Cross-country cyclists build homes in NC

Nearly 20 cyclists stopped in Chapel Hill last week as part of their trip across the country to promote affordable housing.

College students with Bike and Build, a nonprofit dedicated to helping affordable housing groups, partnered with UNC Habitat for Humanity in their quest to help affordable housing communities across the nation through bike trips.

“I’m excited,” said Amy Bridges, a first-year medical student at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. “It’s really what we’re here for.”

The team expects to arrive in Asheville, N.C., for its next building project tomorrow.

The students, all from different universities in the U.S., are cycling 3,558 miles from Nags Head, N.C., to San Diego, Calif., and helping at Habitat for Humanity builds along the way.

Before starting their cross-country journey, participants are required to raise at least $4,500 for affordable housing projects, complete 10 hours of volunteer work with a local affordable housing construction group and ride at least 500 miles.

Participants must also be able to log a 65-mile bike ride, the average ride distance per day on the trip.

“I’ve always wanted to ride across the country,” said Maria Srour, a 24-year-old graduate student at Indiana University. “This seemed like the perfect way to do it.”

Juliana Anselmini, a 24-year-old graduate student at Montclair State University, said she wanted to participate in the road trip to make a difference.

“We’ve lost our minds,” she said.

On May 18, seven students nailed sheeting to the roof of a house in Phoenix Place, an affordable housing project in Chapel Hill. The other 12 students helped with landscaping at a house in Fairview Community in Hillsborough.

All 19 cyclists worked on the Phoenix Place project on May 19.

Sadie Vo, spokeswoman for Orange County Habitat for Humanity, said UNC Habitat for Humanity and Bike and Build formed a partnership about five years ago.

“It’s really great for us that they come through because they’re hard workers,” she said.

She said affordable housing in communities like Phoenix Place mostly houses employees of UNC and UNC Health Care. The high cost of living in Chapel Hill makes it difficult for UNC employees to find affordable housing close to work, Vo said.

Orange County Habitat for Humanity’s goal is to create affordable housing so people can live close to work in a decent house.

The Bike and Build team helped fill a gap in volunteers for UNC Habitat when UNC students left for the summer.

“It’s been a blast,” Vo said. “They’re so passionate about what they do.”

UNC Habitat generally builds two houses a year. Vo said they hope to finish the houses they started to build in the spring by midsummer.

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