To all our graduates what a honor to see you'll grow and become the men and young men you've been called to be something special. To see DeMarcus Smith start out as a mentee at 15 years old who's 24 now and graduated Level 1 as Mentor is one for the books. Intentional accountability and development as we do life with our mentees and mentors. Ms. Tia Moore FOTM College Readiness Coach did a outstanding seminar.
To our Pittsburgh, PA graduates
Bryan and Rico Carter, we'll
see you both soon.
Thank you, Sisters On The Move
FOTM 2nd Annual National Conference
Carborro Century Center
October 28-29, 2023
Blessings to our US Attorney Rob Lang who received FOTM Judicial Award. Appreciate Hillsborough Mayor Jean Weaver and Carrboro's Damon Siles and Chris Aytek for speaking. Partnership Academy HS Principal Stan Farrington brought the house down with his speech about Big Foots coming to his school to mentor his kids. Treyden received FOTM's Never Given Up Award.
Victor Glover Receives DOJ Award
During Project Safe Neighborhood Middle District Meeting
October 19, 2023
At the end of our 3-Night Revival, our US Attorney Ms. Harrison comes over and says to me: "On behalf DOJ we give this award/medal to for your service and commitment for Justice."
I'm done! FOTM. this one is for the team because we're a team movement.
3-Day FOTM Revival
October 16-18, 2023
We ended our 3-Night Revival at Butner Federal Prison with 17 men getting baptized in our first round of baptism. Hallelujah.... Spoke today to our top Department of Juvenile Justice, DOJ, Law Enforcement and Probation/Parole officials on what we see since FOTM started going back into the prisons.
THE PROBLEM & THE NEED
Once released, the formerly incarcerated (one in every three adults in the US) face myriad barriers to successful and sustainable re-entry into communities. Many are still not allowed to vote, have limited access to education, face scant job opportunities, and are ineligible for public benefits, public housing, and student loans. Many employers still use background checks in their hiring decisions, putting jobs further out of reach for the millions in the US who have a criminal record.
The above and additional obstacles have profoundly negative effects on families, and without effective support, make it extremely difficult for those returning from incarceration to be engaged, responsible, and productive citizens. We believe that high recidivism rates are caused in large part by lack of opportunities to be mentored, obtain life and career skills, and re-integrate successfully with families.
We are also aware that the circumstances and behaviors that lead to incarceration often begin long before adult and fatherhood years, and Fathers On the Move (FOTM) addresses this by having not only a Fathers Program but also a Youth Program.
WHAT WE DO
Fathers On The Move (FOTM) was established in 2011 to help young men, most of whom are fathers, avoid or break out of the cycle of returning repeatedly to incarceration, to move on to become successful and productive community and family members. Viable and sustained employment and meaningful engagement with their families are essential to this.
FOTM has served multiple communities in helping young fathers become productive community members and engaged and nurturing fathers and husbands. Our multi-level Program provides both practical living skills and skills needed to lead others.
In the three years since our Program became operational, we have graduated seven classes; three inside prison environments (one in Orange Co. Correctional and two at Butner), and four outside prison environments (one at Roxboro in cooperation with the Roxboro Housing Authority, and three at FOTM’s main location in Chapel Hill).
In 2022 and in years following, we plan to solidify and strengthen our base (HQ) operation in Chapel Hill, and establish formal Branch operations in Raleigh and then Durham.