Imagine biking more than 4,000 miles and building houses along the way.
USC graduate student Chelsea Ball, 23, didn’t have to imagine it, because she did so this past summer. Ball traveled all the way from Jacksonville, Fla., to Monterey, Calif., to help people who depend on affordable housing.
Ball was one of more than 200 young adults to take part in the 2013 Bike & Build program. Bike & Build is a nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness of the affordable housing problem in the U.S.
The Philadephia-based group has brought together almost 2,000 bicyclists and raised $4.6 million for housing nonprofits since it started in 2002.
Each year, eight cross-country trips are made from the East Coast to the West Coast on a mission to construct houses, discuss solutions and engage the participants and the communities they travel through in making housing accessible for everyone.
Ball’s experiences also opened her eyes to the reality that some people deal with every day and the innate good in the people she met, she said.
“It was truly a blessing to know that there are still so many people out there working for the greater good,” Ball said in an email. “It has truly instilled in me a lifetime commitment to giving back to the community.”
Ball said that her inspiration was a former graduate student she met at USC, Chika Kusakawa. While searching for graduate schools, Ball stayed with Kusakawa. That’s when Kusakawa told her about her plans for that summer.
After hearing about her involvement with Bike & Build and following with her friend’s blog, Ball was convinced that she had to give it a shot.
Ball began her challenge on May 19. Averaging 71 miles a day, Ball and her team stopped at 18 different sites along the way, including places in Tallahassee, Fla., New Orleans and Dallas to build houses.
The riders volunteered with nine different housing organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, Rebuilding Together and an assortment of local nonprofits.
Ball said she learned to sleep anywhere: a tree, a bench, even the side of the road.
Along the way, the team had some fun with its work. A Bike & Build tradition is to hold a “prom,” complete with thrift store dresses and awkward bicyclist tan lines. With only four rest days out of the 81 total days, finally arriving in Monterey was bittersweet.
“Waking up between 4 and 5 a.m. every day and cycling for 12 hours was difficult to handle … A few days we biked in 105 heat,” Ball said. “But we did it! Our team was so positive and focused on the big picture.”
Ball was the route leader for the group’s southern U.S. route. She had completed her first and only triathlon in the summer of 2011, and she enjoyed riding a tri-bike but had never made it a priority until she found out about the Bike & Build program.
Ball said would urge USC students to never be afraid of new experiences.
“Do not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try something new,” she said. “I encourage each and every USC student to forge their own path, don’t be afraid to change direction and take curves as they come.”