South Bay retiree turns love of cycling into job training program
A South Bay retiree has turned a hobby into a life-changing employment program for people in need of a second chance.
Collin Bruce had retired from a 50-year career in high tech sales and marketing. He wasn't just spinning his wheels when he opened a San Jose bicycle nonprofit.
"It's not about the bikes, it's about the skills that they get," Bruce said.
Bruce co-founded Community Cycles of California in 2017. The nonprofit workforce training program has refurbished and donated 2,000 bicycles and repaired thousands more at its free mobile clinics.
And it gives away bicycles to anyone who volunteers six hours for a nonprofit.
But at its core, the shop is a classroom to equip people for work.
"They can make mistakes without fault. Yes, there's consequences. Yes, there's conversations. But you're not immediately, 'Outta here!'" Bruce explained.
At Community Cycles' grant-funded workforce development program, 10 people who've gone through the criminal court system receive a living wage as they train full-time for six months in bicycle mechanics, retail, and business.
They'll earn industry certifications and tools to start their own business, even if it's not in bicycles.
The Bicycle Mechanic and Retail Training program is funded with grants from the Foundation for California Community Colleges partnering with the California Workforce Development Board, and Cupertino Rotary.
Isaias Mora, who'd cycled through other jobs, said the program is giving him a firm handle on essential, marketable skills.
"He gave us chances, to take this leap of faith I would say because it's a great opportunity for people that have been in jail like myself," Mora said.
Carmen Ayala came to Community Cycles as an intern two years ago through a different county program. The former foster youth said it has been a productive ride.
"When I first started working here, I didn't even know how to run the printer." she told CBS News Bay Area.
Besides office and management abilities, Ayala learned punctuality, teamwork and leadership. And today, she's the nonprofit's program manager.
Ayala is thankful Bruce never gave up on her.
"He's taught me that my ideas are valid. I feel heard and seen here," she said, smiling.
Bruce said he's seen many people change as they come to believe in themselves and their training.
"There're the two ends of where we've been in this class - how these people have grown. I go home and smile and tell my wife these stories and she's happy," he said.
And he's happy?
"That's what makes me happy, I guess," he said.
For providing bicycles and workforce training through Community Cycles of California, this week's CBS News Bay Area Icon Award goes to Collin Bruce.
