Two weeks ago the Lubbock Police Department’s Homeless Outreach team gave out five bikes to members of the homeless community who they knew really needed it.
An effort to help them get to their jobs, they had recipients show proof of employment by showing their pays stubs. Of the five individuals was Spencer Terry who currently works two jobs to survive.
Terry said he has been in and out of homelessness for the past seven years and that the bike helped him tremendously by providing transportation. It was over the weekend Terry said he came out of his work at the Racer Classic Car Wash and noticed his chain broken, and the bike no where to be found.
“I was kind of disappointed because we’re all in the same position you know, I just got back on my feet I’ve only been working at this job for two months,” Terry said. “I was actually going to use one of my paychecks to get me a bike but the Homeless Outreach Team said they would help me out.”
Officer Tony Chacon with the Outreach Team personally put the bike together himself and delivered it to Terry two weeks ago at his work, knowing how much it was going to help him and his family.
“He’s just trying to make a living and better himself and they really didn’t know what impact it has because now he has to depend on somebody else to give him a ride or wait on the bus and it’s hard when you are working two jobs,” Chacon said.
In an effort to get the word out, the H.O.T team posted about the bike on their Facebook page and encouraged the community to help search for it. They were pleased to see over 1,000 shares, 50 comments, and more than 300 likes.
“It’s been overwhelming. We’ve had one guy call the front desk three times and he state ‘hey, I was in his situation before, I’m in a better place now, I want to get him a bike, I want to buy him something,” Chacon said.
They hope to have the bike replaced by the end of the week.
