Countless young fathers’ lives are positively being impacted and enhanced by the work of an organization entitled “Young Fathers of Central Florida.” Children lives are being saved because a forgotten segment of our community is now being educated to become a functional component of a family.
In Central Florida there is only one multicultural program operating and teaching young married and single fathers to develop the proper skills for successful parenting. The Young Fathers of Central Florida, a certified 501©3 non-profit organization has been in existence for three years with no federal funding. The founder/CEO has operated with small donations and survived primary on his own personal finances. Haki Nkrumah has made a commitment, and he is the author of two best sellers entitled, “Young Fathers: The Forgotten” and “Teen Fathers: The Struggles and Joys of Fatherhood.”
Haki Nkrumah started his work with young fathers in undergraduate school, when he saw the different struggles that young men in his community were having with fatherhood, and they could find no answers. Once the young men got these young women pregnant, no one could explain what their rights were as the custodial parent or the non-custodial parent. His friends were angry because they could not see their children and the court ordered them to pay money to support their children.
Haki Nkrumah started to learn about the “child support enforcement program,” and provide men in the community with answers to many of their problems. After graduating from college and spending time in the service, he was recruited for a job as a director of a father’s program in New York. This program received its funding from the city and state, and worked directly with court ordered offenders whose option it was to become a member of the program or go to jail.
“I worked in this challenging program for five years and some cared about raising their children and others were in the program because it kept them out of jail and they had emotional problems.” Haki has always worked hard and he also is a licensed mediator, and this came in handy in his job, when he had to arbitrate difficult situations in his program in New York.
His mission has always been working with fathers and in 2006; he started “Young Fathers of Central Florida.” In Florida Haki is also still working in the court system as a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator.
There are five goals for Young Fathers of Central Florida: 1) to improve the parenting skills of young fathers, 2) to improve the physical, emotional and spiritual well being of young fathers, 3) to prevent adolescent males from becoming parents until they’re ready, 4) to increase educational and vocational opportunities available for young fathers in need, 5) to increase community awareness on the importance of fatherhood and the social problems of fatherless families.
The Young Fathers of Central Florida is a free program and any young father under the age of 21 is eligible, as long as they meet three requirements. The three requirements to be a member of the program are that they have a child support court order, a visitation court order, and a checking account. Many of the young men when they start the program do not meet all the requirements, but they must be willing to comply with the requirements to be accepted in the program.
The majority of young men don’t understand the court child support enforcement system, lack knowledge of their rights, and lack basic information on parenting. Many of the young men are not married to their partners, and when there are problems with visitation, the young men give up. They do not understand through court intervention, many of these problems can be resolved.
There is a critical need in Central Florida for Young Fathers of Central Florida. The director of the program Haki Nkrumah states, “I get calls from Jacksonville and all over Florida from parents and especially from mothers, grandmothers, and other family members, who have no one to turn too. Some of the young men are Asian, White, Hispanic, African American, and some live in exclusive neighborhoods and some live in poor communities.”
At this point in the program, the organization is being inundated with calls, but there are only part-time volunteers, and the founder does the majority of the work. There are no paid positions and the organization has had to limit their case load work and operate in the information mode. The organization has bi-weekly workshops and individual one on one consulting sessions.
However, with funding the organization could begin to meet more of the needs of the community, with professionally trained counselors, who have goal orientated case management experience. Haki has a vision to one day operate a facility, where young fathers can meet and feel comfortable and not be judged. If the parent cannot read or lacks other basic skills, he will not be embarrassed to get help.
There are people and businesses in the community, which are helping to keep the mission alive. There is Eugene Campbell at Disney sponsoring this year’s father dinner, and Reuben Grant of Grant’s Transportation donating time and money. There is Betsey Vanderley, whose son was a teen dad and could not find an organization for help, and now understands the importance of the program. There is a critical need for more volunteers.
Haki believes that his program is saving children lives and empowering men to become productive American citizens. His mission is all about love and teaching young men to be responsible and caring fathers. For additional information and donations, call 407-423-9400 or go on the website at www.youngfathersofcentralflorida.com.
