Atlanta After School Program Revitalizes, Gets Makeover

ATLANTA, GA — It was 2008. Becky O'Mara and her husband Tim just moved to Adair Park in southwest Atlanta, and noticed something: local gangs were gathering in the historic neighborhood's park to fight.

The O'Maras talked with gang members, which included young kids and teenagers, at the park when they walked their dogs, Becky told Patch. They had gotten to know an 8-year-old girl, and saw her bike tires were worn down. Tim and Becky offered to help her get new tubes and tires for the bike by offering odd jobs around the yard to earn money for the parts — but instead, they bought her a whole new bike after several weeks of doing chores.

"She was of course over the moon excited and rode off," Becky said. "Fifteen minutes later, she came back with two friends and said, 'They want bikes too.' We couldn't buy them bikes at the time, but over the next couple of months, we had a thought: 'I bet people have bikes in their garages that their kids have outgrown, maybe they'll pass them along to us.'"

Becky spent five years working in children's ministry at 12Stone Church in Gwinnett County, and she began asking around her church community and friends for bikes they no longer needed.

Becky said she was met with an overwhelming response, and the O'Maras started offering these donated bikes to the gang members in exchange for helping pick up litter at Adair Park. Each kid could earn a bike by picking up five bags of trash, and thus nonprofit Bearings Bike Works was formed.

"It was a great way to build community, that was really the heart of it," Becky said. "It also had this wonderful effect of helping neighbors see the youth as assets instead of maybe threats. A wonderful sense of community developed and eventually our house got overrun with bikes."

Bearings Bike Works called a small basement in an old automotive shop home for a decade. After running out of trash to pick up in the park and with too many bikes to store in the basement, Becky and Tim redesigned the program and purchased space at 982 Murphy Avenue in Atlanta for Bearings' new home in 2017.

The first phase of the new Bearings complex — designed by NELSON Worldwide — opened in 2020 after a $2.7 million capital campaign. The new complex which included a 6,000-square-foot garage with workstations for the youth program and breakout areas for training and mentorship.

Bearings Bike Works' physical revamp also included a redesign of the program, too: they now offer four skills development programs that help students age 6-18 develop hard skills, soft skills and character strengths for the future, Becky said.

The drop-in, after-school program, called Skills for Life, teaches the kids how to earn a bike and keep it in working order — but Becky also said it also teaches them to develop skills to move successfully into the workforce. Those age 6-18 can drop in at the new shop on Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday afternoons.

"Our big goal is connecting work with reward, and using a mechanical curriculum that teaches kids how to build and fix bikes, to also help them develop other skills that can be helpful in succeeding in the classroom, and eventually in employment," Becky said. "Every hour they 'work,' they earn a star, and that's their 'currency' in the shop — and when they earn enough, they can buy a bike."

The second phase of the physical renovations to Bearings Bike Works will tentatively be completed in 2022, said Brian Lachat, senior project manager at NELSON Worldwide. This phase will include the refurbishment of an old warehouse that will hold the nonprofit’s new retail and service center, and coworking space for the youth workforce development programs.

“Maintaining the urban fabric was a large driving force in the design [of both phases]. We wanted to pay homage to the prior auto repair facility that once thrived in that community and bring new life into the design,” Lachat said. “Bearings Bike Works has become the catalyst in activating this neighborhood.”

While Bearings is primarily an after-school program, the nonprofit also serves the public through bike service. Anyone can bring their bike to Bearings to be serviced, and they also sell refurbished bikes — which also serves as a paid internship for students who have moved through the after-school program.

For more information or to learn about participating in Bearings' programs, visit Bearings Bike Works website or call 404-484-4180.