Leesburg resident Thom Beres spends his lunch breaks trying to make Loudoun County homes a better place.
Beres, who recently retired from the U.S. Air Force, is a Loudoun County Community Fatherhood Initiative volunteer. The Fatherhood Initiative is a federally-funded program run by Northern Virginia Family Services, Loudoun County Public Schools Head Start program, Early Head Start, Promoting Safe and Stable Families and Inova Loudoun Hospital, that provides fathers with tools to be positive role models in their children’s lives.
"We’re trying to give men tools to be good fathers," Beres said. "There’s really nothing like this for men in this area."
Beres, who will begin instructing the course in August, uses a nationally recognized curriculum called "Fatherhood Development" to teach fathers about positive father-child interaction, responsibility, child development, how to be a positive role model, how to provide discipline and how to manage anger, resolve conflicts and negotiate relationships, through workshops, lectures and group activities.
"It’s something I’ve always wanted to be involved with and now I have time to do it," the father of two said.
NORTHERN VIRGINIA Family Services’ Maureen Collins walked into her Sterling office Thursday, July 27, with good news.
"We think we’ve got four fathers," she said.
In order to run the program, Collins and Beres need to recruit at least eight students.
"We hope to kick off the first session Aug. 26," Beres said.
In an effort to get fathers to sign up for the four-month course, Collins, Beres and representatives from Head Start and Promoting Safe and Stable Families meet to come up with different ways to promote the program.
"This truly is a community effort," Collins said. "We’re trying to get a lot of different organizations involved."
Collins said several local organizations have tried to offer Loudoun fathers workshops, but have failed. She chalked it up to a lack of community involvement. What makes the Fatherhood Initiative different is the fact that different agencies are involved and invested in the program.
"The more community involvement, the more likely it is that this program will succeed," she said.
The project’s main goal is to make fathers feel comfortable in their roles.
"If fathers feel comfortable," Beres said, "their children will feel comfortable."
IN AN EFFORT to reach out to all Loudoun families, Beres created pamphlets in both English and Spanish.
"We want to reach everyone, English and non-English speakers," Beres said. "We’ll even provide a translator at the classes."
Northern Virginia Family Services parent involvement specialist Violete Mora joined Beres and Collins at their bimonthly Fatherhood Initiative organizational meeting. Mora, who speaks Spanish fluently, volunteered to translate for Spanish-speaking fathers who want to enroll in the program.
For now, Beres' and Collins' main objective is to get the word out about the dad’s project. Father’s interested in the program should contact Beres at dadsproject@adelphia.net.