Yesterday, Wednesday October 5th, marked the official launch of our fatherhood program, Destiny Dads! Several members of our Damascus Way team, including Executive Director Tierre Webster, Shakopee Site Director Todd Quiggle and Reverend Lewellyn Wilder were able to join and participate in the facilitation of our first support group session, along with with our first participant, a father from the community area. We gathered in the evening at the Shakopee Library over pizza and beverages. The time allowed for some very powerful and intimate conversations around fatherhood, relationships with children, recovery support, and community relationships. We look forward to what the next few weeks will unfold in subsequent support sessions and we hope that more fathers will take the courageous step to join and participate in our program. In the coming weeks, we also look forward to the potential of launching a similar support group for men in a jail/prison setting. Please keep this Destiny Dads pilot program in your prayers and we seek to transform the lives of fathers and their children!

We’d like to extend our gratitude to Caitlin Judd of Together We Can and Scott County Children’s Services for her tremendous assistance in helping spread the word about Destiny Dads and for helping us kick-start our support group! We couldn’t do this without her contributions!!

 

As a reminder, Destiny Dads has three program components:

    • Support group – meets weekly for 8 weeks, starting on October 5 from 6-7pm at the Shakopee Library. Food is included!
    • 1:1 case planning and goal setting for support group participants – meets when/as needed.
    • Parent/Child Activities – planned for Spring of 2023.

For those who are interested in participating, we encourage you to submit an inquiry or register for our support group sessions! You can join at any time! Please refer to the details below for information on how to get involved in Destiny Dads:

    • Case workers, recovery centers, counselor, and clinicians can refer clients, or participants can self-refer.
    • Forms can be completed and sent to destinydads@damascusway.com or I can help route them.
    • Inquiries, potential referrals, questions can be emailed to the email address listed above, or you can reach out via phone at #763-299-0808.
    • The only criteria for participants is that they are fathers in/or with children in Scott County. If there are barriers to participation, please still send referrals to Damascus Way to consult and work with individuals on a case-by-case basis.