Stepping Up
An outreach to young dads and the fatherless
Stepping Up is an outreach to the young and often neglected fathers in the Whalley area of Surrey, BC. Stepping Up’s mandate is to keep young fathers connected with their children by helping them become active role models in their children’s lives through mentorship with other men. It will also incorporate a sustainable work initiative in order to foster a healthy male identity in participants while teaching entrepreneurial skills in a safe and supportive environment.
By specifically tailoring the outreach to support the spiritual, emotional, physical and mental needs of young fathers and the fatherless, Stepping Up will not only facilitate authentic personal growth, healing, and resilience amongst those we directly engage with, but we propose our “footprint” in the community of Whalley will be measured by the lasting and measurable impact we have upon the prevalent rate of poverty and homelessness.
The mission of Stepping Up is to stop the cycle of fatherless generations. By building relationships with at-risk young men and providing support services that focus on their spiritual, emotional, physical and mental aspects of well being, we desire to help them find a sense of belonging in their communities; be productive members of society; and most importantly, become committed fathers. As a faith-based organization, we also seek to inspire these young men towards authentic personal growth, healing, resilience, and fullness of life in Jesus Christ.
Mounting evidence indicates the rates of poverty and homelessness both increase when youth grow up without the benefit of an actively engaged father. Not only are fatherless youth five times more likely to be poor, they are ten times more likely to abuse chemical substances, and nine times more likely to drop out of high school. These shocking statistics lend credence to the notion that fatherlessness also perpetuates a brutal cycle of ever increasing poverty. Unfortunately, no other organization has clearly identified the existence of this correlation nor taken action to address the underlying factors that perpetuate this growing “epidemic”. That is until now.
To engage young fathers and the fatherless in a manner that is both impactful and meaningful, Stepping Up will develop its outreach to be both a provider of services and a builder of leaders, fathers, and husbands. To accomplish this task, the outreach will be inclusive of the following elements: education, a safe and supportive community, and healthy male identity construction. To position the outreach within the community, Stepping Up will aim to re-instil the value of the father back into the culture, provide a model for fatherhood based on Christian principles, provide services that meet the diverse needs of young fathers and fatherless youth, and act as a community advocate for the needs of young fathers and fatherless youth based upon justice and mercy.
To find out more, please contact the Stepping Up program coordinator Dave Morgan at
davemorgan@youthunlimited.com
View our blog at http://steppingupbc.blogspot.com/ and join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/index.php?fbnew_opt_in=1#!/groups/139799669368880/
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