A new non-profit organization in Kentucky seeks to strengthen families and communities by promoting the role and responsibilities of dads.
“Father engagement is a father that is contributing emotionally, and economically, and socially to that family and particularly to his children,” says David Cozart of the Commonwealth Center for Fathers and Families. “Fathers are integral to healthy families, which are the fibers of communities.”
The center will provide programs directly to fathers who want to be more involved in the lives of their children, and offer training, professional development, and resources to other groups that want to encourage positive father engagement.
Because of high rates of incarceration and substance abuse in the state, many families have fathers who are minimally involved or absent. But Cozart argues that even fathers facing those kinds of challenges can still offer something good to their children.
“We’re not looking at fathers as part of the problem, we’re looking at the assets in them,” he says. “We’ll never look at people as equals until we look at them as assets.”
Although economic engagement is important, especially in terms of child support, Cozart says being an active and involved father can play out in many ways.
“Loving your child, supporting your child, taking your child to practice, being at school with your child, going to church with your child, these are things that are as valuable as the fiscal element that we tend to emphasize,” he says.
Since incarceration rates are higher for African American men, Cozart says that leads to more Black fathers being absent from their families. He also acknowledges there are situations where mothers may want to avoid significant contact with the man with whom they have had a child or children.
“What we seek to do is form civil co-parenting relationships in cases where mothers and fathers are not together,” says Cozart. “They can be engaged in a civil relationship, safely and distanced when needed, and work together on behalf of the child.”
As a young non-profit, Cozart says the Commonwealth Center for Fathers and Families is still building a base of financial support through state, federal, and philanthropic funding. They are also developing relationships with other non-profits like Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky as well as social service agencies, education groups, faith-based organizations, and the criminal justice sector. Cozart says they especially want to be active in eastern Kentucky communities that have been devastated by substance abuse issues. He says strong family bonds are an important part of successful addiction treatment.
“When fathers are engaged with healthy relationships with their family and their children, their self-worth and their self-esteem is increased because of that engagement,” says Cozart. “It helps them with their recovery as well.”
Boosting Financial Literacy in Lexington
Individuals and families also need a strong economic footing, but many people lack the most basic knowledge of personal finance. Lexingtonians Beverly Bowens and Dale Morgan are working to educate and empower youth and adults on money and saving.
“People just don’t know how money works,” says Bowens, who is a financial education consultant, “because it’s not taught in school and oftentimes not even taught in the home.”
Morgan says that’s the position he was in as a young adult. He says he graduated from high school without having seen a checkbook much less knowing how to balance it. Then as a freshman in college, he made a crucial mistake.
“I signed up for a credit card just to receive a free t-shirt,” Morgan says. “In five hours, I had it maxed-out, and I didn’t make a payment on that credit card for like eight years because I was financially illiterate. I just didn’t know.”
Now a finance and investment analyst for Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Morgan works to help people change their mindsets about money and understand the tradeoff between money and time. He also wants people to become more savvy consumers by being aware of how companies use advertising to separate customers from their money.
Bowens recommends the book “How Money Works” by Tom Mathews and Steve Siebold as a good primer on personal finance that even children can understand. She also encourages basic strategies like creating a personal or household monthly budget that is written down and closely tracked, as well as committing to save for retirement.
“The earlier you start, the better off you’re going to be, Bowens says. “But it’s never too late.”
