Carly Krotowski and Kamila Widulinski, both AMD’16, are biking 3934 miles in the name of affordable housing with the Bike and Build Project. Their bike ride sets off this June in Providence, RI and takes them through the Northern Midwest, next to Mount Rushmore, alongside Yellowstone National Park, and finally ends in Seattle, WA. Along the way they will stop at 15 different Habitat for Humanity sites to assist with the construction of affordable housing. Beyond contributing to the construction of houses and spreading awareness along the way, they are also fundraising $4,500 each for the affordable housing cause. Help support them by donating to Carly or Kamila.

How did the idea for the trip come about?

Kamila: Carly initially stumbled across Bike & Build on the internet and it seemed like a natural fit. Carly brought up the program to me, and we both decided to embark on the journey this summer. Both of us are studying architecture and have gained a lot of knowledge on housing. We have taken multiple studios on urban housing both internationally in Berlin and locally in Boston as well. This program was ideal because it is a way to use what we have learned while giving back to the community.

What do you hope to achieve?

Carly: First and foremost, we want to spread awareness. For housing to be defined as ‘affordable,’ it must cost less than 30% of a family’s income before taxes. 40.9 million American households are currently living beyond their means. Boston’s real estate market is the third most expensive of any US city, as students who are only employed occasionally on co-op, we know this first hand. We hope that through our fundraising and along our ride we can spread awareness to others. Also being able to see the country from the seat of our bicycles is an adventure unlike any we have undertaken before.

Bike & Build has quite a few different routes that volunteers can take, why did you choose this one?

We chose this route so we could end in Seattle. We both love the Pacific Northwest and have lived on the West coast – Kamila in Los Angeles and Carly in San Francisco. We also chose to go with each other because we have been friends for five years, we both love biking, and we both want to support the affordable housing cause. Also, we are both crazy enough to want to do this.

Bike & Build Playlist

Carly and Kamila also created this playlist to help them through the long days of biking, which will cover as many as 106 miles in one day!