Barnabas program provides wheels for work

Submitted by Anne H. Oman
Reporter-At-Large
February 18, 2016 12:16 p.m.

About three weeks ago, Clay Bullard’s life changed for the better.

“A friend of mine – one of my room mates – told me to go to Barnabas,” he said.
After an interview by a social worker, Mr. Bullard received a voucher, which he took to the Cycling and Fitness Center on South Eighth Street.

“They had a bike all set up,” he said, showing a reporter his dark blue single-speed Schwinn Huffy bicycle with a combination lock, two reflectors and a detachable lamp.

Six days a week, Mr. Bullard hops on his bike and completes the trip from his home on Talbot Court to his job as a cashier and stocker at Fred’s in about 15 minutes.

“It used to take an hour to walk,” he recalled.

He also uses the bicycle to shop for groceries and to go to his church, Set Free by the Sea on Route 17 in Yulee, a 24 mile round trip. It takes 55 minutes each way each way, and he makes the trip “every Tuesday and Sunday if I’m off work.

The 32-year-old Bryceville native credits Set Free By the Sea with turning his life around.

“‘I was raised up as a Christian, but I got involved in drugs and alcohol,” he said. He entered a residential discipleship program run by the Yulee group, and, after graduating, found a job and moved to Fernandina Beach.

“Now I’ve got a job, a place to live, some money – and I’ve got transportation,” he said. “One step at a time.” he said.

He hopes to build on this foundation and eventually have a wife, children, and a home of his own. But even if a car is in his future, Mr. Bullard will never to give up his bike.

“I’ll keep it as a trophy,” he said. “Just to remind me.”

Another Barnabas bike has made a big difference for Jeff Deaton – although his is a three-wheeler. Mr. Deaton, 51, has Parkinson’s disease and cannot ride a two-wheeled bike.

“I use it to get groceries –- Winn Dixie isn’t far –or to go to Wal Mart,” he said. “And it gets me exercise. If I don’t exercise I’ll be in a wheelchair.”

Mr. Deaton also uses the cycle to get from his garage apartment on Oak Street to his medical appointments at the Barnabas Center on Jasmine Street. His longtime girlfriend, Robbie, urged him to get medical care for his symptoms.
“About two years ago, she made me go to the doctor at Barnabas,” he said.

In addition to pills that “help take the shakes out of me,” and physical therapy, the Barnabas physicians prescribed a bike.
Born in Chicago, Mr. Deaton has an associate degree in metallurgy and material science and worked for many years in industrial facilities that heat metal to make it more malleable. He later worked in construction, first in St. Mary’s and later on Amelia Island, helping build River Place, the Dunes Club, the Comfort Suites on Atlantic Avenue and many other projects.

“I used to walk on stilts when I was in construction – now I drink out of a Sippy Cup,” he said, with a touch of irony.
Mr. Deaton said he gave up construction work when “I didn’t trust myself on ladders.” Now he does odd jobs, such as mowing lawns for his landlord, and he has applied for Social Security disability payments.

“I’m taking it day by day,” he said. “The bike makes a lot of difference.”

Since April 2011, the “Adult Bikes for Barnabas” program has supplied bicycles to 239 Nassau County residents, according to Phillip St. Laurent, Operations Manager for Barnabas. The program is the brainchild of local activist Phil Scanlan.

“I was leading the effort for the Amelia Island Trail,” said Mr. Scanlan. “But that was geared toward leisure and recreation, and I felt we needed to do something for the less fortunate in our community. I went to Barnabas, which couldn’t keep up with requests for bikes, and then to Joel Beckham of the Cycling and Fitness Center. Joel said he would do repairs for free if I would raise the money to offset the cost of the needed parts.”

To help raise the money, Mr. Scanlan persuaded his church, the Fernandina branch of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville, to adopt the program and to devote part of each Sunday’s collection to it. In addition, he solicits donations from the Amelia Island community.

“I try to have a couple of bikes ready to go when someone comes in with a voucher,” said Mr. Beckham of the Cycling and Fitness Center. “I add lights to make it legal to ride at night, and I give them a lock… Some recipients have gotten back on track in life and come back here to donate their bikes so that somebody else can have the same chance.”

If you’d like to donate a bicycle, drop it off at The Cycling and Fitness Center at 11 South 8th Street. To have a bike picked up, called Robert Prager at (904) 206-9478. It takes an average of $60 to refurbish and equip a bike with lights and a lock. Tax deductible donations for bike refurbishment should be sent to Barnabas Center, Inc., 1303 Jasmine Street, Suite 101, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034. Note on the check that the donation is for Adult Bikes for Barnabas.

Editor’s Note: Anne H. Oman relocated to Fernandina Beach from Washington, D.C. Her articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Star, The Washington Times, Family Circle and other publications. We thank Anne for her contributions to the Fernandina Observer.