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José Barreras (right) calms his 8-month-old son, Joziah Barreras, being held by mother Irene Contreras Barreras, during the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program Project Padres' Responsible Fatherhood Week kickoff event Tuesday at the Eagles Lodge in El Centro. (JOSELITO VILLERO PHOTO / June 13, 2012) |
Like many men, when Emilio Ponce found out he was going to be a father, the news struck him as a bit “overwhelming,” he said.
Doubts about his ability to be a good father also began to eat at him. Yet, all that changed the moment that his son Nathan was born more than two years ago.
“Once he was born, all I could think about was being a better father,” he said.
Not having had the most affectionate of relationships with his father, Ponce said his promise to himself and his newborn was to be “five times more caring.”
Along with a few dozen other fathers from the Valley, the 26-year-old Imperial resident took part in the kickoff event for Responsible Fatherhood Week, which was sponsored by the Imperial Valley Regional Occupational Program’s Project Padres.
The program, of which Ponce has been a part of for the past two months, has helped him better control his emotions and has helped him as he tries to “sort out differences” with the mother of his son, he said.
The program was made possible with $4.8 million in federal grants and has about 160 participants from throughout the Valley, said Juan Campos Jr., project coordinator for Project Padres. The program offers parenting, relationship and financial literacy classes and targets fathers of low-income families who often receive some sort of public assistance.
Weaving together a mixture of the positive and negative experiences that commonly make for either a rewarding or disappointing fatherhood, Adam Gettinger-Brizuela reminded the gathered crowd of the “wonder and magic” of fatherhood during his presentation.
“No one has the right to take that away from you,” said the executive director of San Diego-based Paternal Opportunities, Programs and Services organization.
While fatherhood is nothing new, the concept of gathering fathers to further develop their parenting skills is rather novel, he said. The inaugural event that was held at the Eagles Lodge was an unparalleled event whose time has come, Gettinger-Brizuela said.
“What’s being done (in the Valley) is as good as anything that’s happening anywhere in America,” he said.
The aim of the Padres Project and POPS is to advocate for a father’s enduring presence in their children’s lives, organizers said.
Having missed his opportunity to be intricately involved in the lives of his children from a previous relationship, 37-year-old Jose Barreras said the Project Padres program has given him a chance to learn what it truly means to be a responsible father.
Barely two weeks into the program, the El Centro resident said that the program has instilled his current relationship with a greater degree of “caring, loving and understanding.”
When he’s not constantly doting on his 8-month-old son, Joziah, Barreras can often be found singing to him as well, said his wife, Irene Contreras-Barreras.
The thought of Jose wanting to take part in the Project Padres program has been a source of inspiration for her, she said.
“It’s great that there’s finally a program for fathers,” Contreras-Barreras said. “It’s usually always about the mothers.”
Staff Writer, Copy Editor Julio Morales can be reached at 760-3354665 or at jmorales@ivpressonline.com
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