Detroit organization training men how to be better fathers
(CBS DETROIT) - A mentor program in Detroit that focuses on improving fathers' relationships with their children and promoting father involvement in their children's lives is working to make a difference in how men interact with their children.
The program is called Family Assistance for Renaissance Men or F.A.R.M.
Founder and C.E.O. Willie Bell said he started the program because of how he felt growing up without a father, and he wanted to make sure other children don't have to go through that same pain.
"My father never visited me, not one day in my life. Not having a father in my life, I never learned what that relationship was like," said Bell. "I still from time to time look back and like, what would it have been like just to have a father as a child to take me somewhere to a ball game?"
Anthony Thomas said he has been in the program for two years, even though his children are now adults. He said if he would have had the knowledge of being a father that he has now, it would have made a difference in his children's lives.
"I would have spent more time with my kids. I would have been a better father to our kids than I was then, even though I wasn't a bad father," said Thomas. "It would have made a lot a bigger difference, a tremendous difference. So now I can bring this. I can use this process with my grandkids."
Bell said the eight-week program focuses on father and child relationship building, job skills, legal assistance, child support help, mentoring and more. It is a holistic approach to giving men the resources they need to be in the children's lives.
"If no one ever teaches a man how to be a father, I mean, anybody can be a male and go have a baby. But if no one ever taught that man how to be a father, to be responsible for his family, to be the best man he can possibly be, how to respect women. Just all the things that he needs to know to be a leader and not just be someone that's wild out in the streets. That's why this program exists," said Bell.
"The number one thing I learned is that your baby mother is your ally in your children's lives," said Joseph Hensley, who is currently in the program.
"Being a dad is one of the best joys in life fight," added Marvin Falls, who is also currently in the program. "Do everything you can to be the best dad you can."
