“My life started to turn around when I went to Fathers First.”

Posted on June 4, 2019

Walter is a Fathers First alumnus, and he says that coming to TAP changed his life.

As Walter puts it, “My life before I became a dad was just a bunch of drugs. I didn’t care about anything at all.” That changed when a friend recommended he check out a TAP program that helps fathers build better relationships with their children. By using the tools the program offered, Walter got back on track to being the person and the father he knew he could be.

Looking back on his time in the program, Walter characterizes Fathers First as something that “opens doors for people and helps you to make a step up.” His description of how the program enables its clients to grow and build their skills echoes the way he talks about letting his children experience the sometimes frustrating and painful process of learning and growth for themselves.

Being a parent means needing to know when to step in, and when to hold back. Walter acknowledges that holding back isn’t his natural instinct and that it’s not always easy watching his kids in their struggles to learn and to grow. “The best part about being a dad is trying to be there for them,” Walter says. “Their first steps, if they have a problem you want to fix it for them right away. It’s an emotional battle because you know that they have to do it by themselves.”

Ultimately, he has come to view that delicate balance as a valuable experience for him and his children. He notes, “It’s a wonderful feeling just to be there with them while they’re going through that.”

There’s no doubt that parenting is hard work but it is truly rewarding. Fathers First creates an honest, supportive environment that gives our clients the tools to become the best parents they can be. We invite you to be part of making healthy, responsible parenting that builds resilient, independent children happen throughout our community.

Become a volunteer mentor, donate to keep building the program, or share the program with someone you think is ready to make the step up. We can all be part of building better communities, one family at a time.

Find out more about the program on our website and on Facebook.

Roanoke’s Voice: Finding Their Voice

Posted on May 1, 2019

Finding Their Voice
The real meaning behind Roanoke’s Voice

While we’re having a great time preparing for the second annual Roanoke’s Voice, we also want to take time to reflect on the real meaning behind the event.

Roanoke’s Voice is meant to be fun and lighthearted, yet its purpose is serious—money raised at this event will go directly toward helping survivors of domestic abuse, just like Leah in the video above.

Help the next survivor find his or her voice. Donate or find out how our programs can help.

See You on the Court! Using pickup basketball to build trust

Posted on March 29, 2019

When the Salvation Army’s New Day Center opened its doors last July, no one imagined how important games of pickup basketball would become.

The Salvation Army founded the New Day Center as a drop-in center for young adults aging out of the foster care system, experiencing homelessness, or at risk of sex trafficking. It’s there that some of the most vulnerable young people in the Roanoke Valley are able to eat a hot meal, take a shower, do laundry, and connect to resources to help them set and meet their goals.

The need is great

Melissa Gish, the New Day Center program manager, says that when the center opened in July, the Salvation Army had hoped to serve 13 people in the first year—they ended up serving 154. Almost everyone served by the center so far has had some type of criminal justice involvement.

For young adults trying to gain a foothold out in the world, the years from 18 to 24 are critical. Trying to accomplish goals relies as much on stability as it does on skill. Finding a job takes persistence, employable skills, and a bit of luck; keeping that job requires a lot more emotional and social stability, which means addressing underlying barriers as directly and comprehensively as possible. The New Day Center provides stability, while our Young Adult Life Enhancement (Y.A.L.E.) program provides a pathway for justice-involved young adults to find and keep good jobs.

On the surface, Y.A.L.E. and New Day Center exist to address radically different problems. In reality, the problems are intertwined. While addressing underlying barriers can seem straightforward, doing so requires that both programs have a deep understanding of the nature that trauma plays in human development and emphasize the practice of meeting each client where they are, both physically and emotionally. And sometimes, meeting clients where they are requires some creativity.

On Fridays, Y.A.L.E. staff use their lunch break to drive the five minutes down the road to the New Day Center where they use the Center’s gym to play pickup basketball with whoever wants to join. The no-pressure interaction for New Day Center participants has resulted in about 20 new Y.A.L.E. participants so far.

Setting Goals

“We help them set job goals, family and relationship goals, educational goals,” explained Y.A.L.E. Program Coordinator Randy Russell, noting that they make goals along varying intervals from 30–60 days, to six months, to a year, and beyond. Y.A.L.E.’s long-term focus also involves helping rewrite the negative narratives that clients sometimes cultivate about themselves, guiding them toward understanding what causes them to lose their temper, how they can overcome distractions, and how their biggest life goals can be broken down into a series of small steps.

Trust is Everything

For Melissa, success looks like her clients “consistently showing up because they trust us, and they’re safe.” There’s no doubt that the basketball-based outreach is an embodiment of both. And the ability to build trust with responsive and face-to-face interactions is what helps make it possible for clients to go from facing homelessness to being ready to focus on their careers in such a short span of time.

Find out more about our Youth Employment programs here.