In 1994, a
small group of fathers founded the first Florida fathers group
“Father to Father of Collier County”. We did not fit into the
mold of traditional support groups that were designed by mothers
and began to meet together as dads. We started with planned
community outings with our children. It gave us time with our
children and an informal time to talk to each other. I developed
the “Dadvocate” workshop and presented it at Family Café for
seven years. My first workshop had three dads but grew to be
full room with people standing outside the door. I learned much
from the fathers in those workshops. I realized that dads were
being over looked and created this network based on Dr James
May’s model. Dr May was an inspiration to me and supportive in
my endeavors. You can read my submission “Father of Two” under
the “Father’s Voice’s” section of this website, which he helped
me with by prompting me to share more than my original
submission. It is my hope that through this website fathers will
be encouraged to become involved in the lives of their children
by being “Dadvocates”. We welcome fathers to post to the Faces
and Voices section and network with the other fathers.
