The Internet Saved This Homeless Teen That Biked 6 Hours To School And Slept In A Tent

Some people have the drive and determination to overcome all obstacles and endure till their hard work pays off. For those people, challenges that many might find insurmountable have solutions. Fred Barley is one of those people.

Barley has the solitary focus of going to school. At 19-years old, it’s a focus that not all young people share, but it’s an admirable one. Barley lives in Conyers, Georgia but travels to Barnesville to attend Gordon State College. The total distance between the two cities is roughly 50 miles, but for Barley, this was just a challenge he had to overcome.

When the opportunity to sign up for the second semester came up, Barley felt he had to take it. He’s majoring in biology and eventually hopes to work his way into medical school. Clearly, he has a game plan, so it’s not surprising to hear how focused he is to follow it.

When Barley signed up for his second semester at Gordon State, he was well aware he couldn’t afford to drive back and forth or rent a dorm room. With that in mind, he spent his days looking for work and food.

To get to school Barley would borrow his younger brother’s bike and ride six hours to get to school and six hours to get back. If you’ve ever been to Georgia, you know it’s a warm place. At this time of year, it’s over 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day, which makes a six-hour bike ride all the more daunting. Not to mention he was riding on a small bike meant for his younger brother, not for a 19-year-old young man.

Barley always traveled with two duffel bags and two gallons of water, and he usually ate his meals from a box of cereal. Imagine riding a bike that far and only eating cereal after!

Around this time, police officers discovered Barley sleeping in a tent near the college. Officer Richard Carreker expressed disbelief that this young was riding his brother’s small bike, traveling so far for school, and sleeping outside. Clearly, the officers were moved by Barley’s story, and while they could’ve given him a ticket, instead they chose to help him.

The police officers paid for Barley to stay in a motel for two nights, an act that touched him. “With everything, that’s happening with police officers these days… I’m black and he didn’t care about that at all. He just helped me, and that really meant a lot,” says Barley.

Officer Carreker posted the story on Facebook, and it moved others to take action. Casey Blaney saw the post and immediately set up a GoFundMe account to help with Barley’s food, housing, clothes, and tuition.

The amount of support that came through for Barley through GoFundMe was incredible, and as the story got more viral more things began to fall into place. He was offered a job at a pizza place after the owner heard his story, he’s gotten donations of books and clothes from all over the country, and he’s got his very own dorm room.

It looks like hard work pays off! Share this story if it made you smile, and feel free to donate to Fred Barley’s GoFundMe account here.