J. Jimenez with a group of Oakland fathers at a recent Parent Cafe.

As a Tandem Community Literacy Specialist, I love being an agent of change. I love the fact that I am in a position to provide a service that I know closes the achievement gap and empowers families and communities.  Here, two of my biggest passions – education and social change – intersect.  I love visiting children’s classrooms and igniting the “spark” of joy that comes from sharing books and stories.

I also love being part of a professional community. I have always believed in surrounding myself with mentors and role models because social support is the best support. I enjoy learning from my peers and always feel super blessed when an elder or well-seasoned professional shares his or her wisdom. I’m happy to share that for the past two years I have been a member of the Alameda County Fathers Corps (ACFC). I wear my bag that displays the Corps’ branding with great pride, and I’m always enthusiastic to talk about the Corps and how others may join.

The Fathers Corps is a community and professional network that focuses on fatherhood and is filled with men of color. In both the educational and social services fields, I have always found myself surrounded with female professionals.   I have been to many professional development trainings and workshops where I am often times not only the minority race, but also the minority gender in attendance. The Fathers Corps provides a space for men in my professional field to join together to discuss common topics and share stories and experiences.

The ACFC ‘s motto is “involved fathers = stronger families, stronger families = healthier communities,” and I honor promoting and supporting fathers, father figures, and positive male role models to be meaningfully engaged with their children and families.  The membership consists of over 50 male service providers from about 30 different programs and agencies. Members participate in ten trainings over a span of nine months, including attending one mid-year retreat.  These trainings are facilitated by respected researchers in their field, university professors, and even members of our own community. These trainings bring members together because fathers and male role models are very important, and have a huge impact on children’s lives. According to Alameda Fathers Corps Administrator Kevin Bremond, “The Fathers Corps is working towards changing the way families are supported and served by raising the awareness of the need for, and building the capacity of providers to provide, father-specific services.”

I have learned and grown so much by being a part of this group. In addition to the important information provided in the trainings, I have gained great insight from the members of the Corps’ vast wealth of knowledge and experiences.  I love listening to the veteran members, who tell their stories and share their wisdom. Several trainings also provided amazing panels of fathers from different backgrounds who shared their powerful stories and deepened participants’ understanding of the various stages of fatherhood and the challenges that fathers face. I heard perspectives from divorced, foster, single, and adoptive fathers; queer and trans-gender fathers; grandfathers and fathers of children with special needs. Through each unique story, they all shared the common bond of being a parent.

Supporting Fathers in Our Communities with Tandem Programming

Becoming more father-focused means including more father-focused book titles in Tandem’s book collection.

Being a member of the Fathers Corps has informed the way I approach my work as a Tandem Community Literacy Specialist in Alameda County. Through Fathers Corps meet-ups, I am able to take advantage of networking opportunities with my fellow members – many of whom are currently Tandem community partners. In the upcoming program year, Tandem will participate in Parent Cafes hosted by Oakland Parents Together and LitLab in communities that currently receive our Tandem StoryCycles® program.  Looking ahead, the 2016-2017 program year will leverage the training and partners gained through the Fathers Corps to offer father-focused literacy events in which fathers are empowered and honored as an important part of the family and a presence that has a major impact on the lives of their children.

Thanks to my involvement in the Fathers Corps, all Tandem staff members have been trained in father-friendly principles that ensure that each time we provide a workshop or training opportunity to families, educators, or family support professionals, we acknowledge the needs of fathers as well as mothers. Being considerate of the fathers and positive male role models present at Tandem workshops, trainings, and community events means that I am weighing whether or not the information I provide is applicable to the men and the fathers we serve and how the information I provide will impact them.

A family enjoys playing and learning together at the Daddy and Me Day event in Oakland.

Tandem’s involvement with the Corps allows our organization to become even more father-focused as we continue to provide information, resources, and proven approaches that work best for fathers and other positive adult role models in a child’s life as they support children’s early literacy and language acquisition. This past year, I had the opportunity to create a Father Literacy Champions cohort. Tandem hosted its first-ever Father’s Day fundraising campaign. We added more father-focused books into our giveaway and rotating book collection. As an organization, Tandem has expanded its media library to include more positive images of fathers interacting with their children and with Tandem staff members.

I am proud to have hosted three father-focused Literacy Events during the past year in Alameda County. One of the events, Daddy and Me Day, not only had a great turn out and a fantastic schedule of events, the host site also created a bulletin board of pictures and quotes documenting the day and displaying the Father-Friendly Principles poster. It felt really good to share my experience with the Corps that day and to see the host-site taking steps to become more father inclusive as well.

But that one bulletin board is just the beginning. Keep an eye on the Tandem blog and Facebook page for information on upcoming father-focused literacy events and opportunities to learn more about Tandem, interactive book-sharing, and ways to support young children’s early language and literacy skills.

If you are interested in learning more about the Alameda Fathers Corps, please visit their website or visit the First5 Alameda County website for more information on family services throughout Alameda County.