Finding Help and Support for Fathers

While not in the form of cash handouts, there is a growing network of help for fathers in their role of supporting and helping to raise their kids.  I was made aware of a program called Fatherhood Connections in nearby Wood, Ottawa, Sandusky Seneca and Hancock counties in Ohio that provides support services and job training for fathers in those counties.  Last fall, I also found out that part of the Northwest Ohio Reentry Coalition work involved helping fathers with child support issues.  It's part of a nationwide initiatve to help fathers. 

How do you find if there's a program in your area?  One way to track them is through the 211 social services system in your area. Another is to check this nationwide map of state and local fatherhood initiatives.  But it's not exhaustive.  However, if you find the state office in your state, you can check them out and see who they may have funded locally.

That's how I found out about a number of programs in Ohio:  the Urban Light program in Clark county/Springfield, Fame Fathers; in Portage, Stark, Medina, Summit and Wayne counties(Akron-Canton area) in Ohio, which runs among other things, mentoring for both younger and older fathers, help for incarcerated and soon-to-be-released fathers, and workforce opportunities for low-income fathers; and the Columbus Urban League's Fathers 2 Fathers program, which offers advocacy and support in child support, visitation, and other legal issues.

Another way to find programs in your area is to google "fatherhood initiative" and the name of your city. 

Scholarships Reserved for Menfolk? It's More Likely Than You Think.

...although not terribly common.  Back in the day, there were lots of scholarships for men, created to help create better-educated leaders in society (as exemplified by Rhodes Scholarships, which were meant to introduce American scholar-athletes to Great Britain and our special relationship with them).  But the Rhodes Scholarship has now allowed women for decades.  So where are these male scholarships?
Contrary to urban legend, it's not "illegal" to have a sex or race segregated scholarship--you just  can't do it on the public dime.  If you search Foundation Directory of Grants for Individuals, over 50 are in the subject area of "men."  Not all of them are scholarships, and few (about a half dozen), are national in scope.  Some are sponsored by fraternities, like the Zeta Psi"...dedicated to turn out into the world self-respecting, original-thinking, self-controlled, purposeful gentlemen."  Their foundation gives scholarships to grad students in the U.S., and undergrads in Canada.  The Gamma Mu Foundation gives scholarships to young (under 35 year old) gay men from rural areas.
The Spence Reese Foundation each year gives four scholarships to young men in their senior year of high school who plan on majoring in medicine, engineering, law and political science.  The Salem Lutheran Foundation gives their to men studying to become Lutheran ministers in the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.  For more information, write the Salem Lutheran Foundation at 2700 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. Room 300, Columbus, Ohio 43231 or call 614-863-3124.
Maybe the most interesting of the bunch is given by the Maud Glover Folsom Foundation, which gives scholarships to young men of German or Northern European background.  Just send an application--along with three generations of your family tree.  You can receive the money till you are thirty--or unless you have a criminal conviction of "moral turpitude," join the ministry, or marry without the approval of the board of the foundation.  Or fail to maintain a C+. 
Other scholarships for men (most with geographic restrictions) can be looked up in the Foundation Directory of Grants for Individuals, available at a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection.  Remember, too, that your local community foundation may also have little nuggets like this tucked away, funded by someone in the community that wanted to give boys a good start in life.  Another possible source is the school which you wish to attend.  Sometimes, alumni have created scholarships only available to students of that schools.

Where to Find Free Clothes to Get a Job

People are trying to find work, but after being out of work for a long period of time, you may not have the right clothes to wear to an interview, much less show up at a work site every day.  Where could you get clothes for this?  In a number of places around the country, groups are springing up to help.

Among those for women are Women's Alliance.  In Toledo, another group that gives clothing to both men and women seeking employment is the Monroe Street Neighborhood Center at 3613 Monroe (419-473-1167).   Angel's Arms Clothing Closet in Holland, Ohio and Toledo, give clothing for all purposes.  There's also Dress for Success, which has many affiliates around the country.  In Chicago, there's the Bottomless Closet.

But there's stuff for men, too.  In Toledo, Dress Right (3613 Monroe St, Toledo, 419-473-1167) gives free career clothing to men in need, but you need a referral from a church or social service agency.   Career Gear is based in New York City, but has affiliates in San Antonio, New Haven, CT, Jersey City, Miami, Houston and Washington, DC.  and provides donated clothing items for men.  Among those providing clothing for both men and women seeking jobs is the LA Urban League, Working Wardrobes of Costa Mesa, CA, and Wardrobe for Opportunity in the Bay Area of California.

***For more Toledo clothing assistance, check here.