Helping Fathers in the Heartland is a video and discussion-based program that helps organizations and communities (including churches) address the needs of fathers. It is intended for use in small groups of potential stakeholders who are interested in encouraging father engagement.
Helping Fathers in the Heartland is designed to help mental health professionals, community organizers, members of the faith community, and other interested professionals to gain the knowledge and information needed to improve their work with fathers in their setting (community, counseling center, church, school, recovery center, etc.). Its focus is on training participants to initiate a community-based effort to accomplish the following:
- Consider, assess, and evaluate community and organization perspective on fathers.
- Understand the relevance of father engagement to one’s setting (e.g. counseling center, community organization, business setting, faith community) and its implications to organizational identity.
- Identify the steps to beginning a broad-based, father-focused initiative.
- Explore, analyze, and explain some of the best places to begin a father-focused initiative
- Understand and identify ways to fund efforts focused on advocacy for father engagement.
In Each Module
Module 1: Assess Fatherhood in Your Community
Module 1 includes a 10-minute video that poses one chief question: Where do dads go for help in YOUR community? We all know there are plenty of organizations nationwide and globally that aid mothers and children, but a vast majority of dads will be hard-pressed to find constructive programs that aim to help fathers. The first vital step to establishing a Good Dads program in your community is to assess existing resources.
Module 1 covers “the father effect,” which is the benefit of positive paternal presence. It’s no secret there are endless benefits to prioritizing and cultivating engaged, loving fathers. However, there are plenty of barriers that hinder positive fatherhood development. Module 1 addresses those barriers and offer practical methods for positive fatherhood involvement.
Module 2: Who We Are, What We Believe and What We Do
Module 2 poses the big question: What are your organization’s core beliefs? The 11-minute video included in this module covers how your organization’s existing identity and outreach can influence how you run a Good Dads program in your area. ?
Considering the commonly held tenets surrounding fatherhood in the community at large will impact the niche a Good Dads program fills in a given landscape. We use the Good Dads Headquarters in Springfield, Missouri, as an example in the Module 2 video. By reflecting on our core beliefs, we were able to isolate areas where our services were needed the most while setting attainable goals.
Module 3: Getting A Good Dads Group Started
Module 3 is all about branding and identity. The 10-minute video that comes with Module 3 asks, How will my organization’s identity influence the people we will impact? The old adage “know your brand” plays a key role in understanding which kinds of people will benefit from a Good Dads program in your area.
No one organization can reach all dads at once. Module 3 poses several effective methods for narrowing the scope of your operation to achieve the biggest and most productive impact. Finding strong leaders to champion the brand and highlighting model behaviors are two important methods Good Dads explores in Module 3.
Module 4: Good Dads Strong Schools
Module 4 takes a deep dive into the benefits of creating opportunities for fathers to engage with their children’s educations. In the 17-minute video in Module 4, Good Dads discusses the one important resource that can reach many dads and impact many young lives for the better: schools.
School-based programs have many advantages – they clearly connect father engagement to improve school outcomes, for one. Schools become valuable resources in the effort to foster good fatherhood practices because they allow fathers the time and space to connect with children in a learning environment with their children’s teachers. Module 4 offers resourceful methods for approaching, establishing and nurturing these mutually beneficial programs.
Module 5: Funding Your Good Dads Vision
Module 5 examines the practicality of funding and fundraising. This module sets its participants up for success by helping groups get organized. Groups will determine what fundraising approaches are right for them, identify the places where the initiative are most likely to succeed and establish the best ways to secure a reliable funding stream.
