The Bike Walk Ambassadors Hand in Hand with Communities of Color
By Gloria Liliana Rivera, Bike Walk Ambassador intern

The Bike Walk Ambassadors Place of Worship Outreach effort is proud to work in communities of color and with immigrant communities. Two recent efforts have been tons of fun and great successes-- "Paso a Paso" (step by step) and our "encouragement area" along the Midtown Greenway in Minneapolis.

In the "Paso a Paso" project we partnered with Hennepin County to reach Latino Communities in the Twin Cities. With the help of Latino community leaders, we planned events for 5 different congregations. We explored the benefits of walking and biking and some participants learned how to ride a bike. (We had great teachers!) Kids played "Sigue al Líder" (Follow the Leader) and were very excited to show their level of dexterity. They also loved teaching their parents about how to use a helmet. The participants shared their bicycling stories and we answered lots of questions about bike maintenance, bike-trails, and safety.

The Bike Walk Ambassador program has 7 "encouragement corridors" and one is along the Midtown Greenway. We started work in this corridor by promoting Bike Walk Week at the Mid-town Global Market during the opening of the World Cup with play between Mexico and South Africa. We reached about 200 people from diverse populations and encouraged them to use their bike or walk to replace trips they take by car.