Single dad steps up with help of fatherhood program

She sat in the wooden chair at the dinner table but she couldn't stay still. She hopped up and latched onto her father from behind and hugged him as he prepared fried chicken wingettes and salad."My eyes are named James Hall because I have eyes like my daddy," said 6-year-old Ja'Mya Hall.

James Hall is 23 and a single father. He and his daughter Ja'Mya live in a cozy apartment on 19 St. in Southeast, DC.

Hall became a father at the age of 17, while he was in the eleventh grade attending Anacostia High School in Southeast.

He was with Ja'Mya's mom for a year and three months in Baltimore where they lived with her family until they parted ways.

He had only spent a month away from Ja'Mya when he found out that she had been placed in child protective services. He immediately filed for custody of Ja'Mya when she was three months old.

Hall said Ja'Mya's mother attempted to gain custody of her but she did not follow through. He said her mother called once after she turned two. Hall hasn't spoken to the mother of his child since.

To support himself and Ja'Mya, he worked at a demolition company, was on public assistance, received social security, food stamps and worked a number of other jobs including a car dealership company, an internship with Councilman Kwame Brown, was a data entry clerk with Councilman Marion Barry and he worked for a year and a half with the Peaceaholics.

Hall relocated from his mother's house because they weren't getting along, he said. He began staying with a friend. Hall eventually found out about the Fatherhood Initiative Program, which at the time was located at a United Planning Organization community service center in Northwest. The program helped him through school, financial issues, problems with his mother and housing.

"I just did it," Hall said of completing the eight week-long program. "As a teen you don't wanna' think you need help," he said.

Teneysa Goodwin was the Fatherhood Initiative Program Assistant when Hall was in the program. She said he found his "direction and focused on the things that he needed to do," which included finishing school.

The DC Fatherhood Initiative is a five-year-old program funded by the Department of Human Resources which supplies a $50,000 grant towards the program.

The program, initially for fathers, was changed to incorporate mothers after the National Organization for Women and the Legal Momentum filed a class action complaint in 2007 with the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services alleging "sex discrimination in responsible fatherhood programs."

Today, the Fatherhood Initiative Program has evolved, but the goals are essentially the same. Their mission is to help foster healthy relationships through life skills training, parenting skills building, job readiness, child care assistance, educational assistance, financial assistance, housing assistance, transportation for job interviews, referrals for apprenticeship programs, substance and domestic abuse assistance and various other forms of counseling. In addition there are family bonding trips on the weekend and cookouts.

Hall graduated from the Fatherhood Initiative Program in 2004 and the following year he graduated from Ballou Senior High School. He plans to enroll into the University of the District of Columbia this fall as a major in criminal justice.

"He really appreciated the support, he finished school and now he works in the same field," Goodwin said.

Hall is now the Community Engagement Liaison and the Citywide Representative for the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative Inc., in Southeast. He helps prevent substance abuse in the city and helps families in Ward 8 become self-sufficient.

"He is giving back what was given to him," said Goodwin. "If we were to judge the program on his success then it was successful. He is a wonderful father. His mother and he have come to a medium for Ja'Mya, to make sure she has a comfortable life."

"It's just phenomenal how that program works," said Ricky Jackson, 50, a graduate of the program. Jackson has five stepchildren. Since he completed the program he was able to get a job and reunite with his family. He works at Georgetown University as a caterer.

Jackson continues to volunteer with the program and refers people all of the time.

"It really has helped us to better ourselves in society as Black men. You can get in this program and teach brothers and sisters how to live and that there is more to do than destroy each other and loved ones," said Jackson. "I'm always gonna' be in the family of the Fatherhood program.