Second Chance Bicycle Shop able to keep its doors open: "Miracles came through"
Six months ago, Betty Clark never thought she would be standing in the office of Second Chance Bicycle Shop's new location as its new owner and manager.
"It's been a whirlwind of like five weeks. It feels like it's a dream," she said.
Nine months ago, her dad Ernie Clark, who started the nonprofit, was struggling to find a new location for Second Chance Bicycle Shop. The Aurora strip mall, where they were located, was being turned into apartments which forced them to move.
He thought they would have to close their doors, but the unthinkable happened.
Four months later in November of 2022, Ernie died and his daughter, Betty, had to decide if she was willing to take over the shop. She knew the community wanted her to.
"I know my dad had an amazing legacy," she said.
Ultimately, she decided to keep that legacy alive. So, she started looking for a new place to host the shop. That's when the community stepped up to help.
"We just got lucky and miracles came through and this business, saw the need and heard my dad's story and wanted to offer us a spot in Centennial to use rent-free for a while," Clark said.
They secured the space in an office park to continue to fix up bikes and donate them to kids and people in need. It's smaller than their old place but Betty says she's grateful. And she says couldn't have saved her father's shop without the community.
"My dad's crew, his volunteers, they have all come alongside me and helped me every single step of the way. People from the community have helped to stepped up. We had over 30-some people helping us move into this place as well as put stuff in storage units. I mean, it came it was like, just amazing," she said.
Dealing with the death of her father has been hard but says when she is at the new shop, it's like her dad is smiling down on her in spirit.
"That's why we put up his signs, his pictures. He's here all the time," Clark said.
Second Chance Bicycle Shop isn't technically fully open for business just yet. They have a few projects they are working on, but they still have a lot of bikes to move and inventory to count.
Clark says when they do have a grand reopening they will let the community know.
