s what brings us all in here in the first place,” Colwell said. “Not to learn to fix bikes, because you learn that along the way. But what our mission is, to service the underserved community with transportation.”
Jack Miller, a Mountain View resident who volunteers as a mechanic and coordinates donations at SVBE, has worked on bicycles for 31 years. Miller helps teach novice volunteers how a bike works.
During the organization’s open hours and regular workshops, newer volunteers work alongside experienced mechanics to inspect each bike using an 18-point checklist, ensuring it is safe and fully functional. Tasks include replacing cracked tires, lubricating rusty chains, and checking that the brakes work properly.
“Bicycles are such a ubiquitous and useful thing, people ought to know more about how they do it,” Miller said.
For Miller, the best part about fixing a bike is finishing the repair so that someone can actually ride it somewhere. In that way, Miller and Colwell share their enthusiasm for biking with the people who receive the bikes – people like James Ford. Ford said he always enjoyed bicycling, but hadn’t done so for several years until he got the bike from Hope’s Corner.
Over the past month, he has taken his new ride on Highway 1 from Santa Cruz to Half Moon Bay and along a path in San Francisco that passes Oracle Park, Pier 39 and the Ghiradelli Headquarters near Fisherman’s Wharf. In addition to these scenic routes, he also enjoys using the new bike lanes along El Camino Real.
“Just give me a paved bike path and I am happy,” Ford said.
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