Fatherhood Summit Provides Resources To Help Men With Fatherhood

A Tulsa group wants to help men become great fathers.

They held a summit today to provide fathers with all kinds of information and help.

Organizers say they want men to understand their involvement in a child's life is just as critical as a woman's, and they want men to be confident in their roles.

Chad Long is learning all he can at the fatherhood summit.

"I think the biggest thing, the takeaway I'd call it, having that appreciation, be more than your expectation, as a father, as a spouse, whatever the case may be, co-parent, appreciating someone being present even if you are having to work through a hard circumstance with them," he said.

Chad is a father to a 2-year-old little girl, but he's also a foster dad. 

He says he's grateful to the summit because he can learn how to be there for kids of all different ages. 

"Being able to hear that perspective, or to find a resource or individual, to help with that age range, especially with foster care being so broad, it can be ages you've never navigated before," he said.

Marquess Dennis started the fatherhood summit last year.

He is the founder of the nonprofit, birthright living legacy, and wants fathers to know there are lots of resources out there that can help them with practically any situation.

Lots of groups had booths, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Oklahoma Children's Behavioral Health Network, and the Child Advocacy Network.

"There's a lot of times where fathers or people or looking for these things and like where do I find this, or I wish there was something like this, this is a summit where we are bringing all of those things together," he said.

He says he wants dads to take an active role in parenting and celebrate the values that fathers can bring into parenting.

"What happens is on Father's Day, they just give you a tie and call it good, and that's not okay; what we need to do is be able to bring fathers together," he said.

Dennis says his goal is to eventually take the Fatherhood Summit to towns across the state.