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Hoping to strengthen the cooperative’s adaptive capacity and address mental health, Martin left the community’s nonprofit in December.
Laura Ospina
Contributing reporter
Laura Ospin, Contributing Photographer
John Martin describes himself as “just a kid doing cool things and having fun”. Since 2015, Martin’s pet his project has helped run the Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op. The Bradley Street Bicycle Co-op is a community bike shop that repairs, donates, and sells approximately 600 bicycles each year.
A cooperative that strives to provide “fair” cycling in New Haven takes donated bikes, repairs them, sells half of the bikes, and donates the other half to the community. The co-op also rents out tools so that residents can repair their own bicycles inexpensively. After running the store for seven years, Martin left the co-op in his December and from New Haven he takes a six-month “sabbatical.”
For Martin, the most special memories of the cooperative are in everyday life.
“[The most memorable moments are] It’s about making friends with people from all walks of life around town who I support and they support me,” Martin said. “Being on court with a kid who volunteers a lot and not only being there for him, but also being invited to birthday parties and riding bikes with people.”
However, Martin said founders need to “transition” from leadership if the organization is to be sustainable in the long term. Martin says he experienced “stress” and “burnout” as a business owner during the COVID-19 pandemic, so prioritizing his mental health was a key factor.
Co-operatives remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic, serving those still working and using bicycles as a means of transportation, and those who were about to leave their homes. Martin sees the co-op’s services as necessary, but admitted that worrying about the spread of his COVID-19 within the community took a toll on him.
“Every day it’s like I went to bed at night and those two were working really close together,” Martin said. “Or they didn’t open the door right away. Or the guy marched without a mask.We are in a community space so there are a lot of people with us.If anyone gets sick it’s my fault and it was really scary.”
Six months away from New Haven, Martin visits family, travels through the countryside, and goes biking and hiking. Martin said he has no intention of returning to his current leadership role at the co-op in the future, and he is happy to help design his shirts, revamp the co-op newspaper and serve as a mechanic. believes that others should lead the organization.
In October, the cooperative hired three part-time staff to take over Martin’s responsibilities and take on new projects.
The cooperative began as a community tool-sharing initiative and grew out of a similar project run by New Haven’s Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services. According to Martin, the co-op was founded on his two main principles: to make biking more accessible and to encourage New Haven residents to spend time with his members in other communities. I hope
“It’s really hard in our lives to spend time with people who are different from us,” Martin explained. “Because our world is quarantined. Our city is insanely quarantined. We all live in bubbles… [Bikes are] It’s a way of bringing us together. ”
“We’re not changing the world here, but we’re moving in the right direction by getting involved,” he said.
Today, the co-op hosts community-building programs such as Chainbreakers, Women’s, Transgender, and Femmes Only Nights, where bike enthusiasts can get together twice a month. Kyle, one of her three new staff members hired last month, said her Anthony said the co-op will work to become more “community oriented” in the future, and will be able to host movie nights and large groups. There is a possibility to hold cycling in groups of.
Anthony said the cooperative has partnered with the Connecticut Mental Health Center to host in-person training at work. With the goal of helping job seekers find “comfort at work,” the program will begin this Thursday.
For Martin Flores, a cooperative volunteer who moved to New Haven during the pandemic, the organization provided the community he needed during a time of loneliness.
“The honesty and transparency that all people have. [at the co-op] Sharing feels so authentic,” said Flores. “They are people who want to hang out, work on their bikes, share similar values about social activism and the environment…This is essentially a group of good people, and they want to make me better.” These are the people I want to be around because I just do it.”
Anthony attributes the functionality and welcoming energy of co-op to Martin’s ability to always be “on” and “helpful.” Similarly, Flores said Martin always makes it “accessible” to learn something new without making Flores feel “out of reach.”
Flores believes Martin’s resignation will cause growing pains, but the cooperative’s volunteers and staff have stepped organically into leadership roles, proving that the organization can be “self-sustaining.”
“[Martin leaves] I have a big shoe to fill, but I’m really excited to do it and make him proud,” Anthony told News.
Since announcing his decision to resign internally in January, Martin said the transition experience has been “extremely humbling”. Martin said he never felt it.
“It’s very cool to see cooperatives stand on their own,” says Martin. “When you’re a founder, you’re always thinking about how much is just on your shoulders and how much is actually sustainable. [the founders] Instead of allowing, just carry your back [an organization] To live, breathe and operate as a self-sustaining entity fed by the wants and needs of our community. ”
Martin also resigns as chairman of the Upper State Street Association and commissioner of the New Haven Development Commission.
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