The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Lesley Onstott Senior Adam Nubern will spend his summer biking across the country to help build and support affordable housing for those affected by the mortgage crisis. Nubern's trip will begin in Charleston, S.C., and end in Santa Cruz, Calif. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Lesley Onstott Senior Adam Nubern will spend his summer biking across the country to help build and support affordable housing for those affected by the mortgage crisis. Nubern's trip will begin in Charleston, S.C., and end in Santa Cruz, Calif. [Click to enlarge]

A University student will bike 4,000 miles across the nation this summer to help families affected by the mortgage crisis build new homes.

"I have a lot of encouragement," said Adam Nubern, a senior from Statesboro. "It's not about me going through a temporary moment of pain, but about families needing a home and a place to have relationships."

Nubern will be joined by 31 fellow riders who have also devoted their summer to participating in Bike and Build, a nonprofit organization that raises money and awareness for affordable housing.

He will bike from Charleston, S.C., to Santa Cruz, Calif., helping build homes during rest stops and devoting eight days to new homes in Colorado.

Of the eight routes riders may choose from, Nubern is taking the route that logs the most build days than any other trip in Bike and Build's history. On the day his troop passes through Athens, Ga., they will expect to ride 42 miles.

Nubern said he learned the value of a family home as a door-to-door book salesman.

After talking to hundreds of families, he said he realized how important the home is in the development of families and communities.

"It's where families come together to share and grow with one another. All the relational aspects of life happen at the home," Nubern said.

Working a construction job in high school and contributing to Habitat for Humanity in college inspired Nubern's passion for giving low-income families the comforts of home, he said.

"Instead of people stressing out about rent payments, they can devote their thoughts to the family," he said.

University alumnus Greg Grattan, who participated in Bike and Build in 2005, said he ate 5,000 to 7,000 calories per day to sustain him through the 70 to 80 miles he biked each day.

"The most exciting thrill I've had up to this point in my life was on the last day, crossing over the last hill and seeing the Pacific Ocean," Grattan wrote in an e-mail interview Wednesday. "You don't really appreciate the ocean until you leave the East Coast, bike across every inch of the country and see everything it has to offer, then suddenly discover you've reached the edge, the end of the paved road. We each drank a bottle of champagne that day."

The only snag in Nubern's summer adventure is a $4,000 price tag that comes with the 4,000-mile ride.

The money goes to programming costs, such as road bikes, food and gear for all the riders, said Rosemary DiRita, the executive director for Bike and Build, in a phone interview Tuesday. The rest of the money is donated to affordable housing groups, such as Habitat for Humanity.

"Last year we donated a little under $500,000 to affordable housing groups," DiRita said.

Like other Bike and Build participants trying to raise money, Nubern sent out support letters to family members. He also created a Facebook group, "Let's Bike Across America." So far, he has reached 28 percent - or $1,100 - of his goal amount.

He said his next fundraising effort will be riding a stationary bike at Tate Plaza and telling passers-by about Bike and Build's mission. Nubern said he loves travel and adventure, but he is most excited to meet new people.

"I can't wait to meet some old woman who's never been out of the county she was born in and have a conversation about her and her family," he said.

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