As a partner on the rapid implementation of the Bike(+) Plan, Healthy Ride’s outreach team, including the newly announced Community Ambassadors are performing direct community outreach to support the MoveForwardPGH campaign. As a part of this outreach, Ambassadors will be helping to both identify and break down barriers to bicycling across the city, and educate their networks regarding upcoming bike network improvements including bike lanes and neighborways that create a broader, more connected network of safe streets.
Without further delay, please meet the 2020 Community Ambassador cohort! You’ll see both new and familiar faces, along with some 501c3 organizations who are taking on the awesome task of making biking and bike sharing in Pittsburgh a more inclusive, community-driven resource for people to get where they need to go.
Trey McCune, Lead Ambassador
Trey is a former Community Ambassador from 2019 who returns to lead the team of Ambassadors in 2020. Trey is the Director of Operations at the Thelma Lovette YMCA in the Hill District, and also works as a personal trainer. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Trey currently lives in the Homewood neighborhood.
Coley Alston
Coley is also a familiar face from our 2019 Community Ambassador team. They are the Program Director of the Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation, and they are particularly known for their food-themed rides while also wearing food-related clothing (i.e. pizza pants).
C.C. Calhoun
C.C. is the Ticketing Operations and Patron Services Manager at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Downtown and has been using Healthy Ride over the years to get out for a spin after work or just socialize with friends while getting some exercise. This will be C.C.’s first year as a Community Ambassador and we’re excited to work with her!
BOOM Concepts
BOOM Concepts, located in the Garfield neighborhood, is dedicated to the development of artist and creative entrepreneurs representing marginalized voices. Many of the individuals on their team are already regular riders, and some have already been using the Healthy Ride program themselves, or to introduce new artists to biking in Pittsburgh as a means of getting around town.
Homewood Children’s Village
The mission of Homewood Children’s Village (HCV) is to improve the lives of Homewood’s children and simultaneously reweave the fabric of the community in which they live. While we’ve partnered with HCV over the years as Healthy Ride expanded into the Homewood community, this year HCV is working with the youth in the Learn and Earn program to help plan bike rides and gather feedback from residents regarding barriers to bicycling and perceptions of road safety.
Homewood Concerned Citizens Council
Homewood Concerned Citizen’s Council (HCCC) is a membership of residents, business, with public and private professionals working together to enhance the quality of life for the people in the Homewood neighborhood. HCCC was fundamental in the planning of Healthy Ride stations in the Homewood community and will work to connect their group to the bike share program as a means of recreation and exercise.
The Community Ambassador program has been supported since its founding by the Better Bike Share Partnership, with a mission to build equitable and replicable bike share systems across North America. Healthy Ride is also partnering with the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure to work with communities and gain feedback from residents throughout Pittsburgh on upcoming projects that implement the vision of the Bike(+) Plan.
This blog was originally published on HealthyRidePGH.com.