Urban Bicycle Ministries
The ministry began in 2012 with the efforts of Tommy Clark, who was a student at Memphis Theological Seminary. Clark had a desire to be of service to others, but wasn’t quite sure what that service would look like.
“Bicycles were his life besides his passion for ministry and his passion for people,” said UBFM Director Lyle Udell. “The night of July 18, 2012, he was at home thinking ‘How can I combine these passions?’ So he made a dozen burritos on his stove top and then put them in his messenger bag and rode about 10 miles into downtown Memphis and looked for people who looked like they might need a meal, and more importantly looked like they might need a friend.
“He got rid of all his burritos really quick, and the way he describes it is that he rode home afterwards and it was such a spiritual experience for him that the just sat on his couch and cried. It was much deeper than the food. The food was just the vehicle by which you could make that human connection.
“So the next day he told some friends at work about it and his experience and they said ‘We want to do that!’ So the next Wednesday there were two or three people who went out. And then the next Wednesday there were a few more,” he continued. “From that day almost seven years ago, there has never been a week that has been missed.”
Udell came to the ministry in 2014 after reading about it in the local paper. He said something about it pulled at his heart, and after his first ride he had a similar experience to Clark.
“I just got home and thought, ‘My goodness, I just can’t ever complain about anything again,” he said. “You are meeting people on the streets who have absolutely nothing. And these are people who get walked by all day long by people who avoid eye contact, people who will cross the street so as not to have to interact with them.
“On my first ride we went places that I would have never shown my face, and people would just come out from under overpasses and just hug on you,” said Udell. “It changed my whole perspective, and it made me realize that I’ve sat in church all these years, and I had subconsciously set aside a whole group of people just because of their socioeconomic condition.
“Introspectively, I realized that I had never really thought of them as equals,” he continued. “Whether they were black or white, they were just homeless people sleeping on a bench. ‘Why didn’t they just get a job?’ Then I got out and started talking to them, and then I learned about them, learned their story.”
Udell said what he loved about the ministry most was that it actively sought these people out. People who had effectively been thrown away by society now know that they have a group of people they can count on to come find them.
In 2014, Urban Bicycle Food Ministry expanded its outreach and added a Saturday morning ride. Udell said that the commitment to ride regardless of the conditions helps to demonstrate through action that there are people who love them enough, and that they matter enough, that there’s not going to be a scheduled day where they won’t be visited.
Clark eventually graduated from seminary and accepted a pastorate in Columbia, Tenn., and he asked Udell to take over operations in Memphis. But the move to Middle Tennessee didn’t mean the end of the bicycle ministry for Clark. Instead, he and a group of friends started visiting Nashville every Monday night to continue the UBFM. And since then, even more bicycle ministries have been born.
“We had a guy in Des Moines, Iowa, who saw our Facebook page, and he has replicated it there every single week without fail,” said Udell. “One of his riders moved to Dubuque, Iowa, and she has replicated it there. And one of our riders moved to Chicago and he does it every Wednesday night in the heart of Chicago. I had a guy contact me from Wichita Falls, Texas, and asked ‘Can we start doing this and use this name?’ And I said, ‘Absolutely!’ The last I heard they’re doing it every other Saturday morning in that city. Our vision is to see it replicated across the country, and there is no reason it can’t.”
Udell added that the people assisted by UBFM in downtown Memphis are always on the lookout for riders, know where to be, and know a rider will find them. Volunteers try to make every effort to find regulars as well as reach new people, and sometimes have to traverse areas of the city where safety conditions are not the best.
“About a year ago I spent a night out on the streets with some of my homeless friends, just because I knew I still didn’t really understand. And now I understand that yeah, you might see a guy sleeping on a park bench in the middle of the day. It might not be because he is lazy, it might be because he didn’t get a wink of sleep. He was worried about whether or not he was going to get attacked.
“I’ve had people show me stab wounds and gunshot wounds, and show me their back pocket where it got sliced open in the middle of the night and someone stole their wallet. So you can’t get a good night’s sleep.
“Being homeless, I’ve learned, is hard work. Finding all the places that offer food in the city, and walking to get there … it has just given me a whole new perspective. Very eye opening. Very convicting.”
“A lot of them have a far deeper walk with Christ than I ever had, because they have nothing else,” said Udell. “When we pray before we go out I try to remember to include in the prayer a request that God teach us through this and remind us what it is like to have nothing else but him. To think about what it is like to not have a home to go back to after the ride, to not have a bank account, to have simply what people give you and rely on him.
“We’ve had countless situations where we pray with people and they get renewed, and we get renewed. It is such a blessing,” Udell continued. “I watch new riders and old riders, and we get back so much more. It is the most powerful thing. You are on the front lines of ministry; you are hugging on people that are dirty and smelly, but the dirtier and smellier I am when I get home, the happier I am. You feel like you’ve made contact when it was needed most.”
Udell refers to the people that UBFM serves as “friends.” In addition to providing food and prayer, UBFM also tries to help to connect people with potential employers and housing opportunities. Udell explained that many of their friends are unfortunately not ready to be employed because of severe addiction problems or other problems.
“I would say other than addiction, mental illness is one of the reasons people are on the streets,” he said. “It could be as simple as someone who just doesn’t have the capabilities to work a job on their own without some help. And if you are in that situation and you don’t have family—sadly that’s why some of our friends are out there. In a huge number of cases there are people out there through no fault of their own. Whether it is mental illness, catastrophic health issue that has devastated their bank account, etc., in the United States in 2019 it is a shame that those people are out there.”
There are success stories from the streets, however, and Udell told the story of an artist named Michael who was also a recovering addict.
“Every week he was so proud to show us his latest drawings, and one of us would buy something from him. And you could tell he had just been downtrodden his whole life,” said Udell. “We would compliment him on his work and it was just hard for him to even believe a compliment. “He would routinely tell us ‘Y’all give me hope.’
“Michael got a job, he’s got a place now, and every once in a while, he will show when we are getting ready for the ride, and just hug on us, and thank us for believing in him. “And that’s the thing that resonates with me about the ministry. We’re not solving the problem of homelessness. Giving someone a burrito is great, but it is gone in a few minutes. But over and over again, the message I love to hear is things like that. You hear a lot ‘You give me hope,’ or ‘Thank you for believing in me,’ and I think that if you are on the streets, and have nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to, your self esteem is just on the floor. It’s hard to feel proud of yourself when you’re sleeping in an alley. And what we do is offer that first spark of hope that helps people to believe in themselves. And we’ve seen it happen.
“One of the most impactful things is when you ride up on someone and they clearly have nothing, and you ask them ‘Hey, how are you today?’ and they say ‘I’m blessed.’ It sets me back every time. Me and my friends will complain over a beer about whatever, and here these people are focusing on the positives.”
The number of UBFM riders fluctuates based on various factors, but they average 5-10 consistent volunteers each ride. Udell explained that there are various organizations who match volunteers to programs, and through those efforts UBFM has had more than 400 people volunteer to ride with them at various times this year alone.
“A while back I started going to garage sales and looking on Facebook Marketplace looking for used bikes,” said Udell, “and over the course of time we’ve gotten a fleet of almost 40 bikes that people can use. It greatly assists us with groups coming in from out of town so that they don’t have to bring a bike or helmet; we can supply those.”
In addition to riders, UBFM also has a dedicated staff of kitchen volunteers. When the ministry started, Clark was preparing the food from his house, but at some point First United Methodist Church in Memphis heard about the ministry and offered the use of their kitchen. Soon after, they offered the use of a portion of the building they owned next to the church. This extra space is now where UBFM stores donated items. Kitchen volunteers put together fresh made burritos (consisting of ground beef, beans, cheese, and rice), and on Saturday mornings breakfast burritos are distributed (sausage, eggs, cheese, and rice). Each burrito is individually wrapped in foil, and the riders carry them in backpacks. Udell said other organizations also help out with food donations.
“There is a vending machine company that donates chips, cookies and snacks. In the winter we have clothing items like coats, hat, scarves, and blankets when we get them. Some of us pull a little bicycle trailer and we load those down with water, and any other donated beverages we get. On Friday night I’ll purchase fruit to have ready for Saturday morning.”
Each burrito costs roughly 30 cents to make, and on average 130 are made every Saturday morning, and 200-250 on any given Wednesday night. Udell said they always distribute every item, and there have been occasions where they have run out of food before they could reach everyone.
“We do know that if it is pouring down rain, we are probably going to fewer people and so we might make a few less,” he said. “Likewise, in the summer months when it is nice out we might run across more people, so we might try to prepare some more. It is tough to estimate it, but it always seems to work out pretty well. We usually have just about the right number.”
Udell advises those thinking of going into this type of ministry to consider the commitments involved before starting.
“The main thing I tell people is—even if you have to start slow—if you can be consistent, that is one of the real keys. People in the streets are always interested in something they can count on. I’ve had guys tell me ‘Well, I woke up this morning and it was Wednesday so I knew I’d eat today.’ So consistency is what I’d stress to people. You have a set time, be available in any kind of weather, and give something that is healthy.”
Volunteers and donations are essential to the operations of UBFM, and the organization holds an annual birthday/anniversary party consisting of a silent auction to help raise funds for the year. They also have community supporters who make monthly monetary donations.
If you would like to help be a part of what Urban Bicycle Food Ministry is doing, visit their website at ubfm.net, where you can find contact information as well as information on how you can donate. You can also find information on how you can start your own chapter of UBFM.
(Written by Kelly Hagy. Photos courtesy of UBFM)
