(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - This week's difference maker is Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club, an organization operating out of the South Side and offering some fatherly love.
Joseph Williams is a father of six, who started volunteering at his daughter’s school serving lunch. Eventually. a teacher asked if he would read a book to the classroom.
“The class loved my reading so much that they wanted me to come back again the next week, so I started coming back all the time and reading books to those babies," Williams said.
Other fathers took notice and asked Williams how they could get involved.
“Before I knew it, I had like 150 dads involved, at one school. We started to do father’s carnivals for the kids, and the fathers were alternating weeks, coming in, reading books, pre-K to 3rd grade…It started to be something so phenomenal,” said Williams.
Williams is now the executive director of Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club, the nonprofit was formed in 2017.
“We put it all together, it was a cool unique name. (Former President) Obama seems to love the name, when we met with him, he said, ‘I love that name.’” Williams recalled.
Williams ran his first full blown summer camp in 2022, and every June on Father’s Day weekend, Mr. Dad's Father’s Club hosts the annual Fathers March, where hundreds of people attend.
This year, the Fathers March will be held Saturday, June 17 at Ogden Park and will include more than 30 vendors offering fun and games, resources, mentorship, and learning opportunities for the kids and fathers.
The effort to encourage fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and anyone that can be a positive male role model to be active in children’s lives, is something that is very much needed on the South Side of Chicago.
“I had a child one day tell me, ‘My dad is dead,’ it could have broken my heart, for this kid to be in pre-k and to understand that their father is no longer with them anymore,” Williams said.
Williams told us that there is only one thing he can say to a child in this situation, and that it happens all too often.
“This is why we’re doing this, this is the reason why we have this program, so that we can come in here and support you and be a good model for you,” he said.
Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club provides weekly support to dads looking to stay involved in their own kids' lives. The organization has partnered with at least ten CPS schools, offering mentorship to youth grades 4 through 12, hosting activities and reading books weekly to the “babies,” pre-K to 3rd grade.
“We aren’t just reading books though, because anyone can read a book. The books we are reading are all around social emotional learning. We try to boost their confidence and self-esteem, catching these babies while they’re young,” Williams said. “Helping to mold and shape them, making them understand that they can be anything they want to be in life, we bring lawyers in, judges, folks that look like me, activists, positive males and they read books.”
Williams told us that there is even a mascot, a costume worn by one of the club’s members.
“His name is Mr. Dad, he wears a red sweater with black pants and black shoes, and he has a tie on. Originally, he was considered to be the Black Mister Rogers, but we named him Mr. Dad,” said Williams.
He said the children react to Mr. Dad as if he is some sort of super hero.
“When Mr. Dad comes, at each one of these schools, the kids bum rush him at the door and they just get to screaming, ‘Mr.Dad! Mr. Dad!’ They’re hugging on him and loving on him,” Williams laughed.
The kids always know that Mr. Dad is coming when they hear the theme song. Williams shared a few bars.
“It’s the Mr. Dad’s Fathers Club, read a book day, talking ‘bout the Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club, read a book day, whatcha got to say,” he sang.
There are trips to the Brookfield Zoo, professional sports outings, even visits with elected officials, the police and fire departments and so much more that you’d just have to check it out online or in person.
Williams said he hopes to one day have a dedicated community center.
Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club: dads making a difference.
“We meet a lot of babies that don’t have their fathers, and every time I see that it breaks my heart, but it also lets me know how important our mission is to be there for these babies.”
Mr. Dad’s Father’s Club is a 501(c) (3), operating in large part through private donations.
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