How a South Macon church revitalized an abandoned gym

Ray Rover was left thinking he needed to do more every time he walked through the doors of the gym next to Heritage Southside Church. He said he heard God and prayed to figure out what more he needed to do. 

His prayers were answered in 2010, and he bought two basketballs, walked down Capitol Avenue and asked a couple kids if they wanted to play at the gym. Soon enough he had dozens of boys hooping in the gym, too many for him to handle, he said.

“I didn’t have a scoreboard. I didn’t have nothing,” Rover said. “So every game was the NBA finals.”

The homebrew basketball court is complete with two hoops, thick, faded yellow three point lines and patchy red paint zones. 

Trophies from former teams hang on top of heaters, and a modern blue scoreboard can now settle all debates between players. 

The brick gymnasium at the intersection of Houston Avenue and Rocky Creek Road is home to Street to Success, an afterschool program that keeps kids from the neighborhood off the street and instills a passion for learning.

Diane Coady, who now runs the Street to Success program for girls, said the program not only gives kids an education, but also life skills and a sense of hope. 

At the heart of the program is the idea of working to earn your play. About 15 years ago, Rover said he started to mandate tutoring as part of the deal for being able to play basketball.

He had to add some basic rules, like no cussing, and if you come inside you gotta stay inside. The motto he instilled was “Commit, Submit or Get” (Out).

“They were not gonna come here and submit themselves to anything,” he said. “They were gonna play basketball and that was it. Everybody was going to the NBA.”

Overlooking the gymnasium, volunteers built a computer room in an empty office and a space for tutoring. Books line the shelves and there’s a green screen for kids to make educational videos.

Once a week, the ministry brings in a guest speaker to talk to kids about their job or their life experiences. They give kids 30 minutes a session to learn how to type.

Rover said it’s about creating a desire to learn in his kids. Teaching kids to read at grade level and showing them what jobs are out there is part of his “escape plan” for lifting kids out of poverty.

Coady said part of that escape plan is offering kids a vision of what their lives could be and belief in the fact they can turn their lives around for themselves and their families.

“Hard work and study is the only way to be successful,” Rover said. “It doesn’t guarantee nothing, it just guarantees one thing: that if an opportunity —when it comes and knocks — you’ll be able to answer.”

Rover served in the air force before launching Street to Success. He works as a bailiff in the Bibb County Juvenile Court, where he said he sees a lot of disheartening situations. 

Over the years, he’s lost 18 of his students to violence. But he said that tragedy doesn’t take away his hope.

“Whenever I see something fantastic, like going over to watch the graduation of one of my kids from the fire academy to become a fireman, that’s my paycheck,” Rover said.

The program is a ministry of Heritage Southside Methodist, an arm of Heritage Methodist Church off Vineville Avenue. Before starting Street to Success, Rover and other church members started “Scrambled Eggs for Jesus.” 

A small kitchen connected to the basketball court enables the church to cook for the community every Sunday. A sheet metal shed behind the building was converted into the Heritage Lighthouse Resource Center in 2022, a clothing closet and food pantry open every other Saturday.

Rover said about thirty people or so take out “a small retail store” worth of supplies every time they open up.

“We have been really blessed, we don’t depend on the government for assistance,” Coady added.

Nowadays, basketball happens once a week, and there aren’t enough kids to put together a serious team, Rover said.

He said he serves the kids that he can, even though he knows there are hundreds more out in the community that could use his help.

While Coady, Rover and the ministry’s Facebook are open to inquiries, Rover said he encourages people to come see the organization’s impact for themselves.

He added that God provides all the resources he needs.

“What I’ve seen over the years is people see what we’re doing and they want to be part of something that’s being done,” he said.

This story is part of a Melody series highlighting local nonprofits in Macon.