Cory Sherman

My name's Cory Sherman and I live in the little town of Boone, North Carolina.  I am a junior at Appalachian State University studying Community and Regional Planning.  Randomly, I heard about Bike and Build through a couchsurfer that stayed at my house.  I started asking around and realized that there was another person I knew who participated.  Their excitement about the program is what got me interested.   Some of my favorite things to do are travel, hike, climb, ride, swim, and experience.  I spent six months living in Alexandria Egypt teaching English to adults and have just recently had my first "out west"experience driving across country this past summer.  In March I have organized a trip with my school to go back to Egypt and volunteer with 14 other students from Boone.

After searching through many majors I settled on Community and Regional Planning because it is a major that will lead me to a hands on approach to bringing people together.  I am a strong proponent of community development and strong interpersonal relationships.  As a kid, I moved around a lot and never really had a strong community relationship or attachment but I always had family to keep close.  Affordable Housing in the United States seems like an issue that should be apparent given our wealth as a nation.  Unfortunately, the powers that be have diverted federal funding from education and affordable housing for issues they deem more important.

Because of the university and the location of Boone NC in the Southern Appalachian mountains the price of homes and land parcels in my county (Watuaga) has steadily been on the rise making affordable housing a difficult thing to find for low-income residents.  The average price for a single family home in Watauga county is $227,000 and the average cost for a land parcel is $75,000.  This part of the Appalachians has a very diverse and unique history.  This history is hard to preserve when locals and long-time residents are being driven out due to the cost of living here.

I have been talking with friends about a long bike ride for months now, but we were only talking about a few days!  The prospect of riding cross country might be the most Bad A** think I can think of.  The idea of training for this challenge is exciting and the thought of actually doing it is even more so!  I most pumped about riding through Arizona and New Mexico if I can because that was some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen.  Bike and Build seems like a great program with a lot to offer not only to the recipients but also for the participants. 

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Southern U.S.