Heart-Wrenching

On a very toasty Saturday afternoon in August, a woman and her three daughters cautiously entered the ReCycle shop. It is not an uncommon story for us who regularly serve families unsure of how the shop works, but a welcome one all the same. After signing in and looking around, she was directed that we could best serve her by helping her learn how to repair their bikes through our Open Shop option. An option where we show her the repairs necessary, and she would do the work to complete them. As she raised her first bicycle to the stand on station one, we started to have a conversation about her life situation and struggles.

With her children looking around the shop in amazement and the clink of metal wrenches on her bicycle, she expressed that she had to move out suddenly. A life situation had happened where she was now a resident of the Catholic Charities Harbor House, a temporary shelter for women in abusive relationships. With the urgent and necessary shift in housing, she was unable to bring most of her belongings. While she was the owner of a vehicle, at best, it was unreliable, and at worst, it was useless to get her to work and her children to school. Their bicycles were their lifeline to having any semblance of a normal life, a way to work and school, and a means to live and make ends meet.

We began by replacing the worn-out tubes, and I quickly realized that she needed more than just air in her bicycle tires to keep her going. The bike needed some real love and support, and it turns out the shop would provide that for more than just her bike that day. We slowly worked our way through her bike, a bike that was more of a part of the family than just something many consider a “thing” to have fun on or ride at a convenience. As we wrapped up repairs on her bike and worked through her other two bicycles, her children’s eyes lit up. One by one, the bicycles were repaired, and with them, all of their spirits lifted. She shared she was hopeful to be looking for a new job with her now reliable means to get there.

So often, we find in the ReCycle shop that something so seemingly thrown away or cast aside as an option for many is a requirement for others. Today, her youngest daughter would receive her first bicycle, a monumental moment and a sign of new beginnings.

Overall, it was very humbling to see her situation. But it was also very encouraging to see how eager she was to help and begin a new life with the help of the Recycle Shop and Bike Walk Wichita.

– Alan Kailer