Project Mobility grew from one father’s search for an adaptive bike into a multigenerational mission serving children, adults and wounded veterans.
-- More than two decades ago, Hal Honeyman was not trying to start a nonprofit. He was a father trying to find a bicycle his son could ride.
Hal’s son Jacob was one of triplets born at 27 weeks and was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Hal wanted him to experience something his sisters could enjoy so naturally: riding a bike. He began searching and eventually found an adaptive bicycle that worked for Jacob. That one bike changed the direction of the Honeyman family and became the beginning of Project Mobility, the St. Charles, Illinois-based nonprofit Hal founded and Tammy Simmons co-founded with him.
The family story, however, began long before Project Mobility. In 1975, Dale and Nancy Honeyman bought The Bike Rack, then a bicycle shop surrounded by cornfields in St. Charles. Dale worked a full-time job and then came to the store, while Nancy became a familiar presence to generations of customers. The business grew with the community, and four generations of the family have now been part of its story. Even today, Nancy, 89, still works at the store.
What Dale and Nancy passed down was larger than a bicycle business. Their children learned how to work, how to keep going, how to take care of people and how to give back. Dale and Nancy were there for virtually every Project Mobility fundraiser and celebration, watching their children and grandchildren turn that family example into a mission of their own.
Jacob gave the family’s bicycle story a new direction. After Hal discovered what an adaptive bicycle could mean for Jacob, he and Tammy began helping other families access the same opportunity. Project Mobility grew from one child’s need into a mission serving children, adults, and wounded veterans.
Years later, the story reached national television in a Hallmark special with Regis Philbin. When Regis asked Hal if he would be doing this without Jacob, Hal said no. The moment captured Project Mobility’s origin: not a conference room, but a father wanting his son included.
Adaptive Cycling Is About More Than a Bicycle
Adaptive cycling can look very different from traditional cycling. Depending on the rider, a bike may require specialized seating, greater stability, hand propulsion, alternative controls or other adaptations. Yet once the rider begins moving, what happens can look wonderfully ordinary. A child rides with siblings. A family goes out together. A veteran gets outside again. Someone joins a community event instead of watching from the sidelines.
Over the years, Project Mobility’s reach has expanded far beyond St. Charles. Its adaptive cycling work has connected with hospitals, rehabilitation organizations, schools, community programs and major disability organizations in multiple states. In Chicago, that history includes relationships with Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Shriners Children’s Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, Special Olympics and other partners. Project Mobility has brought adaptive cycling to the lakefront and created Bike Days where people can try equipment, get fitted and discover what cycle may work for them.
The bicycle may be adaptive, but the experience of belonging should not have to be.
Giving Wounded Veterans a Piece of Their Life Back
Project Mobility’s work with wounded veterans is another major part of that history. Hal has spent decades working hands-on with wounded veterans and service members at cycling events, rides and military hospital settings in the United States and overseas. His role has included fitting cycles, adapting equipment and helping injured riders discover what cycling might still make possible. He describes the purpose simply: “Sometimes we are able to give them just a piece of their life back.”
For one veteran, that piece may be exercise or competition. For another, it may mean independence, being outdoors, riding with others or reconnecting with something that existed before an injury changed life. The equipment matters, but Project Mobility’s experience has shown that what happens after the fitting can matter even more.
A Child’s Christmas List Started a Tradition
Some of the organization’s most memorable traditions have begun in equally unexpected ways. Years ago, a young girl named Riley Christianson made an unusual Christmas list. Instead of asking people to buy her presents, Riley wrote letters asking them to help raise money so another child could receive an adaptive bike. She raised enough for three.
Her generosity helped begin Project Mobility’s Holiday Adaptive Bike Giveaway. For years, Christmas Eve became a day of surprise deliveries to children at homes, restaurants and other locations, sometimes with Chicago television crews following along. In one crowded living room, after a girl received her first adaptive bike, her brother looked around and said, “Now she doesn’t have to look out the window and watch us ride bikes. She can come with us.” Riley’s story later reached Reader’s Digest, and the holiday giveaway continues in an evolved form today.
Signature Events With a Bigger Purpose
Project Mobility's signature events make the mission visible in very different ways:
- August 23, 2026 | 3rd Annual Long Table Dinner - Six-course Fox River dining experience with standout local restaurants and four adaptive-bike presentations, one supported by Family Bank and three through the Adaptive Bike Giveaway Sweepstakes.
- October 3, 2026 | 10th Annual Hops for Hope 5K & BrewFest - 5K, craft beer, live music and adaptive-bike presentations.
- Weekly drawings, year-round | Queen of Hearts Sweepstakes - Recurring community fundraiser and supporter engagement.
- 2027 | Over the Edge St. Charles - New community-wide rappelling fundraiser coming to St. Charles in 2027.
- May 2027 | 15th Annual Everybody Rides - All-inclusive adaptive and traditional cycling.
Long Table brings supporters close to the impact. Set along the Fox River, local restaurants serve a six-course dinner while the focus remains on the riders. Guests watch children receive adaptive bikes, see families celebrate, and witness firsthand what community support makes possible. The experience gives sponsors and donors a clear, emotional connection to the mission.
The Adaptive Bike Giveaway Sweepstakes expands that impact beyond a single event, helping more families discover Project Mobility and more riders receive bikes. Different formats, same goal: more people riding.
An adaptive bike presentation makes the mission tangible. Sponsors can support events or programs, but the clearest impact is seeing a rider receive a bike built for them. When the event ends, the crowd leaves, but the rider keeps the bike.
More Than Two Decades Later
More than two decades after Hal first searched for a bicycle Jacob could ride, Project Mobility has grown significantly. It has built a strong Chicago history, partnered with hospitals and rehabilitation organizations, created inclusive cycling opportunities for children with disabilities, adults and wounded veterans, and helped families discover new possibilities through adaptive bikes.
At its core, the mission has never changed. A father wanted his son to ride a bike, found a way, and chose to help others do the same. Today, Project Mobility continues to work one rider, one family and one adaptive bike at a time.
Project Mobility welcomes donors, sponsors, companies, hospitals, rehabilitation organizations, schools, community partners and supporters. Sponsors help provide adaptive bikes, support giveaways, strengthen Bike Days and veteran programs, and power signature events.
Project Mobility can be contacted at Katherine@projectmobility.org, and more information is available at ProjectMobility.org.
Contact Info:
Name: Katherine Reda
Email: Send Email
Organization: Project Mobility
Website: https://www.projectmobility.org/
Release ID: 89200750
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