This is a special year for us. It marks our 20th year of working to “change fatherhood” by ending father absence and connecting fathers to their children. Meet Ryan Williams...
To celebrate the fathers and families whose lives we’ve turned around in the last 20 years, we launched this series of videos, blog posts, photographs, and stories to highlight how our work has strengthened fatherhood since 1994.
At NFI, we know that fatherhood changes everything. If you're a family that's been helped by us, you know how important fatherhood is. For the organizations we have helped provide our training programs, you know how vital fathers are to creating healthy families and healthy communities.
From poverty, to crime, to school achievement, to child abuse—every issue we care about is affected by whether or not a child has an involved, responsible, and committed father.
When we connect a father to his child, heart to heart, lives change, communities change, and our entire nation is better for it.
This video shows how NFI’s programs affect an individual life. This is one story out of many over our 20 years of operation.
Each video in this series was created from the book “Choosing Fatherhood: America’s Second Chance,” a photography book created by Lewis Kostiner.
Lewis spent years traveling around the country, photographing dads who were going through NFI’s programs at community-based organizations in their neighborhoods. The result was a compelling photo book telling the stories of dads working hard to make their children’s lives better.
Can't view the video? Click here.
"My dad really was never around. I don't know where he is today. I was raised by my grandma. My grandpa passed away. I really didn't listen to her or relate to her like I should because she was a lot older than me. Not having a dad around really influenced me with my daughter, that I know I have to be there for her, and I have to be around. My grandma raised me to take care of responsibilities. I feel like a good dad. I'm not great because I've made some mistakes here and there. This is my first daughter, my first kid. It's just fun. Probably the best experience in the world was watching her be born and then cutting the umbilical cord, just being there for the whole birth process. I don't know how you cannot want to give your kid everything, just seeing what you created. Everything may not go right between you and the other parent, but you always have a strong bond with your kid. That's the most important thing – just have a strong bond with your kid, because the kid needs both parents." —Ryan Williams (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
How has fatherhood changed you? How have you changed fatherhood?
