PAPÁS Organization
‘Be a gift to the world’
August 6, 2015 Meeting
Announcements and Reminders
John announced Camp RYLA barbecue tonight at 5:00 (August 6th). He said 238 people would be there from around the area.
Next week the District Governor is here. Come and bring a guest, especially anyone who is thinking of joining Rotary.
Doctor Art announced that Stan had a lobe of his lung removed recently. He is home now recovering. Send him greetings!
Story
Win introduced the speaker today Project Director Deutron from ‘PAPÁS’ who graduated with an electrical engineering degree from UCSC. In his introduction, Win said that one in three children live in fatherless homes, which leads to poverty, crime and suicide. The speaker stressed also that many social problems are connected to a lack of father involvement, but thinks times are changing. He showed us a Cheerios commercial featuring an involved father and said new ads celebrating fatherhood reflect a cultural shift.
PAPÁS
The PAPÁS organization was founded 12 years ago. It began as a research project funded by California DHHS at UC Berkeley and lasted for nine years altogether in five locations until funding was cut. Santa Cruz is the only program that has survived the loss of funding. They now have a state grant to help teen parents; the SC Community Foundation has also contributed. Teen fathers are a target population as close to 80% are not married and provide little child support. The speaker said they get many referrals from family court. They also do custody plans and communication classes using a research based curriculum to increase resources for the family as well newspaper campaigns on father’s day.
There was a lively discussion about the importance of father support and the barriers to father being involved. The membership agreed that society needs to redefine men’s roles. The speaker said PRIDE is the acronym to define fatherhood: Physically Accessible, Responsible, Influential, Dedicated provider, Emotional engagement.
The speaker then introduced us to Richard, a father who has turned his life around following a divorce. Now he has a scholarship to study engineering at Cabrillo he has a good relationship with his ex-partner and his children. Even his parents are involved.
The speaker left us with a last thought ‘It is easier to build a stronger child than to repair a broken man.’