Organization that makes bikes for children in foster care

School is out and the pleasure of riding a bike during the summer is a luxury not all children can afford. That’s why Brawn Media has donated around 30 bikes, all for children in foster care.

“Sometimes we get kids who come into foster care with the clothes they’re wearing, and that’s it. You know, it’s very common, because of the nature of the situation that brought them into foster care, that they don’t have things like a bike or anything that would make them comfortable,” says Troy Grant, a family specialist with Together for Youth.

Grant himself was placed in the foster care system and now works at Together for Youth, a foster care agency that serves every county in New York State outside of the city.

“Because I know how much something that may seem small, like a bike, can mean to a child who is transitioning into foster care,” Grant said.

According to the Office of Children and Family Services, as of the end of 2023, more than 13,000 children were in residential foster care.

Together for Youth is looking for more partnerships like this, across the state.

After a long day of construction, News Spectrum 1Tamani Wooley picks up bikes for her two daughters. She has been a foster parent since June 2020.

“What I love about my two current children, my 11 and 14, is that they understand what they’ve been through and where they’re at. And I think that creates a generosity and appreciation that I’m very grateful for,” Wooley said.

She says it takes a village to foster children and without community support like this, the journey would have been much harder.

“I was really touched that someone would come up with the idea to do this for our kids because they’re behind from the beginning, you know, they don’t feel appreciated. They feel left out because they’re in foster care,” Wooley said. “So when someone does something like this and shows them a little bit more appreciation or love, it really does a lot of good.”