News

Local student rides cross country for affordable housing

Emily Foss, at a job site on Twin Pines Drive in Flat Rock, is bicycling across America for affordable housing. [EMILY STANLEY/Hendersonville Lightning]

By Emily Stanley, Published: June 8, 2016

While plenty of college students take road trips during their summer vacation, most travel by car, not by bike.

On May 17, Emily Foss, a Henderson County native and rising sophomore at UNC at Chapel Hill, pushed off from Nags Head on the Outer Banks with a group of other cyclists. They plan to bike all summer, reaching San Diego on July 23. If pedaling uphill is not enough work, the group also will make stops in nine different cities to assist in building or repairing homes. The riders will spend 15 of their 73 days on the road building affordable housing.
The team of 28 includes four hired leaders who have been through extensive training to guide the riders safely across the country.
There are “multiple routes that go across the country, and th¬¬¬en two regional ones that go on either coast,” Foss says. The riders stay with volunteer hosts in different cities, who typically provide them with dinner, breakfast, and snacks.
The daughter of Jennifer and Les Foss, Emily has always been a top student. She grew up in Etowah before her parents bought a home in Mills River. After her junior year at West Henderson High School, she enrolled at the N.C. School of Science and Math in Durham. At UNC she’s majoring in biology with a minor in Arabic.
Foss became interested in the cross-country ride after a fellow West Henderson High alumni and UNC student, Melissa White, completed a Bike and Build journey last summer.
“After I researched it and looked into the cause, I knew I wanted to do it,” Foss says. “It definitely is a time-consuming choice for the summer, but we make sure to take care of our bodies—we’re always eating enough, drinking enough water.” Days when they wield hammers and saws are restful compared to the biking. Foss began the trip with no previous long-distance cycling experience, although she was required to complete 500 miles of training before the trip. Once they hit the road, their routine is summed up in a tagline: “Eat. Sleep. Bike. Build.”
Before they start, riders on the team raise $4,500 each.
“That originally seems like a huge amount,” Foss says, adding that each rider finds creative ways to come up with the money —sending letters, putting up fliers and obtaining business sponsorships.
“The $4,500 goes to three different ways of donating for affordable housing,” Foss says. In the middle of the summer, each rider can donate $500 to any affordable housing organization of his or her choice. Organizations that partner with Bike and Build include Habitat for Humanity and local groups like Henderson County’s Housing Assistance Corp.
The rest of the money is distributed in two ways. “If you host with us, we donate a hundred dollars to an affordable housing organization in the host’s name,” Foss says. “So that way they’re also part of our process of giving back to their community.” Finally, they donate money through a competitive grant process.
“We as a team get to read over these applications and decide where the money is going to go,” Foss says. “A lot of Bike and Build counts on donations, for food or places to stay, and that’s so we can maximize the amount of money that we give to affordable housing. It’s just amazing to see all of the people who donate their time and energy to help us.”
Interested parties can donate either to the organization as a whole, directly to a specific rider or to a team’s meal budget through the Bike and Build website.
“I love being in Henderson County,” Foss said at the work site on Twin Pines Drive in Flat Rock Friday. “And I love the fact that we’re doing home repairs in Henderson County. It was a huge reason why I chose this route specifically, because I wanted to be able to give back to my community.”
After a build day on Tuesday in Maryville, Tenn., Foss and her B&B teammates pushed off on a seven-day leg, averaging 62 miles a day.
“Even if you’re not a huge cycler, you don’t even have to do a trip,” Foss says. “There’s so many ways that you can contribute.”

SHIRTTAIL
To follow Foss’s group visit nc2sd16.wordpress.com. To learn more about Bike and Build visit bikeandbuild.org.