Macon Magazine

Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller's Macon Violence Prevention (MVP) initiative, which he announced last summer. MVP is a multi-layered plan to combat violent crime in our community. "There is no single approach to stopping violence in our community," Mayor Miller said. "If we can have organizations like Fathers Among Men taking the initiative to mentor our youth at a young age and steer them in the right direction, we may start to see a big difference." Mayor Miller and the Commission allocated $800,000 towards organizations in our community who are aiming to prevent violence. Twenty-five nonprofit and faith-based organizations were chosen after applying for the grants through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia. FAM, in partnership with Heart of Georgia Advisory Council, was chosen to receive $16,000. Heart of Georgia Advisory Council was created in September 2021 as an effort to bring several different nonprofit organizations together to work together for the same cause – improving Macon's community. The council is composed of eight people from different groups. "We're not trying to go at it alone," Sterdivant said. "We may have created our organizations separately, may do some events or activities separately, but we see the need and the desire to work as a group. We want to be able to show people in our community that, hey, we have similar goals and similar ideas and work together." With the grant funding, FAM and the Advisory Council's goal is to create something called "Activate Saturdays," hosting events and activities for youth every first and third Saturday of the month. It's centered around young men because much of the violence that occurs in the community is male-centered, but they leave it open to young ladies to participate as well. The organization has already hosted some events for kids, such as a spring break camp and taking kids to different parks. They try to make these activities free for everyone, so having this grant money will allow them to hold accessible events more frequently. WHEN YOU START TALKING ABOUT IMPACTING THE COMMUNITY, WORKING WITH THE YOUTH IS ALWAYS PART OF THE LONG-TERM SOLUTION." – FRED STERDIVANT " These kinds of activities are what keep Mintz's boys looking forward to the next summer camp and wanting to learn more about their community. "My son stayed in trouble, but since he started attending Fathers Among Men, he calmed down tremendously," Mintz said. "Mr. Fred and Fathers Among Men helped me keep them out of trouble." "Mr. Fred is a role model for me," Owens said. "He does stuff that I've never seen anybody do before, like cleaning his community. I really like when we cook and grill and give plates out to people. He cares about his community." Owens is looking forward to starting his first year at Southwest High School this upcoming school year. While high school can be intimidating, he said he's not too worried since he knows he can always rely on his team within Fathers Among Men. If you would like to learn more about FAM and how you can help, visit fathersamongmen.org. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022 | maconmagazine.com 101

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