Stephane Alexandre, Abdul Hussein, Evan Hanlon, Jose Baez, and Fatima Hussein are all Boston teenagers dedicated to improving the lives of people in their communities. They are cyclists, activists, and environmentalists, and together, they run Chain Reaction. Chain Reaction is all about bringing bike access to the people that don't have it.
Chain Reaction will help to solve the problem of disproportionate transportation access in low-income communities. It will also help to solve the problem of residents of low income communities having broken bicycles, but no bike shops nearby where they can be repaired. Bicycling is one of the healthiest and least expensive modes of transportation, so why is bicycling not more prevalent in low-income neighborhoods?
We see transportation as a human right, and we see the bicycle as the best option. It is affordable, easy to maintain, and environmentally sustainable. Our venture is the pathway to getting the people on bikes who are most in need of them. By offering low-cost bicycles, repairs, lessons, and helmets and locks, Chain Reaction can help get more people on bikes, and can slowly build a movement of cyclists who can demand that bike lanes and shops come to all neighborhoods, not just the higher-income
Giving a person a bike, and giving them the knowledge to maintain that bike can change his or her life. This is what Chain Reaction seeks to do with each person. But it's bigger than that. We also want to empower our youth employees to become mechanics and entrepreneurs, and we want to build a base of cyclists in low-income communities who can advocate for themselves and their transportation rights. Boston's future is a green one, where everyone has access to the same resources and opportunities
