Winnemac Garage (updated Aug 3, 2026)
You are invited to join the Winnemac Garage.
The Winnemac Garage is a group of neighbors building community around active life with less traffic.
Winnemac is the neighborhood name for the area that is roughly bordered by Foster, Ashland, Lawrence and Damen. We’re expanding the term Garage as a metaphor for our shared mobility resources. The Winnemac Garage is for anyone who lives, works, plays, learns or shops in the area. Living in the same neighborhood, we share transportation and active living challenges so let’s get together to share the solutions!
Garage Goals:
- More Walking, Running and Biking (and other active mobility)
- Less Daily Driving
- More Local Connections
Activities of the Winnemac Garage:
- Walk, run and bike outings
- Service projects like litter pick-up, snow removal, helping folks get and use bikes and shopping carts
- Library of shared bikes and other equipment: Shared extra bikes, trailers, tools, shopping carts, strollers, utility carts and other stuff we don’t all need to own individually
- Support for Winnslie Parkway, Ravenswood Neighbors Association and community activities
- Winnemac Hub: Like a little library but focused on bikes and active living not books. There will be bike books but also a pump, tools, some supplies like tubes and tire patches. (planned for Winnemac and Ravenswood, let us know if you want to help)
- Workshops and know-how sharing opportunities
- Repair cafe for bikes and other household items.
- Birding, Garden and local history walks
- Transit hikes, day and overnight trips
- Events and celebrations
- Garage Fund- Pooled funds we contribute and decide how to use for all these activities. See below.
Possible Future Activities:
- Car-sharing
- Connections to walk, bike and transit advocacy
- Neighborhood traffic, speed and safety audits
- Collaboration on other community needs and issues
- Winter walking and cycling. Overcoming cold weather barriers.
- Exchanges with other Garages around Chicago as they form.
- Games and contests for more walking and biking and less daily driving
- Affinity with local businesses
- Co-op purchases of gear and equipment.
How to Join: Sign up by sharing your contact information HERE
Volunteer and share resources: Link HERE
Garage Fund: Click HERE to make a voluntary financial contribution to the Garage Fund.
We’ll vote on how to use these funds to support Garage activities. Voting will start in Sept and happen four times a year. Contributions are tax-deductible and administered by Good For Us (goodforus.org) a non-profit organization. The funds belong to our Garage community.
Being busy and scheduling: It is really hard to schedule around our busy lives. If you want to participate in something, but can’t make the time, let us know when you are available. We’ll work really hard to try to schedule on days and at times that accommodate as many people as possible. We’ll also try to do most things more than once on different days to fit more schedules. Time for civic engagement is one of the fundamental challenges of our time. Do your best to prioritize a slice of your life to do things with your neighbors. We promise to save you time in the long run by bringing parts of your life closer to home.
Work in Progress: This Garage group is a work in progress and maybe the start of something big. We’re still figuring out leadership and structure. It will be a democratically-run, non-profit, mutual aid organization. Randy Neufeld is leading the launch and would love your ideas and help. The vision is to have 200 or more households in our neighborhood helping each other realize active, healthy and connected lives.
Contact: Randy Neufeld, info@winnemacgarage.org, text to 773-236-7472