Native American Fatherhood and Families Association has had a long history of teaching fathers (and mothers) how to take responsibility and care for their families. Through the Fatherhood Is Sacred™ and Motherhood Is Sacred™ program, thousands of parents have been taught and encouraged. We have heard this message for 16 years now. But what do we know of the effects of this inspired program? Well, there is plenty that we know. So many lives have been touched. So many parents have been changed because they realize after taking the course Fatherhood Is Sacred™/Motherhood is Sacred™, that the lives of their children are important. That the parenthood partnership should be a constant in their lives of their children.
Here are some encouraging stories from parents who know:
Mother:
The Motherhood/Fatherhood program helped me understand. I left my kids for about 9 months and I started drinking. Their father slapped me with some child support papers and that whipped me into shape very quickly. I couldn’t let my kids go. I couldn’t do that. I didn’t understand my kids’ feelings. I am their mother. I still am. I’m doing a really good job. The facilitators were really inspirational.
They helped me with the grieving process. They’ve been a great support system. The motherhood/fatherhood program has helped me understand how important my culture is with my community and my family and staying connected to that has helped me stay on the right track. I don’t drink anymore. TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) has started a dress making class so we can make ceremonial dresses. I’m able to make dresses for my girls.
They gave me a good insight of how blessed I am to be a parent and I’m really glad and I have a lot of family support. Al Pooley is doing a great job. I commend him for that. I plan on attending more Fatherhood/Motherhood classes and hopefully some more of the seminars that Al will be putting on.
Father: Fatherhood Is Sacred™
I am a single father with 2 boys. I’ve been a participant in the Fatherhood is Sacred™. This program has really benefited me. It helps me to raise my boys and also co-parent with their mother through the key principles that we use in the program. The program has allowed me to establish a healthy relationship between me and their mother. I started 3 years ago and just recently became a facilitator. I am really looking forward to taking what I learned and giving back to our community.
Father: Fatherhood Is Sacred™
I have been involved with the Fatherhood is Sacred™ program for the past two and half years. It has impacted me personally in a great way; in a healing way with a lot of understanding of the healthy way of fatherhood. It has helped me realized how powerful it is and how we are able to live by those principles. About the Creator, about building our faith, about those healthy choices, good and bad choices and the choice of being free to be teachable to be open, to be strong, to be able to learn and to process and to gain wisdom and gain wisdom through our knowledge.
Knowledge that we’ve gotten through our lives, through our education, the hardships and to share that in a positive way through healing and to build our service amongst each other as brothers and sisters here, as people, as elders, as teachers and as youth. It’s very powerful. I highly recommend it. It’s brought a lot of healing to our community. We meet once a week, at least once or twice a week thus far. It’s growing. It’s just very powerful to sit down and share and listen to these powerful stories and words that the brothers bring to the table and how healing it is to share that and to just look forward with a greater vision of healing and empowerment to move forward in a good way, in a healthy way in our own lives.
To talk, to pray, mostly to pray. Pray those good words. Sing those good songs, use our medicines and take that home. Leave that circle and take that home so we uplift our babies and our wives and our mothers and our fathers and it starts then. It starts with ourselves. We take it home and it impacts our families, impacts our children and they take it from there. They take it to the round house and they take it to the Creator in prayer and it’s just a very, very beautiful thing. It’s a continued blessing to be a part of it. I just look forward to moving forward with the movement here, the healing movement with our people. We’re going to save the world. Blessing to you. A-HO
Mother: Motherhood is Sacred™ program
I am 36 years old. I gave birth to 8 children. I am now a mother of 2. I’ve lost 6 kids behind my bad choices in life. I had my first daughter when I was 17. I gave birth to her. I delivered her myself when I was 17. I didn’t know no better. I had to give her up because I was on drugs. I delivered my first 6 children addicted to drugs. I got pregnant with my 7th and I was facing 11 years in prison. I changed my life for him because he was my last chance to do it right. TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) introduced me to Motherhood/Fatherhood program and its heling me. You know, there’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know about Native Americans. I’m Native American but I grew up in a Mexican community. All my kids’ fathers are Mexican or rough gang members. It’s really cool being Native American. There’s a lot of advantages and opportunities. I had 16 years of drug use and 5 years clean and sober now. I have two babies that are in my care that mean the world to me. They mean the whole world to me. I’m here to do the Motherhood/Fatherhood program to help me be a parent because I lost my other children. To help me raise my kids right without yelling or screaming or touching them. You know all the stuff that I was raised with cause I was raised by my mother and all my aunts and uncles and it was kind of rough. But I just want to learn how to be a great mother and how to teach them our cultural ways.
There are so many more stories of success and closure for parents who have experienced a true change in their life and now know that they have the sacred duty in raising their children to be good and hardworking citizens. It is truly amazing.
Next week will be a report on the criminal justice system and how Fatherhood is Sacred™/Mother is Sacred™ had made an incredible difference.
