A Brighter Future For Better Fathers | Endowment Intern Lauren

Intern Lauren Lanier working on her project

I have exciting news to share this week.  I am working on an upcoming story about The Fatherhood Project.  This story will highlight the single fathers who need help to reconnect with their children for a better future.  The Fatherhood Project is a nonprofit organization that helps fathers in need of being active in their children’s lives, educations, and jobs.  The Fatherhood Project is located in Lancaster, South Carolina, but also serves the surrounding counties of York, Chester, and Chesterfield.    

Putting this story together has taught me the fundamentals of being patient and persistent.  I have enjoyed doing the research on this project and I'm looking forward to putting together my first story.  As a single mother, this is a project that resonates with me and one that I'm passionate about.  I am excited to tell the story because I believe that bringing attention to it can potentially help families who are struggling. I was happy to speak with the Executive Director over the phone.  We both expressed how excited we were about my producing a news story about their organization. I learned how to professionally communicate through email and over the phone.  I conducted a pre-interview over the phone with the Executive Director, and learned more about the program, which helped me to develop questions for our future interview.

This Tuesday, I will be going out to one of their locations in Rock Hill to film interviews and capture footage of the facility.  I will be sitting down with some of the staff members, as well as the fathers in the program for one-on-one interviews.  For the staff, I will be asking questions to learn more about the program and the positive impact it has on the community.  For the fathers in the program, I will ask questions to learn a little bit more about how The Fatherhood Project has helped them with their relationship with their child.

I don’t think society focuses enough on single fathers.  Rather, the focus seems to be on single mothers.  I want to shed some light on those single fathers out there who are trying to be positively active in their children’s lives.  I hope this story about The Fatherhood Project will impact the fathers who want to reestablish themselves into becoming better fathers for their children.  There is always hope for a brighter future for all the fathers out there.  It is not too late. I encourage fathers not to give up when hope is knocking at your door.