What they’re saying about HUD’s Fathers Day 2011: Part 1
Recently, the DadTalk blog recognized how the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is celebrating fatherhood with their Fathers Day 2011 events held at local public housing authorities.
Here are some thoughts, quotes and pictures from people who attended the events.
Dayton, OH
One of the most impactful moments of the Father’s Day Summer Celebration was when a 7th grade boy read the poem “Slow Down Daddy”. The words of the poem impacted the crowd and set the stage for the speakers from area agencies who stressed the importance of the father taking an active role in the lives of his children and non-violent conflict resolution. Our self-sufficiency department also provided agencies that had information for not only the fathers who attended the event but also the mothers and children who were present. This event was a wonderful opportunity for the community to bond in the common goal of promoting fatherhood and a great chance to encourage strong parenting.
- Gregory D. Johnson CEO, Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority
Fort Worth, TX
As I walked around, I noticed something quite encouraging. I saw men of all ages attending to the needs of their children. I saw men feeding babies, carrying diaper bags, pushing strollers, nurturing and playing games with their kids. I also saw men seriously engaged in conversation with the community service providers asking questions and obtaining information. I even recall seeing a few men jump in and help out when needed with some of the heavy equipment. Father’s Day 2011 was a successful event and it accomplished much for the families in our community. I was proud to be a part of it. You can see pictures of the event thanks to Wayne Pollard, Director of the Tarrant County Housing Assistance Office.
- Barbara Holston President and CEO, Fort Worth Housing Authority
What I noted most was the huge amount of time and effort the housing authority gave to make the day special for the families. The staff was very interactive and warm toward the families. There was community support, sponsorship, resource materials and great food and activities. My work does not often offer opportunities to directly interact with the families served by HUD programs. I witnessed families having an awesome time, and observed proud fathers with their children.
- Charles Eldridge, HUD Senior Public Housing Revitalization Specialist
Charles Eldridge and Fort Worth CEO Barbara Holston
In honor of Father’s Day, the White House recognized 15 Champions of Change who are standing in the gap for our kids, and serving their families, their communities and our nation. Along with Michael Strautmanis from the Office of Public Engagement, Joshua DuBois facilitated a discussion with these fathers and leaders as everyone shared our stories about what fatherhood meant to them and how each person had contributed to strengthening fatherhood in their own lives and in their communities.
Below are links to some of the stories the Champions of Change shared in the discussion. Some stories of those of redemption. Others are about the supportive role that mothers, grandparents and mentors play when fathers aren’t around. More than one is about a father who initially didn’t fully understand his responsibilities, but came to recognize the sacredness of being a dad.
Thabiti Boone - Raising Awareness on the Importance of Fatherhood
Steve Crawford - Connecting Fathers with Their Schools
Carlos Duran - Responsible Fatherhood for Future Generations
George Gordon - All Because of My Son
Thomas Green III - Fatherhood and the Road to Recovery
Jonathan Mayo - Empowering Urban Young Adults
Dr. Roderick Mitchell - Engaging Fathers to Stop Domestic Violence
Alfred Plummer - Equipping Men to Become Better Fathers
Mary Polk - The Impact of Invisible Fathers
Eric Schurz - Overcoming Life Struggles with Fatherhood in the Tribal Community
In addition to the stories below, we heard from Matt Baker about how faith communities can strengthen values that have helped him be a father in the midst of a career in business, George P. McAndrews talked about his role as a grandfather not only to his biological children but also to foster children in his children’s homes , and Adam Tenner talked about how important it is for him and his partner to be a strong father for their child.
In the future, we will highlight blog posts from Daniel Jenkins who is a Top Dog Dad with the Watch DOGS program and Christopher Cady, recipient for the 2011 Military Fatherhood Award from the National Fatherhood Initiative.
Bringing your attention to these stories is just one more way their importance of fathers extends beyond Fathers Day in the Year of Strong Fathers, Strong Families.
Ben O'Dell serves as Associate Director at the HHS Partnerships Center promoting the importance of fatherhood.
Earlier this year, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Deputy Secretary Sims initiated something historic: a call to all Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to recognize fathers through events held around Father’s Day. Dubbed “Father’s Day 2011”, HUD modeled this effort on a program that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) launched last summer. That model event had two purposes: to strengthen the bonds between fathers and their children, and to make education, health care, and employment resources available to the fathers leading to economic self-sufficiency.
HUD helped organize over 200 Father’s Day events at Public Housing Authorities around the nation during the weekend of June 18. Some events featured players from the NFL and the NBA celebrated fatherhood. Smaller communities held Bar-B-Qs and poster contests, while more had elaborate programs such as seminars and guest speakers were organized by larger communities.
Federal partners, including the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, United States Department of Agriculture, and the Departments of Education and Justice, were on hand to offer information and services including employment resources and health consultation.
“Children with involved fathers grow up happier, healthier and better prepared to succeed in life,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, himself a father of two. “Yet every night, one-out-of -three American children goes to bed in a home without a father present. These events will bring fathers and their children together and connect the dads to the social and economic resources they need to be the best parents they can be.”
One of the events was held in our Nation’s capital. The District of Columbia kicked off their weekend by hosting a “Call to Fathers Breakfast”, and then held a day-long program including community leaders and guest speakers. NFL football players Ken Harvey, Olandis Gary and two time World Heavyweight champion and former undisputed heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe and daughter joined the celebration.
HUD is looking forward to a year focused on supporting fathers, mothers, and families in public housing. Father’s Day 2011 was just the beginning!
Photo: Ken Harvey, retired Washington Redskins linebacker; Frank Lancaster, DCHA Resident Commissioner; Marvin Turner, Director of the HUD DC Field Office; Adrianne Todman, Executive Director, DC Housing Authority; Deborah A. Hernandez, General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Public and Indian Housing, HUD; Judge Arthur L. Bennett, Sr., National Executive Director , National African American Drug Policy Coalition; Ron Ashford.
Ron Ashford is the Director of Community & Supportive Services in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
This week, HHS announced funding announcements for fatherhood and marriage grants. This funding provides organizations in underserved communities with the tools they need to promote responsible parenting, to encourage healthy marriage and relationships, and to help fathers and their families succeed.
In addition to a piece on Huffington Post on Supporting Fathers and our Families, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recorded a message to talk about how HHS is renewing its commitment to ensuring that all fathers and families have the resources they need to reach their full potential.
Please see information below for grant announcements discussed above.
Title: Pathways to Responsible Fatherhood Grants
Estimate of Awards: $52,500,000 through a estimate of 37 awards ranging from $300,000 to $2,500,000 per award
Purpose: Supports organizations that demonstrate the ability to successfully promote responsible fatherhood, including economic stability, responsible parenting, and healthy marriage and relationship skills.
Applications are due by 07/28/2011
Link to Full Grant Announcement – Website and to download the PDF
Title: Community-Centered Responsible Fatherhood Ex-Prisoner Reentry Pilot Project
Estimate of Awards: $6 million through a estimate of four awards ranging from $1 million to $1.5 million per award
Purpose:Supports re-entry programs that provide Responsible Fatherhood pre- and post-release case management services to recently released or re-entering fathers and mothers.
Applications are due by 07/28/2011
Link to Full Grant Announcement – Website and to download the PDF
Title: Community-Centered Healthy Marriage and Relationship Grants
Estimate of Awards: $57 million through a estimate of 40 awards ranging from $300,000 to $2.5 million per award
Purpose:Supports programs that have the capacity and proven track record of providing a broad range of healthy marriage and relationship skills training.
Applications are due by 07/28/2011
Link to Full Grant Announcement – Website and to download the PDF
Title: National Resource Center for Strategies to Promote Healthy Marriage
Estimate of Awards: $1.5 million through one award
Purpose: Supports the development, implementation and management of a resource center to gather, develop, and disseminate information and research related to promoting healthy marriage.
Applications are due by 07/28/2011
Link to Full Grant Announcement – Website and to download the PDF
Last week, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis announced seven new grant awards totaling $39.7 million, an investment focused on helping non-custodial parents become better fathers by connecting them to job opportunities and teaching them the skills they need to keep these jobs and support their families financially. In my role within the Department of Labor and as a participant in the White House's Interagency Working Group on Fatherhood, I help promote strategies just like this that encourage support for fathers and families. Through research, discussions and planning, the Department determined that a model known as the transitional jobs model is especially useful for non-custodial parents struggling to enter the workforce and earn a living wage paycheck. These transitional jobs programs place dads with open child support orders on a career pathway that will enable them to financially provide for their children. The new Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration will test the effectiveness of the transitional jobs model when mixed with activities such as occupational skills training, counseling and mentoring, and extended internship and work experience opportunities. Grantees are located in Atlanta, Ft. Worth, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New York, San Francisco, and Syracuse. The seven grant awards will fund partnerships between nonprofit organizations, employers, the public workforce investment system and local child support and criminal justice agencies. In addition, the structure of this grant funding will identify strategies that best promote success in the workplace and maintenance of child support payments. Each grantee will serve at least 500 individuals over the course of a four-year period, many of whom who will be non-custodial parents with an active child support order. To provide a robust evaluation for this activity, each grantee is additionally required to track another 500 individuals over the same period. This e set of individuals, known as the control group, will not receive services through the program but their progress will be evaluated against the progress of those individuals in the program receiving services. Having this structure implemented through the grantees with assistance from the research group, MDRC, will test the effectiveness of this model. To mark the announcement of these innovative grants, Joshua DuBois, Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, hosted a conference call on Friday with stakeholders from across the country to discuss the new grants with practitioners and others from the responsible fatherhood field. On the call, Joshua encouraged local faith-based and community groups in the cities that received awards to reach out and develop partnerships with the newly funded consortia. Staff from several of the grantee organizations and their partners also participated on the call, including the Doe Fund in New York City, Goodwill of North Georgia and the Center for Working Families in Atlanta, Workforce Inc. in Indianapolis, and Center for Community Alternative in Syracuse. Stay tuned to the DadTalk blog for stories and updates from each of the seven individual programs. Ben Siegel is the Deputy Director for the Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Labor.
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