CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Many are out celebrating fathers Day but for some this holiday might be a little harder to celebrate.
According to the 2022 U.S. Census Bureau, 18.4 million children live without a father figure in their homes. But a local nonprofit is hoping to provide a better future for the next generation.
Since 2009 Majesty Outdoors has been committed to raising awareness and mentoring the youth for children that grow up in a home without a father.
Dave Cotham, executive director of Majesty said that a program like this is extremely vital.
The fatherless statistics can affect other statistics that the youth also struggles with.
“Things like gang violence, homelessness, high school dropouts, teen pregnancy, incarceration, drug abuse, and suicide is a big part of it, a lot of those things are symptoms of the root cause of fatherlessness,” Cotham said.
In Tuesday's city council meeting, Mayor Paulette Guajardo proclaimed June 25th as National Fatherless Day.
Cotham added that Majesty offers other programs such as Tide Changers that focus on teaching the youth to learn more about the world around them through outdoor activities.
Britne Vinson a single mother who recently moved from Connecticut to the Coastal Bend said she came across the organization on Facebook.
“It has been difficult, since finding Tide Changes I do feel like I have finally started a community having other moms around me and having mentors around my daughter that can help her has really been great. She hasn't really had the best positive role model as far as males in her life and I feel like she has that now,” Vinson said.
She grew up without both parents and said the hardest part about it all was feeling like she wasn’t good enough and she wouldn't want that for her eleven-year-old daughter Mariyah.
Her daughter has been in the program for almost two months, and her mom sees a huge change.
“ I don’t know if you ever heard of daddy issues, but I don't want that for her and I feel like she’s really grown, I feel like she is talking more, she has a bible now that she reads, we talk more we pray more she excited about camping which has never happened”, she added.
Vinson said that although her daughter doesn’t have a father figure she has been with her every step of the way and this mentoring program has also helped her grow as a parent.
It has given her the strength to know she could be both.
