The “Dad” Factor

By Alexander “Dad” Hamilton

Today’s topic is the “Dad” factor. A lot of people ask me why I go by the name Alexander “Dad” Hamilton. In this piece I am going explore the “Dad” factor and exactly why I go by that name in the community. You see there are organizations like the Fatherhood Initiative that teach how to be fathers. They provide workshops and support groups that give the tools to teach people who find themselves in the parenting role, about fatherhood. Then there’s people like me who step up to the plate and become “Dads” to people who don’t have a father figure they can turn to for wise and sage advice.  There are Dad’s needed for those coming from broken homes.

We all know that broken homes often times, lead to broken people and broken people, more often than not, make poor decisions. These are not bad people they are just people who have been emotionally, and/or sometimes mentally hurt and they are basing their decisions off of their past experiences. Some of these past experiences in our upbringing can often times determine who we become as adults.  No one starts out in life wanting to lead a life of crime, but because crime is all a person sees; it’s often the life they turn towards.

My job as a community “Dad” is to change that. I want to take the people who have been forgotten or cast aside to show them that what they know is not all they are. That there’s more to life than what they know. I desire to take the underdog, so to speak, and create champions by providing helpful advice just like a natural father would their son or daughter.

In my opinion, our community is sick and the remedy is more caring and less judging as a father. I am in a unique position to provide that providing facts and love. Facts help the person see the situation they are in for what it is. Love shows them that I care and want them to succeed and that success is possible. I’ve heard people say that change is all about the first step, and the first step is to recognize when you need help. The second is to know who to turn to. If you are facing a situation that you need fatherly advice on don’t hesitate to call me. You can get me by sending an e-mail to the Street Chronicle. After all, I am Alexander “Dad” Hamilton. You can send me a message at streetchonicle@neoch.org and the editors will pass it on to me.

Copyright Cleveland Street Chronicle May  2014 Cleveland, Ohio