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 Resources
for Fathers
We can provide dynamic speakers for your
fatherhood groups.
Part time Fatherhood
and Urban Programs Coordinator is Mr. LeMar Bowers. Call to
schedule as a speaker for your group.
Core Program:
...for expectant first time dads at
most
Richmond area Hospitals thanks to generous grant from:
The Community Foundation - Richmond,
Robins Foundation, Anthem, Dominion,
Henrico Doctors' Hospital, Chippenham-Johnstorn Willis Medical Center
, VCU Medical Center, VCU Women's Health at Stony Point, and
Bon Secours Healthy Beginnings at Richmond Community Hospital.
(link
here)
More sites to come.
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Great Articles about Fathers strengthening our community by our
Founder: Bob Ruthazer, CFLE
In the Urban Views: Strengthening Families for a
Better City:
http://urbanviewsweekly.com/?p=3675
Richmond Times Dispatch Op-ed Celebrating Fatherhood Thursday
June 16, 2010 Link
for pdf or
RTD link
In My Shoes article about fatherhood by Jeremy Slaton RTD June 20,
2010 mentioning FTF's work in the city:
Link
****NEW***
Cost and Solutions to Fatherlessness in Richmond Report
from Richmond Health. Conservative estimate is $205 million
annually
Link
June 19: Celebrate FatherhoodSM
:
"Everyday Heroes"
FREE for all families June 19, 2010 at Henrico
Doctors' Hospital (Skipwith Rd at Forest Ave)
11am-12:30 pm and Everyday Heroes fashion event 2-2:30 pm at Macys Regency Square.
WRVA’s Jimmy Barrett will be
serving as emcee with Delegate Bill Janis and VA Commissioner of
Social Services Martin Brown. We also have proclamations from: Governor Bob McDonnell
and Mayor Dwight Jones as we salute new dads in our community and a
letter from Senator Mark Warner.
Special guest:: VA Delegate Bill Janis:
"Success Has A Thousand Fathers, I
Have at least Three." and Commissioner Martin Brown.
Activities for small children, infants and toddlers:
Diaper Derby with prizes, Play Corner, friendly Clown and snacks for
all.
Everyone can win: Door and Raffle prizes
include:
-
"Lifetime Crib" from USA Baby,
-
Romance overnight & meal at Wyndham VA Crossings,
-
Overnight at Westin,
-
WeebsWorld child seat,
-
Cafe Catura gift bag with wine, coffee and
$50 gift certificate
-
Gift cards from Brio, Patina Grill;
Legends, Ronnies BBQ, Bow Tie Cinema, Chick-fil-A, Jason's Deli and much
more with additional prizes added daily
-
Media Partners
include Richmond Times Dispatch, Virginia This Morning, WRVA's
morning show, and Urban
Views Weekly. Additional; Details to
follow.
Everyday Heroes event highlighting FTF - Boot Camp for New Dads
Volunteers at Macys Regency Square Sat. June 19 at 2pm
(link)
Sponsor opportunities
link
Your tax deductible contribution will be recognized on electronic
invitations, on our web site and at the event where dads will share
their stories of new parenthood.
Directions: Henrico Doctors' Hospital (Williamsburg
Conference Room inside main entrance). Forest Campus.
1602 Skipwith Road at Forest (South off I - 64 Glenside
Exit turn right on Forest at first light )
New Fathers honored by
the Moms and Babies
Diaper Derby makes exciting entertainment
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**Father's Day Centennial: June 20,
2010**
The idea of Father's Day was
conceived slightly more than a century
ago by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash.,
while she listened to a Mother's Day
sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special
day to honor her father, William Smart,
a widowed Civil War veteran who was left
to raise his six children on a farm. A
day in June was chosen for the first
Father's Day celebration — 100 years
ago, June 19, 1910, proclaimed by
Spokane's mayor because it was the month
of Smart's birth. The first presidential
proclamation honoring fathers was issued
in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson
designated the third Sunday in June as
Father's Day. Father's Day has been
celebrated annually since 1972 when
President Richard Nixon signed the
public law that made it permanent.
Fathers Day Resources From:
National Fatherhood Initiative:
Year 5 Fatherhood Capacity
Building Grant Opportunity.
appears on the NFI website--www.fatherhood.org--
as well as the new
Capacity Building Website
that has launched at
http://capacitybuilding.fatherhood.org
** Fatherhood
Resource Center "Loaner" program. You can host our
attractive Kiosk stocked with National Fatherhood Initiative
resources at your site. Call 288-3431.
2009 First Things first wins
$25,000 capacity-building
award from National Fatherhood Initiative(Richmond, Virginia) –
Link for Press Release
Your non profit could get this $25,000
capacity-building grant that is available through the National
Responsible Fatherhood Capacity-Building Initiative (which NFI
operates on behalf of the U.S. Dept of Human Services). Each
year we work intensively with 25 small community and faith-based
organizations to build their organizational capacity to better
serve fathers and families. visit
www.fatherhood.org/grant. The deadline to apply is
November 6th, 2009.
** See Richmond research data and TV interviews and special
Discounts below
First Things First of Greater Richmond programs:
- "BOOT CAMP
FOR NEW DADS™",
a highly acclaimed program for new and expecting dads. Unique in
that "Rookies" (expectant dads) learn from "Veterans" (Dads who
bring their infant child to class) and a "Coach" (trained
facilitator and experienced Dad)
Link here for information.
-
24/7 Dad™
is a unique, comprehensive set of fatherhood programs developed
by a team of nationally and internationally recognized fathering
and parenting experts and with input from fatherhood
practitioners. The full basic program includes 12 units though
we often combine and abbreviate into 4-5 sessions. At the end of
each program, fathers and mothers come together to discuss the
developments the father has gone through and how it has affected
their relationship and family life. Each program includes pre
and post-assessment evaluation tools. Organizations can use the
assessment tools to help a father determine in which program his
needs can be best met or can use a simplified post training
survey customized for their setting. Considered an
evidence based "best practice'
- Understanding Domestic Violence Curriculum Module
from NFI. This curriculum is to help understand and
prevent Domestic Violence.
- Incarcerated and jail: InsideOut Dad ™ includes 12
core sessions, 26 optional sessions, and an optional “Reentry:
Life on the Outside” module. We also have Long Distance
Dads curriculum so programs can be customized for the audience
and setting. Considered an evidence based "best practice'
- Man Up! The New Cool. First Things First has
helped initiate a City Fatherhood and male Responsibility
Initiative in partnership with the Richmond City health district
director and a core leadership team involving a number of
agencies. Fatherhood forum and area collaborative training
efforts underway.
- Celebrate Fatherhood a new annual event including a
reunion of Boot Camp For New Dads and multiple media events
promoting involved fatherhood.
Upcoming events and training
link here
2 Million more
children are now living in homes with their biological father:
According to the 2008 Current Population Survey from the
U.S. Census Bureau, 49.9 million children live in the same homes as
their biological fathers, representing 67.4 percent of all children.
In 2004, the number and percentage were 48 million and 65.5 percent
respectively. That’s about 2 million more because of the work you
are doing to better the lives of children in your communities. To
learn more, please click on this link -
http://www.fatherhood.org/2millionmore/.
For mom: Get
FREE messages each week on your cell phone to help you
through your pregnancy and your baby's first year.
http://www.text4baby.org/
Text4baby is an educational
program of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition.
Fathers Day celebrates 100th birthday;
read
history here.
***NEW*** Fatherhood Facts and Richmond data
(download pdf file)
Courageous, a movie about fatherhood
calling men to be men in their homes and to be able to provide for
and "bless" their children. Coming soon from Sherwood,
creators of Fireproof. This is going to be a great resource.
Link here
http://www.courageousthemovie.com/
Virginia This Morning Boot Camp for
New Dads Interview with Head Coach LeMar Bowers link
to CBS 6 clip
June 15,
2009 TV interview of David Saunders, Boot Camp for New
Dads Coach
Link here
Coming soon Courageous the
Movie on FATHERHOOD from Sherwood pictures, the makers
of Fireproof.
http://www.facebook.com/courageousthemovie
***NEW***
Download Black Marriage Facts and Richmond data pdf file:
link here
Additional research
link here:
Other Resources
We
also partner with Midnight Basketball League and with Henrico County
Fatherhood programs.http://www.fatherhood.gov 
The
One Hundred Billion Dollar Man
Folks who grew up in the '70s probably remember the television show
"The Six Million Dollar Man" starring Lee Majors. Now we
have the One Hundred Billion Dollar Man, but this man doesn't have a
specific name or face to put next to this description because he
represents every absent father in America.
Consider these
statistics:
- The
number of children living in single-mother families went from
eight percent to 23.3 percent between 1960 and 2006.
- In
2003, 39.3 percent of single-mother families lived in poverty,
but only 8.8 percent of father-present families lived in
poverty.
- In
2006 the Federal Government spent at least 99.8 billion dollars
providing assistance to father-absent families.
For
more information about the study visit www.fatherhood.org
(from
FTF)
Letters
from Dad
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It has been six years since Greg Vaughn
lost his father to Alzheimer’s.
“I remember it like it was
yesterday,” said Mr. Vaughn. “I know my dad loved me
because he made sure our family was taken care of, but he
never could say ‘I love you,’ or ‘Son, I am proud of
you.’ That void left a hole in my soul.”
As Mr. Vaughn was going through his
father’s things he kept looking for something left from his
dad to him. The only thing he found was a rusty old
fishing tackle box.
“I was mad at my dad for dying,”
said Mr. Vaughn. “I was mad at myself for not trying
harder to connect with him. I started to throw that old
fishing box in the trash and then I decided to see what was
inside. There, I found the remains of my father –
fishing lures. As I felt myself getting angrier, a
question popped into my head, ‘Hey big shot, you are out
here mad at the world, if you were to die here in the garage,
what would your wife and children hold in their hands tomorrow
that would let them know they were the treasures of your
life?’”
For
remainder of article link here Why not write a
letter to your children for this father's day to let them know
how special they are to you?
Contributed by First Things
First, Chattanooga, TN www.firstthings.org
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Here
are some sobering statistics: According to the Center for Disease
Control, Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human
Services and the Bureau of the Census, the 30 percent of children
who live apart from their fathers will account for 63 percent of
teen suicides, 70 percent of juveniles in state-operated
institutions, 71 percent of high-school dropouts, 75 percent of
children in chemical-abuse centers, 80 percent of rapists, 85
percent of youths in prison, 85 percent of children who exhibit
behavioral disorders, and 90 percent of homeless and runaway
children. In fact, children born to unwed mothers are ten times more
likely to live in poverty as children with fathers in the home.
The
causal link between fatherless children and crime is “so strong
that controlling for family configuration erases the relationship
between race and crime and between low income and crime,” notes
social researcher Barbara Dafoe Whitehead. More to the point is the
following comment from a counselor at a juvenile-detention facility
in
California
, which has the nation’s highest juvenile-incarceration rate:
“[If] you find a gang member who comes from a complete nuclear
family, I’d like to meet him... I don’t think that kid
exists.”
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Churchgoing Urban Men Tend to be Better Fathers and Spouses, Finds
New U.Va. Study:
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Fatherhood Resource Center Kiosk
Richmond area
partners: may
request to host the mobile FRC Kiosk for a
week or two. Call 288-3431
DADDY PACK™ FOR NEW DADS These
come in an attractive small packet.
Kids need their dads right from the start! That's why we created the
Daddy Pack™ for new dads; we know just how important it is for
dads to be involved in their child's life. We believe that the
resources provided in the Daddy Pack will help each dad prepare for
the greatest job he'll ever have - being a great DAD.
Each Daddy Pack™ includes these great resources for new dads:
"So You're a New Father or About to Become One,"
"Keeping Your Child Safe from Newborn to Toddler," and
"10 Ways to Be a Better Dad" brochures, as well as an
interactive CD-ROM with fathering information.
Find out more at: http://www.fatherhood.org/iwwida.pvx?;products_no_tree?cat=CD%20ROMS?comp=NFI
To be a host site for the FRC
Kiosk for an event please send request to:
info@
FirstThingsRichmoond.org with
no spaces or call Bob Ruthazer@ 288-3431.
We partner with Read Aloud Virginia and give a FREE My
Little Word book to all participants
link here
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