Thriving Fathers & Families is about supporting dads as they strive to become better assets to their children, to their families and their communities…by becoming better men. ~ Ed Davies, Director of Community Initiatives, Children’s Home & Aid
Program Overview
The federally-funded Fatherhood Family-focused, Interconnected, Resilient, and Essential (Fatherhood FIRE) initiative awarded a five-year grant to Children’s Home & Aid to continue the fatherhood programming we developed in the Chicago metro area and expand it to the nine-county area around Champaign and Bloomington and the three-county area around Rockford.
This collective work will take shape under our new Thriving Fathers & Families (TFF) program and will strive to strengthen and support fathers’ relationship with their children, families, and communities.
The program launched on May 1, 2021 and provides increased opportunities for fathers throughout the state to connect, learn and grow alongside each other.
Free Activities & Information
Comprised of a six-month virtual curriculum, dads enrolled in TFF will have access to
a variety of free activities and information, including:
- Job preparation and placement
- Child support and custody
- Referrals to legal assistance
- Family building activities
- Referrals and educational supports
- Personal growth
- Parenting and co-parenting classes
- Economic incentives for participation
It’s just momentous change because of this program. Because of my brothers. They sit and they talk to me. They don’t talk at me. Nobody in here put nobody down. And this is one of the greatest things that a father needs. ~ Program Participant
Check out this blog to read about our work over the past five years with low-income men of color in Chicago’s Greater Englewood and North Lawndale communities, which is now informing how we engage with fathers in the metro, central and northern regions of the state through the new Thriving Fathers & Families program.
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“I would say for me it (relationship with my co-parent) did improve, it improved because I improved.” ~ Program Participant
*These services through the Thriving Fathers & Families program are available to all eligible persons, regardless of race, gender, disability or religion.
**The production of this story was supported by Grant 90ZJ0053-01-00 from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. Its content is solely the responsibility of Children’s Home & Aid and does not necessarily represent the official views of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families.
