Lowriders, high hopes: Wenatchee leaders use bike program to curb gang influence
watch
Listen
(Runtime 1:04)
Read
The wheels are round like any other bike, but everything else rides low — by design. In Wenatchee, two community members are collecting curved frames, tires and other bike parts donated from neighbors, businesses and local car clubs. Through a local nonprofit, they’re building not just bikes, but also a program to steer youth away from gang involvement, challenge stereotypes of Chicano culture, and reconnect them with their history and heritage.
Valentin Mendoza recently began working with Francisco Jimenez at the Community for the Advancement of Family Education (CAFÉ) to launch a lowrider bike program for youth at risk of gang involvement. The initiative gives children the chance to design, build, and paint their lowrider bikes with guidance from mentors.
Jimenez is the youth empowerment and support coordinator at CAFÉ. The nonprofit offers a variety of programs to redirect children away from gang involvement, including boxing classes and teen nights that provide a positive, inclusive space for activities like kickball and cooking.
Mendoza and Jimenez, both former gang members, are now committed to shaping a better future for Wenatchee’s youth. They understand the challenges local teens face and offer mentorship and programs to help guide them toward a more positive path.
“I’ve always been drawn to helping out kids who look like me — kids who might be involved in what would be considered gangs or negative activities. I wanted to bring lowriding with me, and adapt it to where I am now,” said Mendoza.
Mendoza is part of Lowcos, a lowrider car club with chapters across the Northwest. The Yakima chapter that Mendoza is a part of was founded in 2008 and now has about 10 members. For them, lowriding is more than a hobby. It’s an identity and form of community engagement. When Valentin shared his vision of starting a bike-building mentorship program, other club members rallied behind the idea. They began donating bike parts, tools and their time to help.
The kids won’t just be handed a bike — they’ll sand, paint and help assemble it. Local car club members will mentor them throughout the process, turning what could be just a one-time project into a lasting relationship. The project will offer informal mentorship from adults who have overcome struggles like addiction, gang involvement and trauma. Youth will hear real stories.
”We want to show that there’s a way out. And the only way to really do that is by putting them, matching them with a mentor that has lived that life. There will be a model bike to show them what’s possible,” Mendoza said. “But the rest is up to them.”
Gang activity in Washington state
Gang activity is present in communities across Washington state, with varying levels of gang-affiliated groups identified in different counties. According to the Washington State Gang Intelligence Bulletin, Chelan and Douglas counties have identified eight groups. Nearby counties reported higher numbers, including Grant with 15, Kittitas with five, Okanogan with six and Yakima with 40.
The report also notes that Eastern Washington has a notable presence of gang activity, with about 88 groups identified across the region.
According to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health most children who do join a gang do so between ages 12 and 15.
Corporal Kevin Battis of the Wenatchee Police Department has worked in the gang unit and on drug investigations during his 15–year tenure. He also gives presentations on gang prevention and community outreach.
“Gang activity here isn’t always violent, but it’s present,” Battis said. “A lot of these kids are missing something — structure, guidance or a positive connection. Sometimes they’re just living in the moment, not thinking about the consequences.”
Battis said Wenatchee’s most active period of gang activity occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s, when he said local groups such as the South Side Locos and the Party Boys emerged, often aligned with larger networks like the Sureños and Norteños. Battis said much of the local gang presence is tied to Hispanic gangs with roots in Southern California.
Local programs like CAFÉ and the Youth Risk Program through the court system aim to offer at-risk youth an alternative. The Youth Risk Program connects participants with counselors who work with them and their families.
Battis said that they don’t know why people join gangs but his department believes it is connected to lack of parental guidance and structure at home. Battis said he has seen local programs provide safe environments for kids.
“They can get together and do something productive instead of creating havoc. That’s what we want — something that draws them away from poor choices and toward something positive,” said Battis.
What is Chicano culture?
For Mendoza and other mentors in the program, the program has a much larger purpose. It’s about confronting the stigma that often follows Chicano youth — especially in schools, where expressions of culture and style can be mistaken for gang affiliation.
“We’re not trying to empower gangs,” Mendoza said. “We’re trying to empower Chicano culture. Sometimes people see kids wearing baggy pants or dressing a certain way and assume the worst. But that’s not defiance — it’s just style. It’s cultural.”
Chicano culture refers to the heritage, identity and experiences of Mexican Americans, particularly those in the Southwest. Rooted in a history of activism, it blends Indigenous, Mexican and American influences in language, art, music, politics and community life.
The term “Chicano” gained prominence during the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, evolving into a symbol of pride and resistance. A defining moment in this period was the East Los Angeles walkouts when high school students protested against educational inequality. Today, Chicano culture remains a powerful force in ongoing discussions about identity, equity and social justice.
“The main reason behind it is to mainly reach out to these teenagers that are interested in this lifestyle, but we want to bring it into a positive form versus them being out there actively gang banging and doing stuff they shouldn’t be,” Mendoza said.
In the Wenatchee and Eastmont School Districts, administrators are instructed to watch for signs of gang-related behavior, including buttoning only the top button of a shirt, wearing oversized clothing, pulling socks high up the calf, and displaying rosaries often associated with Catholicism, and Chicano flash, but flagged as possible indicators of gang involvement.
“I have gone into schools and seen kids with long socks and they’ve been told to put it down if they are brown. If you’re Caucasian you’re not going to get called out on that,” Jimenez said. “We are trying to break that barrier and show the community what our style is vs. an actual active gang member. They are just completely different.”
On the Wenatchee School District website, guidelines say the action is not meant to be punitive but because of the present gang activity in the area, the district enforces a list of prohibited items to protect the safety of their students. The district works with police departments to monitor gang activity and update prohibited item lists to reflect current trends.
“When certain prohibited items that are known to be affiliated with gangs are displayed at school and coupled with aggressive or gang-related behaviors, the safety and well-being of our students and staff become our primary concern,” said district spokesperson, Director of Communications Diana Haglund. “In such instances, we must take proactive measures to address these issues to maintain a safe and supportive learning environment for all.”
Haglund said the district’s dress code policy tries to respect the cultural expressions of students, including those from the Chicano community. She said attire can be a powerful form of self-expression of their cultural heritage.
Mendoza said he wants to change the narrative around his culture and provide tangible evidence that their style is positive.
“Are Chuck Taylors, or Cortez shoes, the way we dress, equate to gang members or equate to gang culture or does that equate to a Chicano style?” Mendoza said. “Unfortunately, the way that some gangs and lowrider cultures present themselves, people put those two together. They’re not together, they are two separate things.”
Rewriting the narrative
Lowrider culture in the media has been linked to gang activity or criminal behavior. Films like “Boulevard Nights” and portrayals in music videos and magazines have used stereotypes, that many in lowrider communities are still trying to dismantle.
The roots of lowriding come from after World War II when Mexican American veterans began customizing their cars as a form of self-expression. In the 1970s, lowriders organized political fundraisers for movements like the United Farm Workers. Today, lowrider shows and conventions celebrate family, art and culture.
“Lowriding is multigenerational,” Mendoza said. “It’s a culture. It’s an art form. And now we’re using it to build something new in Wenatchee.”
Shaun Kroger, a 38-year-old from Yakima and president of the Lowcos club there, agrees. He began his lowriding journey starting on bikes.
“I found lowriding through magazines and MTV,” Kroger said. “People see us and assume we’re drug dealers or gang members. But that’s not who we are. We build cars. We build bikes. We’re about family and community.”
Kroger’s father was a car guy. Now, Kroger and his car chapter are helping to support the Wenatchee bike program with parts and mentorship.
“Hopefully this makes a big impact,” he said. “I’m proud of Valentin for doing this.”
In May, youth in Wenatchee will begin to build bikes, many for the first time. Local businesses, including G & S Automotive, donated to CAFÉ to jump-start the program. Over a couple of weeks, the group collected enough parts by the end of April to build about eight bikes.
For Mendoza, the long-term vision includes launching a Wenatchee chapter of Lowcos and continuing to mentor youth through creative, hands-on projects. More than anything, he hopes to show that lowrider culture can be a vehicle for healing.
“This is a prime example of how we dismantle generational cycles,” Mendoza said. “We’re not going to pretend the past didn’t happen — but we can do something different now.”
As more bikes roll out and more kids join the program, Mendoza and Jimenez see the potential growing.
“It’s a privilege to be part of this,” Mendoza said. “And for these kids — it’s more than a bike. It’s something they built. Something that tells the world who they are. And that’s powerful.”
Reneé Diaz may be contacted at [email protected]. Collaborative reporting by The Wenatchee World, NWPB and Murrow College of Communication Newsroom Fellowship.
