Fabian Cruz-Thompson said Apex Bike Factory’s Biddeford workshop feels like home.

That’s where he spends most afternoons, mentoring children and teenagers on how to restore and maintain bicycles, just as his own mentors at Apex did years ago.

“The kids can always know that they can come every day,” Cruz-Thompson said. “Some of them, they don’t want to go home because they don’t want to deal with their family troubles, or they just want to get even better at bikes.”

He prioritizes making the workshop a welcoming space for local kids and teens – somewhere that provides a sense of comfort and routine. Away from the bike racks, he asks them how their classes are going and, at times, tutors them in chess.

Fabian Cruz-Thompson works and teaches at Apex Bike Factory in Biddeford, a program that gives kids and teens free bikes after teaching them how to fix and maintain them. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

The 22-year-old Biddeford resident helps oversee Apex’s “earn a bike” program, where children and teenagers can get a bicycle in need of repairs for a small fee and learn how to fix it up before taking it home.

Noah Pinkham, a longtime friend who also works on the bike program, said Cruz-Thompson buzzes throughout the workshop, checking in on the students and keeping track of their progress and needs. Pinkham called him “the lifeblood” of the program.

“Fabian gets to shine on the bikes,” Pinkham said. “He’s sort of funny or carefree, but that’s more of a facade for the hard work that he gives.”

Cruz-Thompson moved to Maine from Florida nearly a decade ago, and he started working as an apprentice in the shop at 14. Before joining Apex, then called the Community Bicycle Center, he had little interest in fixing bikes – or riding them. But he said joining the program helped him discover a passion, and he’s glad to help the next generation of apprentices do the same.

“This place was like my backbone. And the people here really helped me,” Cruz-Thompson said. “I owe this place a lot, so that’s why I’m still here.”