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Breaking Chains in Santa Fe

Santa Fe's Chainbreaker Collective Cranks Down on Poverty

By Eric Carlson

Found in: | Outside | Biking | Road Biking |

"706 LESS CARS IN SANTA FE," proclaims a sign hanging on the wall of the Chainbreaker Collective's Bicycle Resource Center in Santa Fe, N.M. That's 706 Santa Feans who pledged to give up or decline to buy an automobile since the Bicycle Resource Center opened in 2004. Over the past six years, a young and diverse group of volunteers have been working hard here to provide free used bicycles and bicycle-repair services to low-income city residents.

Recycling bikes "is a solution to a lot of problems," says board member and co-founder Tom�s Rivera. "People tend to buy a bicycle, leave it on their porch, and throw it away a year later. At the same time, gas prices continue to rise . . . Some of the people coming into Chainbreaker are telling us that they're spending a third of their income on transportation." Thus, Chainbreaker promotes bicycling as a means for poor people to save money while simultaneously building community, promoting exercise, and improving the environment.

What began in a small shed behind a local teen center has grown to occupy a 2,000-square-foot commercial space at 1515 5th Street, in a working class, multi-ethnic neighborhood in the heart of Santa Fe. The shop is run by 30 core volunteers and boasts an extensive inventory of donated bikes, tools and supplies. The resource center's literature emphasizes that they "don't do anything for anyone, but instead provide the instruction to help you learn how to fix your bike yourself." Those who cannot afford a bicycle can earn one in exchange for four hours of volunteer service.

The center's system is one of mutual aid, whereby patrons are expected to offer what they can in exchange for service, whether a cash donation, trade, or volunteer hours. "We've been proud that we've been able to survive completely by the support of our constituents," Rivera says. "It's all what people dumped in the hat." Indeed, a recent Poetry Slam fundraiser packed the house and pulled in two months rent!

Owen Conley, who is now employed as a professional bicycle mechanic at Rob and Charlie's in Santa Fe, got his start working on bikes at Chainbreaker. "I got involved because I needed a part for my bicycle that at the time was my main mode of transportation," he says. "I was unable to afford one at a bike shop, so I came in and volunteered a couple hours in trade for a wheel. And four years later, I'm on the board of directors."

Chainbreaker has managed to build an impressive base of supporters and clients with minimal formal advertising. The center is currently open to the general public on Sundays from noon to 4 and on Tuesdays from 4 to 7. In addition, Sunday evening from 5 to 8 is open for women only, and Thursday from 4 to 7 is reserved for Spanish-speakers only. Sunday afternoon is their busiest time, routinely drawing upwards of 50 people in the summertime. "It's been almost completely word of mouth," says Rivera.

The Collective is ramping up its outreach efforts through a membership drive and publicity campaign. Rivera is also busy applying for a grant to fund the new Training Wheels program, which will put teenagers to work restoring bikes for distribution to 5 to 10 year olds. He points out that a kid's bike is a luxury that many working families cannot afford.

Bicycle recycling programs such as Chainbreaker have been operating throughout the United States for at least 30 years. In the region, notable programs include the Community Bike Recycling Program in Albuquerque, The Derailer Bicycle Collective in Denver (founded by Chainbreaker alumnus Sarah Graves), Community Cycles in Boulder, Colo., the Bike Coop in Fort Collins, Colo., Bicycle Inter-Community Action & Salvage in Tucson, Ariz., Helping Understand Bicycles in Prescott, Ariz., and the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective.

Because bicycle recycling can solve only so many transportation problems, Chainbreaker is looking to expand to address broader transportation issues. It sees an important link between transportation and gentrification as working families, often Hispanic families deeply rooted in Santa Fe, are being pushed farther from town and their places of employment. "I'd like to see Chainbreaker be a voice for people who don't have a voice in what's going on with the city," says board member and Santa Fe native Cease Martinez. "I do see that my friends and family are being pushed out . . . You move farther away and then you pay more for gas."

While the Chainbreaker Collective is busy repairing bicycles, it is ultimately breaking the chains of poverty by expanding access to affordable transportation to all.

Eric Carlson bikes to work in Santa Fe, NM.