Funded Partner Spotlight: Empowered Parents
Just by being present, fathers can have an enormous positive impact on their children’s lives, research shows. Children who grow up with involved fathers are more likely to excel academically, thrive socially, manage their emotions better, and more. This research forms the basis of Foundation funded partner Empowered Parents’ work to support parents (and improve health outcomes) in South St. Petersburg.
As mental health professionals and colleagues, founders Patrick Diggs and Jared Ezzard were struck by the number of clients they served who struggled with fatherlessness during their early years – and the impact that absence seemed to have on so many outcomes.
“The percentages are really notable. And it doesn’t have to be a biological father, it can be a father figure,” Ezzard said. “If the father is present, the likelihood of suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, and a slew of other problems go way down.”
Diggs, who had long been interested in responsible fatherhood and fatherhood initiatives, wondered if his expertise running marriage retreats offered a translatable pathway forward to engage parents and improve health outcomes down the road. After a few conversations with Ezzard, Empowered Parents was born.
Inspired by their new partnership, Diggs and Ezzard started getting together in the evenings outside work to form a 501c3 and develop a parent training curriculum. This March, drawing on their capacity-building grant from the Foundation and Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, Empower the Parents will host their first retreat.
While the goal is ultimately to provide 2.5-day retreats to both fathers and mothers free of charge, this first iteration will be a one-day retreat for roughly 15 local dads.
“I really do feel pretty passionately that actively involved dads can literally change the world. Actively involved fathers can have a major impact on the family, and that impact can change a community, and healthy communities can change our society and ultimately the world,” Diggs said. “The rationale and empirical data is there. We’ve chosen to do retreats because when you’re immersed and sequestered, it brings with it this flood of knowledge. I’ve found that it increases participants’ ability to maintain and practically apply.”
Empowered Parents’ retreat curriculum includes the ages and stages of child development all the way into adulthood, communication, rites of passage, and more. One exercise has parents write a children’s book that they would want to read to their child. Another is a grief and loss meditation in which participants ultimately imagine not seeing their children ever again and. Diggs, who is a licensed therapist, helps participants process thoughts and feelings that may arise.
Asked what he would tell a father who’s not sure his presence can truly have a positive impact, Diggs said that, “regardless of where you’re coming from or what you have or have not done, it is absolutely never too late.”
“The impact you can make in the future weighs more than any failures you may have had in the past,” Diggs said. “There’s still an opportunity ahead of you. For dads, uninterrupted time with your child is more valuable than anything in the world.”
Research shows that even just 10 minutes of quality time with their father can positively impact children, Ezzard added, noting that time with mothers is also crucial to child well-being and development.
“Even by just showing up you’re already making a difference,” Ezzard said.
Any fathers interested in participating in the March 1 retreat should reach out to Empowered Parents via email at empoweredparentsinc@gmail.com. Referrals are welcome.