Kerry Breen and Adam Kaufman
A decade ago, Joe Williams spent nine months in Cook County Jail for possession of a stolen vehicle. He said that experience was a “wake up call” that made him realize he wanted his life to be different.
“It made me think a little bit differently,” Williams told TODAY’s Craig Melvin in a new episode of “Dads Got This.” “This is how I ended up going into my children’s school to volunteer.”
Williams first started his new life by volunteering in the lunchroom at his daughter’s elementary school. One day, his daughter’s teacher needed someone to watch her students for a few minutes while she was grading papers, so she called Williams into the classroom to supervise the students.
That, he said, was the beginning of the “Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club.”
“My goal is to get fathers back involved in their children’s lives and hopefully, one day, we would like to build a community center, where there’s a library and dads can just come in and we can offer more resources,” Williams, who himself is a father of six, explained.
For now, the organization focuses heavily on community outreach and monthly reading events — and has even brought a few special guests.
“We brought in Mr. Dreezy Clause,” Williams said. “He actually has gray dreads. Our Black Santa Claus came in and he actually blessed the children with mittens and hats and all those great things.”
The organization also runs a weekly fatherhood support group for dads in their community. Williams has even been invited to join a community conversation with former President Barack Obama and other community leaders and organizers in Chicago.
Williams himself has been nicknamed the “Black Mr. Rogers” for all of his work.
To further both his goal of enriching the lives of children and giving children of color someone to look up to, Williams recently published his own book, inspired by his daughter.
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