MACON, Ga. — Some folks feel a responsibility to give back after they’ve become a success, and Steven Jackson is an example.
Jackson is the co-owner of Urban Air in Macon. It’s a place for kids to play on all kinds of equipment. He’s not only leading by example, but he’s also bringing hope to kids having a tough time.
Houston Avenue has a history of poverty and violence. Steven Jackson grew up in the area and admits he used to sell drugs.
"Just trying to survive the atmosphere, trying to survive, not knowing what you're going to eat that day," said Jackson. "I became someone who dealt drugs because that's all I'd seen."
Jackson says as a child he didn't have high expectations for his life growing up in public housing.
Now he's the co-owner of a business with a multi-million dollar budget who climbed his way out of a life of violence and crime by getting a mentor.
He started working for FedEx and became contractor of the year. The 30-year-old says he now has a fleet of trucks alongside Urban Air.
He still visits his old neighborhood in Pendleton Homes, but with an SUV full of backpacks.
"I know how hard it was for my mom to get school supplies," he recalled.
He also comes with a message: No matter how desperate life gets, no matter how much violence you've seen, there is hope.
"To see them smile through the pain... that means a lot to me," he said.
The kids are pretty young at La Trenda's day care, and they may not take in everything Steven has to say, but that's okay.
"You don't have to be an athlete or a rapper. You can grow up and own a business," he said sitting down with a group of kids.
The guy that's giving back works with kids of all ages, talking wherever folks want to hear his message.
He created the I Am Somebody foundation and recently took 200 kids to the movies to see Space Jam.
He says he may have more credibility talking to teenagers because of his tattoos, his background at Pendleton Homes, and the color of his skin.
"This kid is saying if you can do it, you look exactly like me, I know I can do it," he surmised.
The guy whose elementary school teachers said would wind up in jail is far away from that life he lived through as a kid.
