When Frederick Sterdivant and Marcus Green founded Fathers Among Men, they were looking to build a community among dads.

Fathers Among Men is an organization Sterdivant and Green founded in 2016. Their organization partnered with the Heart of Georgia Advisory Council for the 2022 Macon Violence Prevention Grant in which they received $16,000.

“This grant is gonna be the foundation of Fathers Among Men and Heart of Georgia Advisory Council, being able to show that synergy. That ability to come together and then roll it out,” said Sterdivant.

The program proposed for the grant is called Activate Saturdays. On the first and third Saturdays of the fall and spring terms, the organization will plan activities for about 25 youths. They will spend four to six hours with them, keeping them involved and engaged, and they will do activities like reading, playing sports, or attending football games.

“Our goal overall is to create sustainable solutions,” said Sterdivant. “What our long-term approach is, we want to create a mentoring program that’s structured based on cohorts.”

Although volunteers are helpful, Sterdivant believes that in the long run, paying mentors will provide a better outcome for the success of their youth, and it will maintain enough mentors to run the program.

To support Fathers Among Men, their website is fathersamongmen.org, and they also have Instagram and Facebook accounts where they post upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.