The first round of Macon Violence Prevention (MVP) grant recipients was announced in June of this year, and 25 nonprofit and faith-based organizations had been funded more than $800,000 in efforts to prevent violent crime in Macon-Bibb County.

Charise Stephens is the executive director of U Create Macon, one of the grant recipients.

“They got this funding to actually give money to organizations, and some of these organizations had never gotten any funding like this before,” said Stephens. “To give them a chance to get out there and be foot soldiers to really try and make a difference.”

U Create Macon used their grant to fund their Free Bikes For Kids program, an initiative to encourage kids of all ages to get out and explore the world on their bikes.

“I take kids all over the nation biking,” said Stephens. “Sometimes the only kids in the nation invited to these events are kids here in Macon, and these are kids that have never owned a bike before.”

There is a bike shop where kids and coaches work on repairing bikes so that every bike given away is as safe as possible.

“So what we’re trying to do is get kids more active, and that’s what we want to do,” said Stephens. “We want to say, ‘Yes! We support you! We got your back!’ and bikes are the way to do that.”

Free Bikes For Kids is an opportunity for kids to build confidence and curate a better future for themselves.

“And when you see them out racing with people all over the nation with the same bikes, same helmets, the same everything, you would never know what their past was,” said Stephens.

It’s a simple application process that only requires a meeting with the parents or guardians to inform them of the program.

“And that’s basically it,” said Stephens. “And we just train the kids and love on them and hopefully change their lives.”

The grant has funded direct services to get more free bikes to kids all over the community, along with helmets, bike rodeos, and safety tips.

“I know our hearts are in the right place,” said Stephens. “So, I cannot wait to see, a year from now, how this has transformed lives.”