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The Boise Bicycle Project teaches inmates how to repair bikes in exchange for getting them on their own set of wheels when they leave the facility.
The Boise Bicycle Project teaches inmates how to repair bikes in exchange for getting them on their own set of wheels when they leave the facility. (Photo: Courtesy Jimmy Hallyburton)

The Idaho Inmates Building Bikes for Syrian Refugees

The Boise Bicycle Project teaches inmates the ins and outs of bicycle maintenance, with the ultimate goal of getting everyone in Boise on two wheels鈥攏o matter their income

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The Boise Bicycle Project teaches inmates how to repair bikes in exchange for getting them on their own set of wheels when they leave the facility.
(Photo: Courtesy Jimmy Hallyburton)

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It鈥檚 a late May afternoon at the South Boise Women鈥檚 Correctional Center (), a minimum-security center on an empty stretch of road in the sage-covered hills outside the Idaho city. Jessica Halbesleben, a 45-year-old inmate, meets with her three apprentices, Destiny, Robin, and Jamie (who asked to have their last names withheld), in the unit where she鈥檚 been living for the past three years. Under Halbesleben鈥檚 guidance, the trio鈥攔anging in age from 24 to 36鈥攃heck out bike tools in the prison鈥檚 lobby, then walk across the parking lot to a shed built specifically to give them a space to repair children鈥檚 bikes.

The women are part of a 200-person program called Shifting Gears that has inmates repairing bikes for donation. In exchange for their work, they get their own bike, helmet, lock, and light, which they can pick up upon release. Halbesleben has built 66 bikes since she joined Shifting Gears in the summer of 2016, just a few months after it was launched by the (BBP), a nonprofit whose goal is to get everyone in the city鈥攏o matter their income鈥攐n two wheels.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the putting it back together that I fell in love with,鈥 Halbesleben says. 鈥淔or me, it was a Zen experience. You get this bike that鈥檚 all dirty and rusty and has flat tires. You take something that鈥檚 broken and turn it into something that looks brand new.鈥

(Courtesy Jimmy Hallyburton)

On this spring day, the women work in silence, stripping down the donated bikes, cleaning each part, adjusting components, then reassembling everything in a process that takes about 2.5 hours. Later that week, the refurbished bikes will be picked up by BBP employees to be distributed to Boise children in need, the majority of them refugees from Syria. (Due in part to the city鈥檚 low cost of living, friendly climate, and welcoming community, Boise has one of the largest per capita refugee populations in the country. According to the , more Syrian refugees live in the Idaho city than in New York City and Los Angeles combined.)

鈥淭he impact we make is very tangible,鈥 says Jimmy Hallyburton, co-founder and executive director of the 16-person BBP. 鈥淎 broken bike comes in by donation, a volunteer fixes it, and it goes into the hands of a smiling kid.鈥

Hallyburton grew up in Boise on a dairy farm and fought fires with the Idaho City Hotshot Crew before he co-founded the Boise Bicycle Project in 2007 in a former homeless shelter. At BBP鈥檚 DIY bike shop in downtown Boise, it鈥檚 common to find a cyclist wrenching on a $10,000 triathlon bike next to a Syrian refugee looking for a new commuter to ride while finding work. Since its inception, BBP has fixed and distributed more than 12,000 bikes and donated more than 5,000 to kids. Last year, the organization created a bicycle transportation program for adult refugees that taught more than 2,000 people about bike repair and safety.

For the some 600,000 inmates released from federal and state prisons annually, obtaining a state-issued driver鈥檚 license can be one of the biggest roadblocks to transitioning back into society.

The goal is to reduce transportation barriers鈥攁nd few face as many of those as people just released from prison. According to the , for the some 600,000 inmates released from federal and state prisons annually, obtaining a state-issued driver鈥檚 license can be one of the biggest roadblocks to transitioning back into society.

So Hallyburton came up with the idea for Shifting Gears and pitched it to the director of the Idaho Department of Correction, who loved it. Different locations vied for the program, but the SBWCC eventually won the bid. The facility鈥檚 warden offered the project to Corporal Laura Carlson, who volunteered to run it. Carlson worked with BBP and scheduled training days with Lucky Kelley, a volunteer mechanic in his sixties who still comes to the facility every Saturday to swap bikes and train participants. Five inmates鈥攊ncluding Halbesleben鈥攚ere selected to start the program. Participants shadow a mentor for three days before they become trainers. 鈥淢ost come into it thinking it鈥檚 something to do with their time, and they don鈥檛 anticipate how much it will change their lives,鈥 Carlson says.

Take Destiny, for instance, who wrote about Shifting Gears in her exit survey: 鈥淚 stopped looking forward to positive things in life the day I lost my little girl. It took me a whole year to come back to reality. Joining Shifting Gears is the best decision I鈥檝e made since then. Helping a little girl ride the bike that I fixed made me look for a brighter tomorrow. The program opened my eyes and helped me realize what I want to do with my life: get out and work or volunteer with kids who are sick, in need, in the system, or even just lonely.鈥

(Courtesy Jimmy Hallyburton)

Several inmates released from SBWCC have come downtown to BPB to work on their children鈥檚 bikes. 鈥淲hen the participants are released, we hope that some of them use the BPB as a support system,鈥 Hallyburton says. 鈥淲e hope they realize this is a safe space and a place to be surrounded by positive people.鈥

When Halbesleben is paroled from prison, most likely in January, she鈥檒l have not only a bike that matches her height waiting for her at BBP, but also an opportunity to apply for a position at the organization. She dreams of starting her own nonprofit that provides school clothes and supplies to underserved teens. 鈥淏efore I came to prison, I was locked in my own world,鈥 Halbesleben says. 鈥淗aving a chance to see what other people in my community and around the world are going through has been eye-opening. For me, it鈥檚 just been a huge appreciation for humanity as a whole. I can鈥檛 wait to get out there and be a part of it.鈥

Lead Photo: Courtesy Jimmy Hallyburton

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