Cycle Salvation provides training and gives bikes new life

Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Page F4

By Iona Green

Citizen advertising features

Causeway Work Centre has initiated another innovative social enterprise in Ottawa to provide employment and training opportunities for people with mental illness, and/or other disabilities.

Currently supported by a grant from the Community Foundation of Ottawa, as well as funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Causeway Foundation, Cycle Salvation first opened its doors in April 2008 at 477 Bronson Avenue, where a professional bicycle mechanic has been training five disabled clients in a bicycle repair and retail business.

The organization is sharing space and expertise with the reCYCLE Bicycle Cooperative, and has received so many bicycle donations that they have already outgrown their current work space.

Not only does the business provide training and employment to a high-needs segment of the population, but it is also diverting a large number of bicycles from landfill sites. Any donated bikes that are beyond repair are taken to a metal recycler and sold by weight, thus providing another revenue source for the shop.

Sales in the first year were projected to be over $20,000, a goal that Executive Director Don Palmer says they came very close to achieving. By the end of April 2009, Cycle Salvation had received 450 bicycle donations, 200 of which have been completely refurbished and sold.

As a social enterprise, Cycle Salvation is not expected to break even for several years, but Don feels optimistic as the business really began to take off in 2009. “The peak season for bicycle repairs and sales is March to June,” he says. “Because we were only able to secure the 477 Bronson location in April 2008, we missed some key traffic in our first year of operation. Now that we have our first group of employees fully trained, I expect the business to continue to increase considerably over the next few years.”

Opened in 1977, Causeway Work Centre has been very active in the social enterprise arena, creating three successful local businesses, including Krackers Katering, a catering company run by employees with a history of mental illness, as well as Good Nature Grounds Keeping, also operated by employees with a mental illness.

“What we like about social enterprise is how it gives tremendous support to people who want to have a job by allowing them to be part of the company. It gives them a real sense of ownership,” says Don. “It also goes a long way to reducing stigma because it gets them out in the community where they can interact with customers who are then able to recognize their skills and the ways in which they can make a very positive contribution to society.”

Cycle Salvation markets itself as the place where bicycles are reborn, but it also offers new hope to the people who work there. The shop celebrated its first year of successful operation on May 12th. Cycle Salvation is open Tuesday to Friday, 9:00am-5:00pm, and Saturday, 9:00am-1:00pm, for sales of refurbished bikes and for drop-offs of bike donations. For more information, visit www.cyclesalvation.org.

Iona Green is Senior Associate, Marketing and Communications, with the Community Foundation of Ottawa.