PORTLAND, Oregon — A Northeast Portland nonprofit is trying to raise more than a hundred thousand dollars to avoid closing its doors.
The Community Cycling Center, which provides community members with free bikes and safety education, opened in 1994. Employees of the nonprofit said if they can’t raise $115,000 to cover operating costs by Oct. 1, they won’t be able to stay open. Their shop is located on Northeast 17th and Alberta Street.
“This is really a make-or-break situation for us,” said Brittany Morris with CCC. “It's not just about bikes. Bikes are a vehicle for vulnerability: they get people to work and to school; they help build community and the people that we serve need that more than anyone else.”
Last week, Morris helped CCC launch an emergency fundraising campaign to raise money. She said over 30 years, the nonprofit has given away 15,000 free bikes to community members.
As for how they landed in their current financial crisis, Morris cited two main reasons, including the pandemic, that impacted their revenue streams.
“Less people were commuting; there were less reasons to ride your bike to work, meaning the people coming into the shop just really, really tanked,” said Morris. “There was no reason to get your bike fixed if you're not riding it as much.”
Morris noted that many consumers also turned to buying bikes online from suppliers, rather than from small shops like theirs. She said those were factors they couldn't help, but admitted there was another factor that the organization could have avoided.
Amid financial uncertainty during the pandemic, Morris said CCC decided to grow the organization rather than maintain it at the size that it was. She said the nonprofit had banked on receiving federal funding that didn't come through. Morris said last month, CCC learned that they did not qualify for the Employee Retention Credit they applied for, which she estimated would have provided them in the neighborhood of $300,000.
“We recognize right now that small is good, and small can be very impactful,” said Morris. “So, we're ready right now to really scale back the business, right-size the work so that we can do better by our community.”
William Francis, the CCC's programs director, said he's grateful for the community and those he hopes will be willing to help them. He’s thinking of future bike owners and what this all means to them.
“When you give a kid a bike… it just opens up such a great array of possibilities for them, like independence,” said Francis. “We've got a lot of energy to keep this thing moving forward.”