LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington nonprofit is teaching kids and young adults how to stay the course and make a change.
While students may have many places to go after school, young people with Operation Making a Change (OMAC) in Lexington are taking on a little more work and working on some tough life lessons.
Dontaevius Bowie says the organization and its leaders became a safety net for him. He didn’t know how much it could impact his life. It’s why he’s now sharing his experience and engaging with those in OMAC today.
When he was 17-years-old, Bowie faced his first criminal case. He shares that many of the challenges stemmed from his environment and decision-making.
“You know, wisdom could come from people teaching, but there’s also wisdom through experiences. And I went through it and did a little bit of time,” Bowie explained.
OMAC is a community group for underprivileged youth, teaching them to be resourceful, and to promote and apply anti-violence narratives to their own lives.
The group is involved in Fayette County Public Schools, offering in-school and after-school programs, as well as the Lexington detention center.
Gerald Gibson is the OMAC community program coordinator who created the nonprofit over 10 years ago. “I really thought about my future and the people I was impacting in a negative way, and so I just wanted to turn that around. OMAC was a thought sitting in a cell.” Gibson said.
He says in that time, they have been able to work around the city, establishing a home base at the Charles Young Community Center, which Gibson says connects them to Lexington’s east end and families they can support.
“Because of the OMAC family atmosphere, you know, my team is very diverse, so they have all walks of life that are involved with this program, so they’re able to connect with different people.” Gibson said.
He shares how he got started, much like the youth he supports today.
“The biggest thing I know is that our kids are the future, and I want to make sure that I’m an example and I’m showing them that whatever dreams that they have on the inside, if they work hard, no matter what mistakes they’ve made in this life, that doesn’t define who they are or what their future’s going to be,” Gibson said.
Using the resources and the connections built with OMAC, Bowie says he’s working on turning it all around for himself.
“Very hard, it was very hard to go that right path, definitely. When you got so far into this other mindset and I said you know, I still want to at least find a way to help other people,” Bowie said.