The Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis awarded its 2013 Father of the Year Award to William Nelson, but he didn’t think he deserved any special recognition.
“I didn’t know that I could get an award for something that I was already supposed to be doing anyway,” Nelson said.
He was honored at the annual “A Toast to Fathers” fundraising dinner and celebration held last Thursday in downtown St. Louis at Windows on Washington, 1601 Washington Ave.
“A Toast to Fathers” netted at least $97,000 for Fathers’ Support Center, including $27,000 raised from the Dutch auction held that evening. Additionally, Bank of America donated a $20,000 grant to support the the center’s Employment Development & Mentoring Program.
The Fathers’ Support Center’s vision is for every father to be a responsible parent committed to a cohesive family relationship.
Nelson’s accolades continued on Monday. He threw out the first pitch when the St. Louis Cardinals took on the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium, the team’s first home game after Father’s Day. He and his family sat in a VIP section and had an opportunity to meet some of the players.
This was in stark contrast to where he began 18 years ago when he became a teen dad at 17. Then, he obsessed over how he would financially support his son Deaionte, now 18, and how to prevent his child from experiencing the pains of his own childhood.
His intentions were good, yet as the children kept coming he developed into an irresponsible parent. Now the father of three – he has two daughters, Diamonn, 13, and Angell, 7 – he has struggled with substance abuse and served eight years in prison.
Then, he said, an Alcoholics Anonymous counselor referred him to the Fathers’ Support Center, where he enrolled in its core program, the Responsible Fatherhood Project, a rigorous six-week “boot camp.” He graduated from the program in December 2008.
In this program, participants learn parenting and personal skills, emotional and spiritual development, as well as how to prevent child and substance abuse.
Nelson is currently employed at the Grace Hill Settlement House as a training manager for the operations division. The Fathers’ Support Center has a 62 percent employment placement rate and 75 percent job retention rate for its clients. Also, 75 percent of its client fathers are financially supportive of their children.
At the fundraising dinner, Nelson’s daughter, Angell, eloquently gave the invocation, reciting, “God is great, God is good.” Nelson said and his wife, Latoya, beamed and clapped the loudest when she had finished. It was one of his proudest moments as a parent.
He said he is thankful that his youngest child was too young to remember the type of parent he used to be, and credits Fathers’ Support Center with altering his selfish mindset and destructive behaviors.
Antonio Crothers, the 2013 Youth of the Year Award recipient, can relate to being a teen dad. He was the same age as Nelson, 17, when he became a father to his now 18-month-old son, Antonio Crothers Jr. Without any parental figures – his father died before he was two and his mother passed away in 1999 – he enrolled in Fathers’ Support Center’s Youth Male Involvement mentoring program.
“Fathers’ Support Center actually is like a father to the young fathers,” Crothers said. “It keeps them on the right track – making sure they’re in school and taking care of their kids.”
This year, Fathers’ Support Center of St. Louis marks its 15th anniversary. Under the leadership of Executive Director Halbert Sullivan, it has served nearly 10,000 fathers and their families, including almost 25,000 children.
Additional services offered at the center include its Youth Leadership & Development Program, a legal clinic and Fathers’ Rap, which are evening classes that teach the center’s core Family Formation Curriculum.
Nelson can still be found regularly at the center, though now in a mentoring role, trying to encourage the young fathers to stick with the program. He said, “I’m just trying to make them understand that this right here is a blessing.”
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