Our Impact

In 2017, because of the support of Fathers of Scholars Inc., I had the privilege of attending national conference organized by the Fathers & Families Coalition of America. What a life changing event it was. At this conference I was able to become a father, mentor, advocate, and received a Nurturing Fathers Certification, the first steps for a Fatherhood Life Coach Certification. 

This conference not only taught me how to better myself as a young father of three beautiful children, but it also gave me lifelong relationships and resources. Throughout the trainings, I learned I was able to not only be a financial support for my family, but learned what it really meant to be a father for them. Most males think because I am paying bills or giving my child’s mother money that I am doing my role as a male for my kids, well at least I did. But there’s so much more that our children need from us as males. 

I can remember one of the exercises we completed in one of the courses I took, in this workshop, the instructor asked the group “when was the last time you heard your father say I am proud of you, and how did you feel?” It was at this moment that I had the realization that my father had never said this to me. Even more alarming I couldn’t remember me ever saying it to my own children. This program helped me get the self-reflection that I was not doing all the steps I could be doing to make sure my family was emotionally being taken care of, a key role in a child’s development. It also showed me what I needed to do to change it. Not only did I bring this information back to my family, I am also now mentoring local youth groups and teen boys within my community through the resources gained from this conference to better their lives as well. 

None of this was possible until Fathers of Scholars offered me a scholarship to cover the 4-day conference registration, travel and certification fees. 

My family and my community thank you Fathers for Scholars, because of this opportunity I was able to take part in, and I am a better father and have more resources to help my community.

Rayshad Montgomery