This project provides clothing, gear + products for children of low-income,non-custodial fathers enrolled in fathering initiatives in New York City and Los Angeles. These programs help fathers feel empowered to embrace fatherhood and the responsibilities that accompany it + provide poor dads the tools they need to keep their children safe and healthy. GOOD+ Foundation also offers financial education workshops and benefits screening to help improve the family's overall + financial well-being.
In the United States, there are 24 million children without a father at home. At the majority of the social service sites in GOOD+ Foundation's network, there is a prevalence of families headed by single moms. There is solid evidence that the involvement of fathers makes a significant difference in the financial, educational and social/behavioral outcomes of their children, yet there are few social service programs to support dads.
To help ease financial burdens, GOOD+ Foundation will provide the fathers who participate in high-quality fathering programs with donations of clothing and goods that they need to keep their children safe and healthy. We offer financial literacy workshops for the dads, teaching them strategies for budgeting, debt reduction and saving. The programs also offer relationship counseling, as well as career and educational counseling.
1) By tying donations of essential baby gear to participation in career counseling and other services, we hope to give the dads the tools they need to become providers to their children over the long-term. 2) Help ensure that poor single moms and their children have an additional means of support. 3) Highlight the critical need for fatherhood programs across the country. We are now on the 3rd generation of children growing up without fathers, a major factor contributing to childhood poverty.
