The Shadow
Eddie Williams and Camaille Powell, owners of the “Bike Repair and Rentals” shop on 805 S. Lexington Avenue in Covington, are doing more than building bicycles; they’re helping to build schools.
The situation in Haiti is pretty dire. According to haitipartners.org, “Haiti ranks 168 out of 187 on the 2014 Human Development Index (UNDP 2015).” Additionally, poverty is so extreme that “59% of the population lives on less than $2 a day, while 24.7% live on less than $1.25 daily.” That’s a staggering 83.7% who live on $2 or less every day. It’s no wonder half the children in Haiti don’t attend school.
However, Williams and Powell are doing their part to make a difference. According to Eddie Williams, most of the money they make in their small bike goes to benefit their nonprofit called the “Freres Jean-Baptiste Foundation.”
Williams, who is retired Navy, got his degree in social work and psychology, has worked as a “social worker in prisons, detention camps for children, and maximum security prisons,” according to Eddie Williams. He stated he initially became interested in running a nonprofit because he’s seen the regret of young people who might have made different choices if they just had someone to talk to. It’s also part of the reason he and his wife run a nonprofit: to show compassion to others.
“I don’t do this for money,” Williams said. “I don’t do this for a living. I do this because this is me saying to the world in my own way and my wife’s way, ‘I want to give something back.’ And I think that if people understood that one person can make a difference, then we would make a difference.”
Williams also shared a touching story about how one of his customers made a difference in the life of an anonymous boy who attends Covington Middle School (CMS) across the street. The young child often stopped into the Bike Shop, eying one bike in particular, and was determined to come up with the money to buy it. One of Williams’ customers overheard the conversation and paid for the bike after the child left. Williams then set out to find out who the child was by paying a visit to CMS. Once he found out who the child was, he was able to deliver a very special gift to him made possible by one customer determined to make a difference.
Eddie Williams stands firmly in the philosophy that one person can’t do everything, but every person can do one thing, and together, we can all make a difference in the world.
