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There are many places that aid women in providing job readiness skills by offering training, clothing, daycare, and assistance with transportation costs, but there are very few, if any, programs that aid men in the same manner. In response to this, an organization is arising in Memphis, Tennessee by name of The Dapper Dan Society, whose mission is to aide men in putting the pieces of their lives together one piece at a time. The mission is a lofty one however; in Memphis, 82% of children live without a father. It is imperative that the community as a whole find out what’s missing and fill in the blanks for men in the same manner as women. Hopefully, this will reinforce the notion that men are necessary to the home, to the workplace, and to society. But they are needed whole in order to take their rightful place.According to the recent White House Summit on Working Families, 63% of families have 2 working parents, 32% are headed by single parents, and 7% are single parent fathers. Additionally, nearly 30% of men don’t have access to paid or unpaid leave for the birth of a child. Like moms, dads that take care of their children, give leave, or are open about their family responsibilities at work, suffer negative career outcomes and are treated even worse by their colleagues.
Carla McClure, Facilitator of the Dapper Dan Society, believes that not providing such assistance for men is bad for the city as a whole. “Many want the males in our society to be successful, however help is only offered to teen boys; which is good, but the men 25-50 are often forgotten. They are caught after prison, but how about catching them before becoming that kind of statistic. Mandated to be providers, foundation builders, great husbands, and spiritual leaders for their families, but in many cases, not given any additional solid tools to work with. To that end, it is unclear how society is gearing men up for true success. Sometimes individuals lose their way, for reasons many people cannot even begin to fathom. Could be family issues, lack of self-worth, bad relationships, etc. Society wants to prepare men to take charge,” said McClure. “As a proud mother who raised two grown sons; despite best efforts and intentions, they were not groomed as full men, but two great guys. It has been said that a woman can’t truly raise a whole man, but can help restore the order of the village."
So, “Instead of leveraging technology to empower individuals, the organization’s mission is leveraging men with growth tools and quite literally, work tools such as interview wear, work gear, hammers etc., enabling the re-purposing of hidden skills so that the value of these men may increase and flourish. This is better for businesses, neighborhoods, families, and society as a whole. As a result, employers have larger employee pools and better employees, neighborhoods get better residents, families get better foundations, because for some homes the father’s presence is a stabilizing force even if not living there full time, and the community gets great leaders.”.
The Dapper Dan Society kicks off their fundraising drive with a silent auction, in mid-November that will include art work from such prominent international artists as Lauren Duffield, who is offering oil painting self-portraits, and Suzanne Cerny, an award winning artist/photographer/muralist, amongst others. November 28th, Merchants Gazette Magazine, also facilitated by Ms. McClure, will host the “Hidden Jewels of Jazz” at the New Daisy Theatre. Featured performers include: Hawaii’s Queen of Jazz; Azure McCall, the Memphis Prince of Neo-Soul Jazz; Nick Black & Band, Jazz Pianist; Brennan Villines, Smooth Jazz Violinist; Basil Alter, the Soulful Jazz Styling of Ms. Tonya Dyson and more.
Contact Info:
Name: Carla McClure
Email: Send Email
Organization: Dapper Dan Society
Phone: 901-340-9897
Website: http://themerchantsgazette.biz/the-dapper-dan-society/
Release ID: 67753
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