The Occupy Movement has Hit The Boys & Girls Club

The Occupy Movement has hit The Boys & Girls Club!!!

Night before as I prepare for bed, I couldn’t help but to have a HUGE smile on my face.  Monday was intended to be our first day back at The Boys & Girls Clubs with FGF Peer Groups.  But, when I walked in the door and grab my list… only 3 kids seemed to qualify for FGF Peer Groups. I was unsure of what to make of it. As I walked into the club, kids from ALL age groups ran up to me and hugged me. But after the joyous greeting they had a serious issue with me. They were all yelling at once… “Ms. Torri, why aren’t we able to be in your group. THAT ISN’T FAIR!” I let them know it was not my decision to only allow 3rd-5th graders this quarter. It was on the Education Director.

Before I knew it there were 15 girls in the Education Director’s office waiting on her. As soon as she walked in they started yelling out their complaint. Lets just say… the Education Director didn’t appreciate it and put them all out of her office with the quickness!  They all left with their heads low, but they were determined and that would not be the end of the issue.

While hanging out with them in the Learning Center they were still expressing their complaint loud and clear. One girl said… “I have been with you for 2 years. What is up with that Ms. Torri?” I told them I had not control over it. They would have to figure out how to overcome the obstacle or deal with it until next semester.

I walked away and went into another room. By the time I had come back, this group of 6th-7th grade girls had huddled and put a strategic plan in place. They sent one person in to represent their issues to the Executive Director over the entire club. They went straight to the TOP! By the time they had come out… the Executive Director had given me clearance to do what I wanted concerning the Peer Group.

Immediately I got with the Education Director and we made an extreme compromise. We would host 3rd-5th and 6th-8th graders at the same time in a different room. 2 groups at one time!

No doubt I compromised so the kids could have their Peer Groups. I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do!

Fatherless and Emotionally Devastated

Teachers and pastors witness its devastating effects every day

What is it exactly Teachers and Pastors are witnessing on a daily basis? They are witnessing the effects of the Fatherless Generation!

Teachers and Pastors come face to face with the reality many of us clearly are in denial about. The truth of the Fatherless Generation is, the pain left by an absent father has gone beyond individual households, but has become deeply embedded into our culture and causing social catastrophe across all lines. You may beg to differ, but when the statistics prove otherwise we must begin to look from within and ask the hard questions. So, what happens when both boys and girls who need a wise father who encourages them and strengthens them, and provides what a mother cannot is left without their fathers presence?

The absence of biological fathers increases by 900% a daughter’s vulnerability 2 rape & sexual abuse. -(US Department of Justice)

Fatherless children are 92% more likely to dissolve their marriage when they get married! (Department of Justice)

72% of teenage murderers come from fatherless home. (Department of Justice) 

85% of rapist come from a fatherless home. (Department of Justice)

And these are just a few.

The Fatherless are not only living without their father. But some are living in a place of emotional devastation. When will we as a society wake up and treat fatherlessness as the epidemic it clearly is?

I pray now is the time.

A Life Without Daddy

Back in April of this year, I was blessed to have  a small portion of my fatherless journey published in Jet Magazine.  I can admit, initially this article caused some conflict within my own family. Some felt like I had “aired my dirty laundry!” Others felt I did not paint my mother in a favorable light. What I know to be true is, this article was not easy to have written and then be published. But this article brought my mother and I closer together as we both were able to deal with the truth of my fatherless experience…. this article brought healing to my family!

It is time for the fatherless to tell their stories of “Life Without Daddy!” Who is with me?

READ my story “Decades Without Daddy” on page 17 here http://trendmag2.trendoffset.com/publication/?i=104545

“Why Did My Daddy Leave?”

“Why Did My Daddy Leave?”.…. This is the epic question many children are asking to an epidemic plaguing the earth!

Check out what was said at the first event to answer this question

Join us for “Why Did My Daddy Leave?” Part II Panel Discussion  on October 6th, 2012 at Gordon Biersch located 3242 Peachtree Road Northeast Atlanta, GA 30305 from 12pm-3pm!