The Fatherhood & Families Initiative
The Fatherhood and Families Initiative
Connecting Communities in Action Helping to Better Family Relationships
Photo / Connecting Communities in Action
We’ve all heard of Connecting Communities in Action in Salamanca, NY, but do we know exactly what they are or what they do? Here’s a little history… Connecting Communities in Action, Inc. (CCA) is a non-profit organization whose goals are to build resilient communities through emotional, physical and economic security. The Salamanca location is one of hundreds of Community Action Agencies throughout the U.S.
They try to help those in need meet their most basic needs and they work with many public and private partners to help those marginalized individuals have hope and opportunities. They serve the elderly, the disabled, the disadvantaged, families and solo individuals alike.
When most of us think of families or custodial issues, innately we think of the mother and the children. But what about the single fathers or the fathers who have issues relating to their family life? The CCA has partnered up with the National Fatherhood Initiative for their “Responsible Fatherhood Initiative”. The National Fatherhood Initiative is the nation’s leading provider of research on father presence and involvement.
This initiative is designed to help fathers and those in a father-like role improve their economic stability, develop and maintain healthy relationships, and develop/improve responsible parenting skills. The focus of the group is to promote fatherhood and the importance of being a positive role model for children. The group is open to any male who plays a role in a child’s life - father, step-father, grandfather, uncle, friend.
EllicottvilleNOW asked Bridget Sanford, Director of Planning & Resources at the CCA, how they came up with the initiative and she said, “Fourteen years ago, CCA partnered with DSS in implementing The Fatherhood Connection (founded by Reggie Cox). It was an initiative to locate and engage fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and other male mentors with the vision of combating fatherless America and the multifaceted areas impacted by this systemic issue. Over time, CCA has had the opportunity to partner with COI (Chautauqua County) with another Fatherhood program called 24/7 DADS. So now both “programs” work in tandem under the umbrella of The Fatherhood Initiative – where we encourage men to think steps, NOT PROGRAMS. The initiative is about inviting men into a movement rather than just a class. The idea is that combining information plus application will yield transformation – which in turn will strengthen the relationship fathers have with their children and overall strengthen the family unit and thus strengthening the surrounding communities.”
We thought that sounded like a very important plan. Bridget agreed, “It is important. It empowers fathers to learn to become better men for their children and those around them. The movement is intended to capture the heart of a man/father in order to strengthen the inner character for the betterment of the children, family, workplace and community the men reside in and work in. When fatherlessness is addressed as a byproduct, crime and teen pregnancies go down while educational prowess, school attendance, and child support increases.”
“The movement and Fatherhood Initiative treats dads as people to be encouraged rather than “projects to be fixed!”, Bridget continued. “The common dad has many areas of his life where people tell him where he gets it wrong and then often negative feedback on what he must do in order to succeed. The problem with that approach is that it is short-sighted and doesn’t produce long-term results. The understanding of boyhood, manhood, and fatherhood as well as the brotherhood that is formed in this setting, gives dads the encouragement for when they get it right. The values we work hard to instill are Affirmation, Approval and Celebration.”
We also asked Bridget how she thinks the initiative will impact families. Bridget stated, “While there is no silver bullet for success, what the program has shown is men rising to the challenge of doing more than paying their child support and ‘buying milk and diapers’ every now and then. The topics that are covered (Emotional Intelligence, Anger Management, Anger Eradication, Healthy Communication, Healthy Relationships, Personality Profiles, Love Languages, Smart Money and more workshops) guide and help men discuss, apply and report back the next week (accountability) for the personal and family growth that takes place. Fathers initially take the 12 or 13-week journey, but then are invited to continue to attend as much as possible to keep the support and accountability going. In attending longer than the 12 week classes, there seem to be more long-term results.”
The Responsible Fatherhood Initiative is just only one of many that the CCA is working on. “We also have victim/survivor services, weatherization, shelters, food security, Safe Harbor training for adults and students in learning more about the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. We also lead and collaborate with many other Cattaraugus County agencies and service providers in the Trauma Informed Care Initiative (NEAR Science training, Resilience Film, and Trauma Informed Coalition).”
Thank you, Bridget, for taking the time to share some great details about the Responsible Fatherhood initiative and some of your other programs. You can learn all about what Connecting Communities in Action does to support the people of our communities by visiting coaction.org.
