Dear friends,
I want to thank everyone that has made a donation over the past year to our organization. Without your help we could not have survived.
I need your help again. I’m currently collecting donations for Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets to give to families in Camden. Before we were featured on 20/20 with Mrs. Diane Sawyer and Extreme Makeover Home Edition, we had very little. Some of the hardest days of the year for my family were Thanksgiving and Christmas. But every year we were BLESSED!
People who knew of our situation by word of month would show up at my home with baskets of food, clothes and toys for Christmas. You should have seen the look on my son’s faces! My prayers were answered by the love of both friends and strangers. I raised five great sons in Camden by myself. I know what singles fathers and mothers are going through right now with the holidays coming up. As I was blessed many times over I want to other families in similar situations.
With your help I know I can help make sure families in need will receive a holiday blessing. Join me by making a donation of money or gift cards as we begin to prepare for the holidays. Your donations are tax deductible. If you donate please make checks to UrbanPomise Ministries, with “Single Fathers of Camden” on the memo line. If you live near by come and visit and see the work we are doing. I want to thank all the people that helped us in the past and hope you will join us again.
God bless,
Victor Marrero
P.S. On sadder note, the Single Fathers of Camden office was broken into twice this summer and almost everything was stolen. If you are interested in helping us rebuild this sanctuary for single fathers and their children please contact me for more information at (856) 283-6341.
20/20 Coverage with Diane Sawyer
November 9, 2007 - When Diane Sawyer came to Camden in 2007 to do a special on the experience of children and the economic hardships within the community, she and her producers met the Marrero family.
Sawyer decided that one of the children and young adults she would follow for a full year would be Billy Joe, Victor's oldest son. Through the year ABC would check in periodically with the family so see what life was really like for a boy, his father, and his brothers living in extreme difficulty in urban America.
In the year that followed, Billy Joe struggled to finish high school-the first in his family. As Diane Sawyer watched the boys and their devoted father through the long months, through the toil of every day life, she and those who worked on the story with her became advocates for the family.
Extreme Home Makeover - Nov 11, 2007
On Sunday, July 29, 2007, Victor Marrero and his five teenage boys were shocked when they heard Ty Pennington yelling their names over the loud speaker…Victor already feels like a weight has been lifted and can’t wait to focus his attention on other single men in Camden.
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Who We Are:
Single Fathers of Camden is a community based, experiential, relational program that offers non-judgmental support and guidance for single fathers with an emphasis on community responsibility and service. Through the groups, events, and outings participants work together to both learn what responsible fatherhood means but also model it for each other and their children.
Programming:
Founder and director, Victor Marrero has built Single Fathers of Camden on the premise that a man’s life is about relationship with their children, with each other, and with their community. To that end, Victor and the men of Single Fathers of Camden strive for community ownership and involvement. With this in mind, Single Fathers of Camden incorporates intimate group meetings in which participants can vocalize the fears, concerns, and challenges-as well as the joys-of being a father in their community. Within these non-judgmental meetings men mentor, support and encourage each other as well as hold each other accountable.
Along with small groups Single Fathers of Camden incorporate community involvement and responsibility. This sense of ownership is fleshed out by neighborhood clean-ups, bar-b-que, and relational outreach to other fathers. Service projects are a growing part of Single Fathers of Camden and its positive impact on Camden.
Further Development of Programming:
As Single Fathers of Camden expands and reaches out to the fathers and male role models in our community, we seek to expand our programming. My dream as founder and director, and the men already taking an active part in Single Fathers of Camden is to offer a full array of services to men interested in the support and mentoring offered by the organization.
In the immediate future, we as the men of Single Fathers of Camden plan to further emphasize the need to have quality, uninterrupted, stress-free time with our children. Special family events and outings with this goal in mind are being planned. Long-term, I am also working to include certified counseling services to address specific or acute needs within families in a more holistic way. This vision for expansion includes the development of an emergency fund for unforeseen needs within these often financially fragile families, job networking to help create more financially secure families, and educational programs that will facilitate career advancement and job security that will have a generational impact on our city, Camden.
© 2007 Single Fathers of Camden. All Rights Reserved.
P.O. Box 1479 · Camden, NJ 08105
(856) 283-6341 · info@singlefathersofcamden.org