3
Street roots
March 18, 2011
Wrench Raiders lends a hand to the homeless cyclists
Founder C.J. Speehnan
talks about connecting
with the hidden bike
culture o f Portland
though, about community and such things,
and I think that’s great. Do you see
possibilities for this project to become a bridge
between the classes?
C J.S .: I really want to see the bike
culture in Portland .connect with the
“hidden” bike culture that exists. Bicyclists
generallyare great at building community
with each other. There is a certain amount
of camaraderie that exists. If we can harness
that energy and work together I think we
could do a lot of good and at the same time
build a stronger community for our friends
who live outside. So yeah, this resembles a
sort of bridge and you don’t necessarily have
to be a bicyclist to hang either. We also want
to be a community that empowers people.
We do that at Wrench Raiders simply by
fixing, bicycles, but on a larger scale we want
to teach folks how to fix their own bicycles.
BY TERRIS HARNED
C O N TR IBU TIN G WRITER
n April, 2010, C.J. Speelman founded
Wrench Raiders, a grassroots
organization of volunteers who help
maintain bikes for people who are homeless
or with no other source of income or
transportation. The California transplant
calls himself a self-taught mechanic who put
himself in this line of work after seeing the
need among people who were homeless who
relied solely on their bikes for mobility, but
who couldn’t afford to fix them. A flat tire or
faulty breaks could be crippling and even
fatal. But equally important; a solidr well-
■oiled steed is independence, opportunity
and survival.
Wrench Raiders operates a mobile repair
shop that provides repairs at ho charge, but
underlying the work.is a message o f building
community and connecting social classes,
inside and outside.
I
T.H.: That was 'going to be one o f my next
questions. When you’re working on a bike, do
you talk to the person you’re helpings and show
them how to do it? Or is that more o f a thing
for the future?
C J.S .: Right now we either allow people
to borrow our tools and fix their own bike if •
they know how, or we can guide-them
through the process to make sure they do it
rig h t If they are not interested, we will justT
fix their bike,, but the hope is to eventually
engage them in the process of learning how
to fix their own bicycle, at least basic things
like changing their tires, adjusting their
brakes, etc,
T erris H arned: Tell me a little about
Wrench Raiders. How did you guys get started?
Who do you serve exactly? Can anyone come
and get assistance?
C J . Speelm an: I started a non-profit
about six years ago that was primarily
focused on creating a space to build
community for people who were
experiencing homelessness in m y area. I
learned a lot about my new friends and the
problem s and experience^ they faced every
dav. .Ojie-of tJie larveat hurdles they faced _
issue of transportation. Som any
people take the ability to get from here to,
there for granted. I knew I did. I found out
quickly that bicycles could be a great source
of transportation, but they w ereprone to
disrepair. I began to learn how to fix bikes,
building up my own bike from just a frame.
When I moved to Portland two years ago,
one of Jthe main reasons was to develop this
concept of a. mobile bicycle repair shop. We
did some research, made a few connections
and Wrench Raiders was born April 2010.
Our main purpose behind fixing bikes is
this idea of creating and developing
community among people who live outside
and who live inside.. I would guess that our
mission is three-fold: We want to engage the
bicycling culture of Portland in social justice,
. advocate the bicycle as a viable alternative
to the automobile as a form of
transportation and most importantly, build
community.
T.H.: I f someone wants to contribute to
Wrench Raiders, either financially or as a
volunteer, how can they do that? I seem to
: recall you mentioning once in a previous
conversation that you try< to stay away from,
used parts, because they’re just too
unpredictable, right?
P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F C J. S P E E L M A N
C.J. Speelman works on d bike during n Sunday Wrench Raiders session under the
Hawthorne Bridge.
We do not provide bikes for people. We
try to limit our services to those who cannot
afford to have their bikes fixed at a normal
shop which at this moment are our friends
who’ are experiencing homelessness in .
Portland.
of volunteers that would fix bikes among
other things. Also, we are trying to find a
Cargo Trike to carry our shop in so that we
would be truly mobile. The long-term vision
is to pretty much fix all the bikes for free we
can.
T.H.: What direction would you like to see
Wrench Raiders go? What is your long term-
vision for the organization?
T.H.: In a minor way, this sort of reminds
me o f that Tool Library project that has been
going on. To my mind, it’s sort o f ironic that
we now have a centralized location to borrow
tools from, where once upon a time we might
just visit our neighbor, or the guy down the
street. What you said just made me think,
C J.S .: I would love to be able to facilitate
multiple times that we would fix bikes
during the week while building a solid group
C J.S .: We really don’t want to use any
used parts because we would not be certain
if they would fit any of the bikes' that we
work on. Sometimes parts are pretty
specific to the bike or type of bike. If
someone wants to give to Wrench Raiders,
the easiest way is through our Web site.
They can click on the Support page www.
wrenchraiders.net/suppori7- and choose an
option. We are.in need of monthly
partnerships to keep what we do sustainable
and ensure we m eet the needs of our
friends. If they are interested in
volunteering, our Web site has list o f .
volunteer needs at www.wrenchraiders.net/
get-involved/
Terris H am ed is a Street Roots vendor. You
can buy a paper from him outside Food
Front at N W 23rd Avenue and Thurman.
Housing Authority seeks funding change for public housing
BY AMANDA WALDROUPE
STAFF WRITER
he Housing Authority of Portland’s
board of commissioners voted
unanimously on Tuesday, March 15 to
pursue an application to the federal
Departm ent of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) to change the funding
stream for 1,200 units of subsidized, public
housing for low-income people.
The Housing Authority of Portland (HAP)
owns and operates 1,200 public housing
units in 10 high rise buildings. Public
housing is limited to people and families on
extremely low-incomes, the elderly and
disabled. Residents pay no more than 30
percent of their incomes in rent; the rest of
the rent is subsidized by HAP and funding
from HUD.
HAP wants to switch th e type of subsidy
people receive from a public housing
subsidy to project-based Section 8 vouchers.
Section 8 vouchees sure funded by a different
HUD funding stream and is like public
a
housing in the sense that a low-income
person pays no more than 30 percent of
their rent. If a Section 8 voucher is “project-
based,” it means the subsidy is connected
with the, physical living unit — whoever lives
in that unit will receive the subsidy.
HAP wants to make the change in order
to pay for a number of capital improvements
to the buildings, which are in need of
electrical and plumbing repairs, as well as
new siding, carpeting, and other major
repairs totalling about $30 million.
“We don’t have any way of financing those
capital needs,” says Shelley Marchesi,
HAP’s spokesperson.
By converting the units to project-based,
Section 8 units, HAP will be able to access
fax-credit financing, meaning that the
agency will able to secure equity and take on
debt for-the buildings. By doing so, it will be
able to make the capital improvements and
secure the buildings for low-income housing
for another 50 years.
“Underpinning all of this work is that we
need to preserve housing for low-income
people,” says Mike Andrews, HAP’s director
of development and community
revitalization.
Because Section 8 vouchers have stricter
income restrictions than public housing,
approximately 66 people — including 30 low-
income, full-time students — will no longer
be able to live at the units. Dianne Quast,
HAP’s director of real estate operations,
told the board of commissioners that HAP
will help the tenants relocate to comparable
housing.
Marchesi says HAP will not go forward
With the application if HUD refuses to give
tenants th e same legal protections they
currently have as tenants of public housing
(primarily eviction rights). She also says
that if HUD does not give HAP additional' _
Section 8 vouchers, they will not go through
with the switch.
“We’re not going to take vouchers out of
our existing voucher pool,” Marchesi says.
Advocates for affordable housing think
.the move on HAP’s part is generally
positive.
Bobby Weinstock, housing consultant for
Northwest Pilot Project, which serves
elderly, low-income Portlanders, says
housing authorities across the country are
letting their public housing properties
foreclose, rather than invest in the buildings
and ensure they remain affordable.
“Our housing authority is going in a very
different direction,” Weinstock says. “They
want to preserve the hard units. They’re
exactly on the right track here in preserving
the buildings.”
H e and Micky Ryan, an affordable housing
advocate and lawyer, worry that there is a
risk that HAP may not be able to pay back
any private debt it collects to pay for the
capital improvements. If that becomes the
case for some reason, the private investors
could take over the building.
“It seems like a small risk,” Weinstock
says. “The benefit is great if they can extend
the life of these buildings.”