QC Responsible Fatherhood Initiative seeks to grow, create strong families
By OLIVIA ALLEN – Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa (TNS)
From finances to diapers, one budding Quad-Cities nonprofit is helping local fathers learn the skills they need to succeed as responsible parents.
The Quad Cities Responsible Fatherhood Initiative is a new program aimed at building a supportive community of involved, responsible and committed fathers by providing monthly workshops, family engagement opportunities and other resources.
“Studies show that if there’s a responsible father in the home, children are 85% more likely to succeed,” said Michael Cribbs, executive director of Quad Cities Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. “I just think this will be really good for the (overall) community.”
Housed in TMBC at the Lincoln Center in Davenport, he said the organization officially “got off the ground” this fall and was initially founded by his longtime pastor, Rev. Rogers Kirk Jr. of Third Missionary Baptist Church. Formerly serving as outreach director for the YMCA of the Iowa Mississippi Valley – coupled with his own experience as a father and youth minister – he felt called to lead QCRFI.
“I had the privilege of growing up with strong men in my life, like my pastor,” Cribbs said. “So, this initiative is like, my niche. I love it.”
So far, QCRFI has served as a support system for five local fathers by offering resources, supplies and mentorship. Cribbs said most of these connections came organically, nodding to Third Missionary churchgoers.
The first QCRFI skills workshop is tentatively set for Saturday, Feb. 15. These monthly workshops will cover a range of topics, such as personal finance, marriage preparation, child support, career readiness and more – but first, Cribbs and other QCRFI leaders need to gauge participants’ needs.
“There are so many fathers who just need certain tools or resources, and they sometimes just don’t know how to (access) those,” he said. “It could be an ID, birth certificate – small barriers we want to help them get over, (to) be a more responsible father.”
While he suspects there will be barriers along the way, Cribbs said QCRFI is going well so far.
“Fathers have to open up, and sometimes we don’t say what we need,” he said. “So we want to create that ‘safe space’ and give them the proper resources (they need) to flourish.”
One local father, 16-year-old Gerimiah Westerfield, said he’s already become more confident in navigating fatherhood thanks to QCRFI — especially while balancing his junior year of high school.
“If you have a kid, it’s your responsibility to take care of them,” he said. “I’m young, but I still can do it; I just need a little extra help, and that’s what (QCRFI) is here for.”
After serving a jail sentence, Westerfield got connected to QCRFI through Frank Klipsch, a mentoring and engagement specialist for Davenport schools. Westerfield said he wanted to get involved to ensure his daughter, Na’riyah – who will be 2 in February – has a different fatherhood experience than he had growing up.
“When I was little, my dad was always in jail … He’s still in jail right now, I’ve only seen him about 10 times my whole life,” Westerfield said. “So when I went, I was like, ‘I can’t be like my dad.'”
So for the last eight months, he’s used QCRFI to “do better” and learn from other local fathers, like Cribbs — an experience the latter calls “reciprocal.”
“I’m learning from him, too,” Cribbs said.
Na’riyah got to hear her father speak at QCRFI’s inaugural banquet on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
“She was running all over the place, happy, and you could see the joy in Gerimiah’s face,” Cribbs said. “He really likes being a father, and when he looks at his daughter, I’m just like, ‘Wow, this is incredible.'”
To Cribbs, it’s easy to tell if a child is comfortable around their parents — and Na’riyah passes the test with flying colors. In getting to know Westerfield, witnessing his growth as a young man and father, Cribbs said he’s even more motivated to see QCRFI grow.
“Even if you are a ‘responsible’ father, there’s always some tweaking and learning we can do,” he said.
Especially because just like every person, every father’s story is different. Cribbs plans to create individualized plans for QCRFI participants on top of the monthly workshops.
“(To) set small goals, and even incentivize the fathers when they complete those goals,” he said. “Because we want rewards sometimes too, right?”
Cribbs also hopes to host regular “family night” events to engage participants and their families as QCRFI gains momentum, but he said community support is vital.
“We already have a list of volunteers,” he said. “I really want to bring in (community) partners and build stronger relationships with them, too, so we can create a network of help — not just for our fathers, but their families as well.”
Cribbs said he’ll post volunteer interest forms to the QCRFI Facebook page in the coming weeks, adding he’s always open to ideas from community members, too.
“Everybody can’t always come to the Lincoln Center, but it seems like everybody’s on Facebook,” he said with a laugh. “We want to make that opportunity accessible to the community.”
Giving kudos to his small team of supporters and volunteers, Cribbs said he hopes to reach at least 10 fathers in QCRFI’s first year.
“My goal is to (find out) what their needs are, address them and just continue to (create) stronger families … I want this to be around long after I’m gone,” he said, plugging Westerfield as his successor.
But in the meantime, Westerfield said he’ll focus on being the best, most responsible father he can be and learning via QCRFI.
“It’s harder for us, yeah … But if we (young fathers) are trying, and we’re doing it, ya’ll should do it, too,” he said, urging other local fathers to prioritize both their kids and self-responsibility.
Westerfield said he particularly looks forward to the forthcoming marriage preparation workshop.
“I want to get married,” to his girlfriend, Na’riyah’s mother, he said with a closed-lip smile.
After high school, Westerfield also plans to pursue welding, eyeing John Deere as a hopeful employer.
To learn more about QCRFI, or for program updates, visit the QCRFI Facebook page.
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