Brent Baker is president of Bike Peoria in Peoria, IL, a community organization empowering Peoria to travel by bicycle. Bike Peoria recently opened a co-op where neighbors can affordably access tools to fix their bikes and get trained in bike maintenance skills by friendly volunteers.

I chatted with Brent about how the co-op works and how it has impacted Peoria.

Rachel: What is the Bike Peoria Co-op?

Brent: The parent organization is called Bike Peoria [and it] has only been around for about three years. I’ve been involved for the last two. I got involved originally because I hadn’t owned a bike in 12-14 years and was like, ‘I need to buy a bike.’ I bought one on Craigslist and things started falling apart.

I had heard about a co-op that was opened on Main Street and met some folks involved with that. I fell in love with the place when I walked in. It was hot and messy and cluttered, but had this energy about it of people helping other people in a cool community space. I kept showing up, helping out and learning more. Last year, I was voted president of the organization.

Rachel: What’s the mission of the co-op?

Brent: Bike Peoria’s mission is to empower Peorians to travel by bike and make it a more viable, safe mode of transit in our city. The co-op is a pretty big strategy towards social and economic empowerment. [...] The predominant clientele we see are low-income folks from the neighborhood. People come for parts on their bike that they need to get around and to get to work. The neighborhood we’re in—the 61606 zip code—is the most dense and the most diverse—both ethnically and socioeonomically. It’s very advantageous to be in this neighborhood.