Local nonprofit aimed at giving West Central youth life skills relaunches with Bike Bus program

When Kate Burke was hired as executive director of River City Youth Ops, it felt like a perfect fit: both were going through a reset.

After deciding not to run for re-election to her seat on the Spokane City Council in 2021, Burke took time to rest and reflect, traveling for a year and reconnecting with the things that made her happy.

Mentoring, teaching, organizing and riding her bike are some of those things.

River City Youth Ops, formerly known as Project Hope Spokane, for years has worked to give children ages 12-18 in West Central opportunities to grow and learn. Historically, that has been through operating a large-scale gardening effort and selling the produce at a local farmers market.

This summer, the organization paused programming to re-evaluate goals and what the youth of West Central need today.

Their first new program set to launch this fall is a Bike Bus, in which students are picked up by volunteers and ride as a group to schools in the neighborhood.

Full circle

Project Hope Spokane was founded in 2008 by Pat and Connie Malone. The couple had a large garden in West Central that they turned into Riverfront Farms, where they worked to give children a space to learn about agriculture and gardening, Burke said, in hopes of reducing violence in the neighborhood.

She worked for the organization about 14 years ago, helping with the market where produce from the garden was sold. That summer the program had about 40 participants, Burke said.

Four years later, after a stint in Chicago, Burke moved back to Spokane and was looking to get involved in the community. The Malones were exiting the organization at the time, and Burke joined the board.

“That was a really vital time in the organization because it became the board’s choice and decision, kind of the direction; we changed the mission and vision,” Burke said.

It was the first board Burke served on, and the experience pushed her to get even more civically involved.

She soon ran for Spokane City Council, where she completed one term.

The experience of being a city council member was a huge learning curve for Burke, who said she quickly burned herself out.

“I’ve always been the type of person who takes an opportunity and kind of jumps in full force,” Burke said. “And, that can be a really hard way to live life.”

After deciding not to run for a second term, Burke worked for about a year as a grant writer before making a radical move. She and her then-girlfriend, Sarah Geuin, sold all of their possessions to travel for a year. They road-tripped across the U.S. before selling their car in Florida and heading to Central and South America.

During their travels, Burke took time to reconnect with the things she loves. When she returned, Burke married her girlfriend and began working at another local nonprofit.

When the executive director job at River City Youth Ops came up, Burke jumped at the opportunity to lead the nonprofit through its own reset and reconnection.

The board of directors also had some turnover around the time, including the addition of Bakari Green, who participated in the program from ages 12 to 18.

Green has limited memories of learning about gardening and lawn care, but what he takes with him every day is the ability to learn how to communicate with people. Those lessons were largely learned manning the farmers’ market booth.

“That was probably the most impactful, because it’s really the one that taught the most about people skills and communicating not only with vendors, but with teammates, superiors and customers, just the whole shebang,” Green said. “The program gave me just the opportunity to grow and flex my working skills. There were lots of opportunities that I didn’t recognize at the time to get in front of new people and do new things.”

Now 26, Green went to Whitworth University and works as an accountant. When Burke called, he knew it was the time to get involved and help the board with his financial skills.

“I feel like Kate has a good grasp on where River City Youth Ops has been, and I think she has some good ideas on where it could go,” Green said.

He’s excited to see the new programs she develops.

“The world is definitely different, but it’s the same in that there’s always going to be competing interest for the attention and efforts of youth,” Green said. “The more positive avenues we have available, the better decisions they’re going to make and hopefully better lives they’re going to lead.”

Gearing up for Bike Bus

Bike Bus groups have become popular across the United States in recent years. Portland has an especially large contingent, with sometimes hundreds of children biking to and from school with the help of volunteers.

“We’ll identify the kids that want to ride their bikes to school and create a route plan for each different school we’re going to be targeting, which will be Holmes, Yasuhara and North Central,” Burke said.

Burke has a small group of volunteers together and will start getting word out in the next few weeks for students who want to participate. She has started gathering bikes and gear, such as helmets and locks, to hand out to kids.

The program, Burke hopes, will help kids get to know each other and their neighborhood.

“I think a big part is being present in the neighborhood creates a safe environment,” Burke said. “Having neighbors see us riding our bikes every morning and taking kids to school creates this environment of like, ‘Oh, it is safe out there. Oh, I can do things like that.’ And so I’m hopeful that leading by example will show the neighborhood that it is safe.”

Idaho Central Credit Union donated almost a dozen bikes to the project. Burke also hopes to teach kids about route planning, how to ride bikes safely and city mapping as part of the Bike Bus project.

The Bike Bus is the first of Burke’s many ideas to launch. She hopes to continue teaching kids about agriculture but also wants to provide them community and eventually a safe place to go, with the hope of creating a youth center with after-school programming.

In the meantime, Burke is focused on the launch of the Bike Bus on the first day of school this fall.

Volunteers or families who would like to participate in the program can sign up online at youthops.org or email Kate.Burke@youthops.org.