Kerri Martin was working a comfortable IT job and enjoying life in New York City. But when she watched the first of two planes crash into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, she knew it was time to do something else.
She followed her love of cycling and created a unique non-profit in Asbury Park, New Jersey called Second Life Bikes. This community bike store is best known for their “Earn a Bike” program which allows area youths to put in 15 hours working as a bike mechanic in exchange for a bike of their own. “We don’t expect that they all grow up to become bike mechanics, but that we’re giving them some sort of like mechanical skills and some sort of life skills…just showing up at a place at 3 o’clock and signing a time card, and learning how to shake hands and look people in the eye.”