February 25th, 2013 by jgordonyfs
A fan of Fatherhood First shared this wonderful link of a father and son interacting while wife/mom was away at work. There is a multitude of child deveopment and bonding in this 5 minute clip!
Have fun playing with your kids! Fatherhood First
January 27th, 2012 by 112751sd
I miss my dad.
My dad was sick for a very long time, as long as I can remember. He died 19 years ago and still there isn’t a day that goes by that don’t think about him.
He wasn’t what I would call an involved dad. He was present but due to his illness, he was unable to do the kind of dad things that I needed at the time. Things like playing catch, sledding, chasing me down the hall, wrestling on the bed. I just wanted to play with him. We never had a chance to do any of that. I don’t fault him for that, but looking back…I missed out.
Fast forward 13 years and I am holding my first son for the first time. I made a promise to him and I plan on keeping it. I promised him that I would be there for him no matter what. I promised to watch out for him. But most importantly I promised him that I would play.
The Fatherhood First Project, for the last 3 years, has been tasked to help get dads more involved in Head Start and Early Head Start Programing. We have done this by working one on one with dads, providing special events for dads and their kids, and training staff on the important role that dads play in the development of their children.
July 25th, 2011 by court cormwell
My first suggestion would be to find out what interest dads in your area. If for example it’s football, in which case most males like you can create a night to let’s say making your favorite team name out of clay dough or your favorite football player. Become creative with a theme for it to attract father’s and chidlren interest. Food is also a big hit to draw dads. The over all goal of creating male involvement is to get that dad interacted with their child(ren).
-Devin
Fatherhood First
July 19th, 2011 by court cormwell
Fatherhood First will be hosting a webinar on August 23, 2011@ 9.30am to all head start agencies, individuals, and other profit-nonprofit agencies to discuss issues on how to raise awareness for resources available to dads. To many times we only see fathers call agencies when an event has occur and they need help. This webinar is design to educate to that dad that ”hey”
you need to be held accountable and become educated on different events that way when something happens you know what to do right away.
June 30th, 2011 by court cormwell
Fatherfest was a sucess. This year we decided to move Fatherfest to a new location, off site! The goal is for it to be an annual community event. This year was one step closer to that goal as we opened it up to the community and they responded well. We had at least 200 people come through and take part.
Fatherfest offered live music, free food,, games, entertainment, and activities ran by community organizations. Some of the organizations that were a part of this event were the Rapid City Public Library and Girlsmart. They read books to the children and handed out free books donated by Fatherhood First. The Rapid City Regional Hospital was handing out bike helmets. We had Habitat for Humanity helping fathers and children build bird houses. We had bike rides, squirt gun wars, and so much more We are thankful for all those who participated making the activities a sucess.
Some people stayed the entire event just to listen to all the artists in concert. We had quite a variation of musical genres from acoustic rock, blues, to rap.
Fatherfest wouldn’t have been possible without all the great volunteers. Working long, hard, and diligient they made sure the fathers and children had the best time. Volunteers worked assisted with making popcorn, drawing in big crowds with their talent, and working the game stations.
Out of all the sucessful aspects of the event, nothing compares to the lives that were impacted by Fatherfest. It was great to see fathers from our agency with their children, laughing and playing. Seeing their appreciation and satisfaction showed the true sucess of this event. Memories were made and lives were touched.
June 3rd, 2011 by 112751sd
Burke Eilers from Fatherhood First will be a panelist at the 13th Annual Fatherhood Conference in Washington DC next week! His panel in on Friday June 10th from 2:00 – 3:45 pm and the topic is Responsible Fatherhood, Head Start and Child Support. Be sure to check it out if you are attending the conference.
March 16th, 2011 by court cormwell
One of the grant videos that Fatherhood has been working on for sometime is near completion. Only minor tweaks are left and it will soon be available online for streaming and a physical copy possibly available upon request. In this video Corey Kennedy one of our Fatherhood Specialists describes the process of starting and maintaining a class for fathers, and then following up with them after jail. A preview will be posted soon on the media page for this video!
March 4th, 2011 by 112751sd
Some information about a cool program dealing father engagement and child safety.
February 23rd, 2011 by court cormwell
Fathers & Families Coalition of America Live Stream Channel Conference Participation Opportunity!
Date: Tuesday, March 1 through Friday, March 4, 2011
All Broadcast Times are Pacific Standard with Replay Options
Participation information: Email Trent Love at trentlove@mac.com and FFCA at info@azffc.org to register ( pass-code needed)
Special Presentations From:
Mr. David Hansell, Assistant Secretary of Administration for Children and Families
Ms. Helen Mitchell, Office of U.S. Congressman Danny Davis
Ms. Vicki Turetsky, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement
Plenary Panels, Award Ceremony, Interfaith Session and Ten (10) workshops included with Live Stream Registrations
Learn from community leaders and experts how promote strong family relationships, focusing specifically on fatherhood and child support programs. Fathers & Families Coalition of America hope you can join as this is a vital conference to advance strong families and communities. This is an excellent opportunity to participate at our 12th Annual National Fatherhood & Families Conference in one week.
