National fatherhood organization announces ‘National Real Dads Read Day’
First National Real Dads Read Day set for June 9, with a focus on children of color
ATLANTA, GA. — (BlackNews.com) — It wasn’t too long ago that Fathers Incorporated, a leading national nonprofit for the promotion of Responsible Fatherhood, launched its new initiative, Real Dads Read (RDR), in Atlanta, Ga. The initial project objective was to create literacy centers in barbershops with the goal of encouraging father-child involvement through reading and improving literacy for young children. Today, with help from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, RDR has established 26 libraries in barbershops around metro Atlanta and nine in Columbus, Ga. In addition, 45 barbershops and partners engaged in a citywide book drive, collecting 2,245 books, which included a large donation from the Atlanta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi.
“We are encouraged that so many organizations have come on board to celebrate and support the effort of Real Dads Read,” says Kenneth Braswell, Executive Director of Fathers Incorporated. “The inquiries is to bring the project to other cities around the country are overwhelming. We have had to temper the excitement because we are still building our capacity to meet the tremendous need and requests for RDR,” Braswell continues. “Fathers Incorporated is now working on building the RDR infrastructure to support broader and more intentional programmatic activities.” Currently, RDR has a pilot site in Columbus, Ga. with its partner, Chattahoochee Valley Parent 2 Parent.
One RDR program objective is the creation of a national engagement day. Fathers Incorporated is pleased to announce its inaugural “National Real Dads Read Day” on June 9, 2017. This day is designed to encourage individuals, groups, businesses, etc. to plan reading activities in support of fathers/male caregivers and their children.
