Written by Tanya Terry
In the Flint area, where 73% of single-mother families live in poverty and 85% of incarcerated youth come from fatherless homes, InvolvedDad aims to enrich social and community context and provide economic support by empowering fathers, according to Shon Hart. Hart is the executive director of the InvolvedDad organization.
On Saturday, November 18, the InvolvedDad organization created a public space for the community to see what they do privately. It was the organization’s first “fatherhood forum.” Twenty leaders from the area who are authorities in their fields were invited to pour into those in attendance.
InvolvedDad currently serves the Genesee County area. In addition, Hart has been training across the county with other organizations.
Hart pointed out children are more likely to experience trauma and adverse experiences when they grow up in a home without a father compared to those who grow up in a two-parent household.
“When we look at suicide among youth, when we look at crime among youth, when we look at poverty, when we look at their global self-worth, when we look at incarceration, when we look at pregnancy, it impacts the lives of children when fathers are not involved,” said Hart.
The mission of Impact, one program offered through InvolvedDad, is to provide a space that allows parents living in high-conflict or high-risk situations to gain access to visits with their children. These visits occur in a physically and emotionally safe environment.
Hart said by helping turn the hearts of the fathers back to their children, InvolvedDad helps impact the lives of the children, families and communities as a whole. Hart pointed out since many of the dads who take part in his organization’s programs have multiple children with multiple partners, helping one dad can impact 7-10 people.
Hart said a lot of communities do not have a lot of philanthropists whose priority is the whole family. He said InvolvedDad feels blessed to be in a community in which organizations such as Ruth Mott, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint , C.S. Mott and ReCAST Flint are prioritizing whole families.
Hart stated that through InvolvedDad programs, fathers have secured employment and been able to put money back into the homes of their children. Some of these fathers previously were not paying child support because they had warrants for their arrest or had criminal records that prevented them from being gainfully employed. But, through InvolvedDad programs, some of these dads were able to remove things from their records so they could become gainfully employed.
“When a man is unable to provide and do the things he would like for his family, it messes with his psyche, which can cause him to want to use drugs or become more involved in other unhealthy behavior.”
Matters such as home ownership, investing and being fiscally responsible are addressed in The Kings Table. Then, the emotional aspects that affect fatherhood are also explored. For example, it is looked into whether a man has experienced fatherlessness himself.
“The biggest thing is teaching men how to communicate, express themselves in a healthy way and things of that nature.”
1st Time Fathers is a comprehensive and unprecedented online video course that features topics such as fathers supporting the mothers of their children. In all, there are over 80 lessons within the course and live, virtual meetings in which questions the fathers about the course material can be answered without them having to reveal their identity.
Most mentors for InvolvedDad programs have gone through the programs themselves, according to Hart. If they are not graduates of InvolvedDad programs, they go through Hart’s training for about eight weeks.
In 2024, InvolvedDad will host an event called Daddy Do My Hair. For it, the organization will partner with local barbers and beauticians to help fathers learn quick and easy ways to do their children’s hair. Skincare and healthcare will also be taught.
Raising Kings will also take place in 2024 and centers around helping single mothers in homes where the father has not returned to the home.
In June, InvolvedDad will host their Father-cue, which will be similar to a barbecue.
Another fatherhood forum will also take place in 2024.
“Lastly we’re going to do our big conference in September. We’re going to invite people from across the country. We’re going to have some amazing speakers and opportunities for people to grow and learn.”
For the dates of these events or to support the work of InvolvedDad financially or otherwise, visit involveddad.org, the InvolvedDad Facebook page or Shon Hart’s personal Facebook page.
