WGN News: Chicago program empowers young fathers with life-changing skills

CHICAGO – Dozens of Chicago teens recently crossed the graduation stage with more than a diploma in their hands.

Every year, dozens of young fathers between the ages of 17 and 24 go through a special graduation. While it looks similar to any other graduation, this ceremony is as significant to the child in the audience as the father walking across the stage.

In a classroom along South Cottage Grove, the curriculum has been life-changing.

“To have this program was a godsend,” Ahmad Shipp of the Dovetail Project said. “This program gave me a lot of reasons to keep going when a lot of times I didn’t want to, when I didn’t see a way out.”

Shipp sat in the second row of the classroom made up of young fathers.

“I grew up with two teen parents,” Dovetail Project Founder Sheldon Smith said. “And seeing many of my friends across the City of Chicago with that same struggle, it led me to really think just about something that could make our community better.”

The program teaches the young fathers three important things. In the words of Smith, those are “parenting skills, life skills and felony street law.”

The Dovetail Project started in 2009 with just nine students. It has now impacted over 730 fathers.

“[It helps] dads get the tools and resources needed to be present in their children’s lives, which is extremely important,” Smith said.

This year’s graduating class donned caps and gowns for the Dovetail Project’s 29th graduation ceremony.

“I never got to walk except for eighth grade grad or kindergarten. So now that I get this chance and my son and my family get to see it,” Shipp said.

Through the Dovetail Project, the young dads found their way.

Last month, the Dovetail Project learned they are the recipient of a grant from the NBA Foundation with support from the Chicago Bulls. The hope is that they will have even more dad grads walking the stage next year.

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