The Dovetail Project Celebrates 10 Years of Changing the Stigma of African American Fathers
Chicago-Based Nonprofit Hosts 20th Bi-Annual Graduation Ceremony Celebrating and Acknowledging Young African American Fathers and Their Strides to Becoming Better Men in Their Households and in Their Community
CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Dovetail Project is proud to celebrate 10 years of serving excellence in the Chicago community and also dedicating their lives, time and knowledge to young men who want to become better fathers and civilians in their community. In celebration of 10 years, The Dovetail Project will host its "Family Forever" Fundraiser & Toy Drive followed by their 20th Bi-Annual Graduation Ceremony acknowledging 45 young fathers who completed their 12-week program that teaches these young men about parenting skills, life skills and felony street law. .
"For 10 years we have given our blood, sweat and tears to young fathers, sharing our experiences, providing them with opportunities that they couldn't see on the surface, and giving them hope, motivation, and skillset to become better fathers," says Sheldon Smith, founder and Executive director of The Dovetail Project. "in 2009, the ultimate dream for my organization was to get this far, and I have done so and exceeded beyond my expectations with the help of my dynamic team."
The Dovetail Project's 12-week curriculum highlights and captures the roles, rights and responsibilities of fatherhood; the education behind felony street law; and how to maintain an active and engaged presence in their children's lives. Once the young men have completed the program, they receive a $450 stipend, and are thoroughly trained to receive job opportunities, GED registration and completion, or enrollment in a trade training program. Fathers have landed outstanding jobs opportunities including: Bank of America, Hyatt Hotels, and The University of Chicago. To date, more than 500 young, African American fathers have graduated from the program.
In December 2009, founder, Sheldon Smith started an organization to help young fathers based on his troubled past, experiences and adversities. As a new, young father himself, he didn't have the necessary tools and resources from his dad to outline what fatherhood looked like, so he created a safe space and curriculum to help young men become better fathers together. To date, Smith has been named Black Enterprise Modern Man, 2018 Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award Recipient, 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30, Civic Leader of the Obama Foundation, Kenneth Cole Mankind Hero, and TEDx speaker at University of California Santa Barbara. He's also been featured on BBC, CNN, US News, and the list goes on.
This year's graduation ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 12th, 2019 at the DuSable Museum of African American History located at 740 E. 56thPlace, Chicago at 6:30pm with Keynote Speaker, Rendel Solomon, managing director of Muller & Monroe Asset Management.
To RSVP for this event email [email protected]. To learn more about The Dovetail Project and their efforts around Chicago, visit http://www.thedovetailproject.org.
SOURCE The Dovetail Project
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