Call 413.271.7293 for more info.
Category: Uncategorized
We’re hiring!
Rad is hiring a summer position to assist with our growing programmatic offerings!
Job details are below. Applicants can email a cover letter and resume to radspringfield@yahoo.com
Youth Repair Instructor – Job Description
Summary
The Youth Repair Instructor will be a Springfield resident, age 18-26 who will lead the instruction of youth during a 10-week summer program hosted by Rad. The Youth Repair Instructor is responsible for knowing the basics of bike repair and safety, introducing lessons and testing youth participants at the Springfield College Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement’s (“The Center”) summer earn-a-bike program.
In addition to running the summer programming curriculum at The Center, the Youth Repair Instructor will need to ensure the project has a consistent inventory, especially of refurbished bikes and hardware for teaching.
Expectations
– Assess donated bikes to see if they are repairable in an educational forum designed for youth
– Repair and refurbish bicycles to be used as earn-a-bike options, maintaining a consistent inventory for new students
– Track time and parts used per project
– Maintain a neat and organized workspace at The Center
– Maintain a high level of professionalism
– Select bicycles to be repaired based on shop needs and community demand
– Perform quality control checks on bikes built by youth and ensure the safety of all bicycles
– Instruct basic bicycle safety to a diverse youth audience
– Answer visitors’ questions about broader RadSpringfield programs and operations
– Follows Springfield College policies and procedures regarding responsible use of the Center
Qualifications
– Strong proficiency with bicycle technology and tools (1960’s to present)
– Ingenuity to solve a wide array of mechanical issues
– Excellent customer service and sales skills
– Patience and a positive attitude towards offering repair help to a diverse audience
– Educational skills including lecturing on technical topics
– Organizational skills including monitoring one’s hours
– Positive attitude and enthusiastic belief in Rad’s mission of putting more bikes on the road
Professional Development Opportunities
– Making community contacts with bicycle-oriented organizers
– Receive training in neighborhood organizing and management of a community bike shop
– Opportunity for advancement within the organization as it grows
– Potential for initial off-site training with other bike shops
Benefits, Terms and Compensation
– $13-$16 hourly, depending on experience, up to 5hrs/week over the summer
– Reports to the Project Manager and the Director of the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement
– Reduced on bicycle industry goods
– Access to professional bike tools for your own bike
Application
Submit a resume and cover letter to radspringfield@yahoo.com with the subject ‘Youth Repair Instructor application’. The position will be filled ASAP.
Discovering Springfield on two wheels
We all see the world through different glasses. Every morning we wake up with a view impacted by our past experiences, present workload, and aims for our future selves.
It brings us overwhelming joy to be working with a consortium of groups including Pedal Thru Youth, Hampshire Bicycle Exchange, Competitive Edge Ski And Bike, and Jewish Family Services of Western Massachusetts.
Our goal is to provide everyone who would like to bike an opportunity to do so safely.
Through resettlement and job placements, many families of refugees of foreign crises are making new homes – helping to make the Forest Park neighborhood one of the most vibrant places in New England.
These bikes, built mostly in previous decades have changed likely changed hands more than once over their lives. Soon they will be a transportation option for a New American coming to our soil from Congo, Sudan, or Rwanda.
The good ones like those built by Columbia out near our pals the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail, Inc. in Westfield will last decades longer.
A bike is a fantastic option for getting to work on our Springfield roads. Each New American commuter will receive roadway safety training along with locks, lights, and a helmet along with a refurbished bike.
Please help us reach our goals of providing dozens of bikes to New Americans: https://fundly.com/…/new-american-riders-bicycles-for-refug…
To those who have already given to our community on any level, we thank you.
Your first job requires BIKE experience
As the age old paradox goes:
- most jobs require experience
- many young people who haven’t held a job before would like a job
- how do you gain that first experience?
VOLUNTEERING WITH RAD!
Helping coordinate, market, and run our Monday workshops are a fantastic opportunity for youth and teens to gain real life experience. Let us know how we can help.
Getting your bike ready for spring
With the warm March weather returning this week, it’s not too early to start getting your bike ready to ride.
If you need assistance with a tune-up or are looking to work on your bike yourself, we can help.
We still have very limited space indoors due to Covid restrictions, but you can call/email us to make an appointment for our Monday afternoon repair timeslots: 2pm – 6pm. Outdoor assistance is also possible, weather permitting.
Contact info: RadSpringfield@yahoo.com, 413.271.7293
2021 Summer Bike repair training program
Springfield students! Get paid to learn bike repair this summer, help others and earn a bike for yourself! RadSpringfield, a program of Make-It Springfield, is looking for you! Have some fun, earn some money and be part of the Make-It community too! Submit your name and all about your interest in bikes here: (link removed) Class is now underway and filled up.
After you fill out the form, a RadSpringfield coordinator will contact you for an interview.
Max – Mechanic, Sales Manager
My name is Maximiliano Delacruz. I’m 19 and I’m from Springfield, Massachusetts, born and raised here. I first heard from RadSpringfield (which we just call “Rad”) last year from friends and posts here and there through social media. First thoughts were “it’s a community-based bike shop?” and “what does that mean and what is it about?”
My curiosity got the better of me as always. I first visited Rad around mid summer or early fall of 2018 to find out what all the fuss was about. Even when I first walked into Rad for the first time it feels no different from today, the atmosphere is and always will be welcoming. You walk in, you’re greeted right after you sign in and enter. The volunteers are as helpful and knowledgeable as can be with each different person having a unique and diverse set of skills with bicycles.
It’s not just the regular volunteers who help, however. Anyone of any age or background can surprise you with how much they know about bicycles! It’s also not just about repairs. I soon realized Rad was more than just “some shop downtown that fixes bikes”. We teach people of all ages, children to adults about:
- Community bicycle repairs. Rad aims to help others
- acknowledging the laws and rules of the road as a bicyclist,
- the rights to the road,
- the necessary information to safely cycle out on Springfield roads
- the use of lights,
- the life saver that is the helmet.
Rad’s community has also grown so much in such a short period of time, I don’t regret ever walking into there with an open mind and curiosity. At this time I’ve been volunteering consistently at Rad for around 6 months and thanks to a grant from MassBike, even got paid for my summer hours at a growing partnership with Springfield College. It hasn’t been a lot of time but it honestly feels like I’ve been there much longer.
Each Monday I’ve been helping others, giving a caring hand and not expecting anything in return. Rad honestly feels more like a second home to me now – I love Rad and all that it is. The atmosphere, the people, the bikes especially (haha), but what I love most is the opportunity to see the smiles and the gratitude from people who you helped, who needed assistance – a quick fix or an overhaul. you know?
Being able to help, being able to give Springfield’s community an easier more accessible, reliable bicycle shop. Helping people get to work, to school, to point A to B. Volunteering was never on my mind when I entered Rad the first time. But I’m not sure I’ll ever stop going to Rad now!
Come downtown!
Bring your ride downtown to start learning how to fix it up today.
DIY Bike Repair
2-6 Mondays (starting August 13th)
Make-It Springfield
168 Worthington St.
Springfield
Give the gift of bikes!
give the gift of education
give the gift of self-sufficiency
give the gift of youth leadership
All of our donations go straight to tools, parts, and supporting our volunteers to serve everyone who rides in the Springfield.
Please give: https://www.paypal.me/radspringfield
Alex – Founder
Community bike shops have been a natural process
Make-It Springfield's community bike shop 