One homeless advocate aims to rebuild hope again in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS — When Daniel Reed grew up in southeast Cedar Rapids, his beloved bicycle was everything — his best friend, his key to freedom and a practical tool for helping his low-income family get groceries.

So when he built a loft in his garage at Westdale Court Apartments around 2010, it was only a matter of time before his passion for mechanics and fixing just about anything up became a matter of public knowledge. Before long, many of the neighborhood kids would ask him for help when they needed their bike fixed at the ‘unofficial social club“ for kids about 9 to 14 years old at Westdale Court.

Most of the kids knew the ins and outs of technology far more complicated — smartphones, laptops, tablets and the like.

“But if you ask them what a screwdriver is? Forget it,” Reed said.

The realization birthed Hope Builders, a program run by Reed that combines community service, education and the chance to build a bike that is their key to a lot of things, particularly for those growing up without money or privilege.

Starting in 2010, he taught dozens of kids the ins and outs of building and fixing their bikes. The program continued with sponsorship from New Disciples of Cedar Rapids for a short period starting around 2015.

After completing 15 hours of community service, kids weren’t given a bike — just the parts to build it.

“Hope Builders is a hand up, not a hand out,” Reed said. “It’s about empowerment.”

Even though technology dominates children’s lives today more than it did when Reed was a child, he said the ability to fix things is as important as ever. By giving children and young adolescents the tools to physically build things and the mindset to work through problems without a ready answer on Google, he discovered something worth more than nuts and bolts.

Low-income children can’t afford to live as easily in a “throwaway” society where things like bikes are often discarded and repurchased when they break, said Reed. But they also need to be taught how to fix them when that does happen.

So he did. With it comes a mindset that will move them farther in life than bicycles ever will.

“It’s about empowerment — teaching you to change your environment,” he said. “You can live rich and still be poor as a church mouse.”

After spending hours every day with kids teaching them to build something that meant more through their own labor, he gave kids with little means something else too: the chance to be proud of something as they change their trajectory.

“When you have the tools for life, you can change your destiny,” he said.

After experiencing homelessness, becoming a de facto advocate for the homeless and stepping away from Hope Builders to take care of some personal life situations, he’s ready to start it back up. Soon, he hopes to have the program ready to go.

Though he’s been through a lot of difficulties in life — poverty, homelessness and a brother’s struggle with mental health — hope is a parallel that sustained Reed and the kids he mentored. He always wanted to restart the organization, but now finds himself in a good place to do it again.

“I have extra. I want to give it away,” he said from his apartment in Geneva Tower.

Nothing extra in money, he clarified, but a wealth of relationships and care he hopes to invest in the next generation through nurturing instruction and mentorship.

With years as an advocate for the homeless, particularly those struggling with chronic homelessness and those who live outdoors, the 51-year-old is embracing the actions he can to ensure his legacy isn’t rendered in dollars and cents. With a future home in a nonprofit, he hopes to once again run the program free to kids.

“Joy should be free, not paid for,” he said. “This is my legacy, what I want to leave behind.”

Similar programs for children often don’t give them all the individual attention they need, he said. Some programs are crowded.

This one, he said, gets children without backyards off the streets and into an environment to learn, be empowered, instill compassion and help their community.

And with a new start, he hopes to spearhead more programming within Hope Builders that will benefit adults, particularly homeless ones.

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