New pilot project aims to empower newcomers through cycling

Tim Keenan is about to feel a little bit like Oprah Winfrey.

However instead of handing out free cars to a studio audience, he will be handing out free bikes to immigrant families.

“That’s exactly what it’s going to be like,” laughs the active living program coordinator for the YMCA Centre for Immigrant Programs.

Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on July 16, Keenan will be celebrating the launch of The Newcomer Bike Project, a program which aims to empower and equip recent refugee families in Halifax with the tools to own or ride a bike.

As part of the project, participants are offered in-depth training sessions in partnership with the staff and volunteers from The Ecology Action Centre’s Welcoming Wheels program.

The aim is to provide newcomer families the knowledge and support needed to become self-sufficient bike riders and to gain the necessary confidence for riding safely on Halifax streets.

In addition, parents involved in the program learn to maintain and repair their bikes, which gives them a sense of empowerment.

“The parents can learn how to ride a bike, repair a bike, everything they need to know about bike ridership and then teach their children and once they have knowledge and the equipment, they can go out as a family unit and enjoy this activity,” adds Keenan. “It’s not just going in, getting a bike and riding away. There is some continuity there.”

Keenan notes the program also fulfills another challenge for newcomers to cities where they don’t have much familiarity.

“It just helps them get out of their homes, it gives them a bit of freedom if they want to run to a nearby supermarket or go to a nearby park,” continues Keenan. “And it just opens up a couple of opportunities for them to get out into the community.”

A pilot project, the initial phase of the program is supporting ten adults as well as their children.

“It’s a large group — there is about 40 altogether, “ notes Keenan. “There are some groups from Africa, some Afghani families and also Ukrainian families as well.”

As part of the July 16 launch near the office of the YMCA Centre for Immigrant Programs at 7071 Bayers Road, participants will be receiving free refurbished bikes supplied by Bike Again!

“Not everybody is going to get their bike on Saturday because we didn’t have the capacity to have the equipment ready, but we’ll do another day where the rest of them will receive their bikes,” says Keenan, noting the program extends beyond just handing out free bikes.

“Our immediate follow-up is going to be continuing offering opportunities to newcomers to ride their bikes — like taking groups to local parks and that kind of stuff.”

In August, Keenan hopes to hand out more refurbished bikes and start a second round of The Newcomer Bike Program.

“What we’ll do is we’ll take some of the people who went through the training in this session and invite them to help the other newcomers in the next session to train them as well,” he adds.

The Newcomer Bike Program — which was a partnership with the Ecology Action Centre and Halifax Biking Coalition with support from the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture Tourism and Heritage — is just one aspect of the many programs offered by the YMCA Centre for Immigrant Programs.

Committed to building healthy communities in HRM, the multi-service organization offers a range of programming that supports newcomer settlement and integration with a focus on families and being active and engaged in the community.

“Come on out, have some snacks, meet us and meet some newcomers,” says Keenan about the July 16 launch at the back of the Bayers Road Business Centre near Desmond Avenue and Scot Street. “Behind the Superstore, you’ll see us over there in the parking lot with our big tent and flags and everything else!”