"I was in rehab," Jona Deleo says. "I had no direction. I had no idea what I wanted to do. I felt like a lost puppy." That's when she entered Gearing Up. The Philadelphia based non-profit was founded in March of 2009 to help women like Deleo transition from drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence or homelessness to becoming a productive member of their communities.
"We say Gearing Up addresses physical health, emotional health and social health," founder and director Kristin Gavin says. The program currently works with three treatment facilities in Philadelphia: Interim House in Mt. Airy, CHANCES in Center City and New Directions for Women in Germantown. "When I started this I had to go and really sell this idea to women we were working with and they would look at me like, 'You're crazy!'". But now, Gavin says, women recognize her as the "bicycle lady" and ask how they can earn their own bike. "For so many women that we work with, riding a bike was something that is associated with something happy, and free and fun."
Gavin earned her Masters degree in Exercise and Sports Psychology from Temple University and, as an avid cyclist, knew the bicycle would be a natural compliment to recovery. "The beautiful thing about riding a bike, to a certain extent, it's instant gratification. You get on a bike and you're pedaling and you're moving and you feel the wind in your hair and you feel this freedom."
Kirsten Hurd is another Gearing Up graduate. "It's done a lot for me," the Bala Cynwyd resident says. "It's gotten me motivated to do more with my life. It helped me cope in the rehab and it helped me cope in life." Hurd, like other Gearing Up alumna, are encouraged to meet with current students working through the program and offer her own story as support. "There's so much more you can accomplish, things you would have never thought," Hurd says. "And I'm living proof."
As women work step through the process they are able to earn rewards along the way. At 10 miles, a water bottle. 25 miles gets you a t-shirt. And 100 miles earns women the opportunity to refurbish a used bicycle. "There's something really humbling about being 20, 30, 40 years old and owning nothing," Gavin says. "And they work really hard for it. There is something very profound about 'that's my bicycle, I earned it'." Many women have trouble pedaling around the block their first time on a bicycle, and Gavin says it can take up to 8 months to earn the chance to own their very own bicycle.
For Deleo, she has earned her own refurbished bicycle and plans to ride with the group to Washington, D.C. this July -- a 240-mile ride. "Never in my life did I ever think I would ever do something like that, and it's just amazing we have opportunities." Deleo and Hurd are both returning to work and school and say they couldn't have done it without the support of Gearing Up. "The more you push yourself, the better it's going to be and the better you'll feel," Deleo says.
For more information about donating or volunteering, visit gearing-up.org.
Gavin says she hopes to expand the program this year to the prison system.
