Saturday Father-Son event
By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on March 24, 2017 9:34 AM
Guest speakers, real-life advice and information will be offered Saturday during a Father-Son Summit in Goldsboro.
The Prevention and Treatment Center, Tranz Center and Refuge Temple Church are hosting the event -- Adopting the Mandate.
The mandate includes several areas of focus, said Mark Colebrook, a behavioral specialist with the Prevention and Treatment Center, which works with at-risk youth in the Wayne County area.
"We're trying to re-establish the father and son relationship," Colebrook said. "We want the fathers and the sons to understand what their roles and responsibilities are. We want sons to understand that there really is a school-to-prison pipeline and ways that they can avoid it.
"Lastly, we want to establish programs we can do on a monthly basis with fathers and sons."
The summit starts at 10 a.m. at Refuge Temple Church, located at 509 N. Carolina Street. There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided.
Dr. Craig Copeland, a Fayetteville physician, and Colebrook will be the event speakers.
"There's a difference between having a goal and a dream," Colebrook said. "You can dream about a lot of things, but until you put action toward it, it won't happen."
In addition to focusing on the importance of father-son relationships, the goal is to gather feedback and plan future events and activities that families can do together in the coming months.
Ideas can include financial literacy training and attending area sporting events, Colebrook said.
The event will also be geared toward young men and boys who do not have a father in the home. Plans include connecting mentors to boys who do not have a father figure.
"If a young man comes to this and doesn't have a father, we're going to pair them up," Colebrook said. "We're trying to connect these kids with mentors who want to help. We want to provide a mechanism and program to help kids before they become a part of the juvenile justice system. We want to be proactive instead of reactive."
The organizations planning the summit are aware of the needs in the local community.
"The reason we felt, particularly in the business we're in, we see a lot of kids being raised by single mothers," he said. "Mothers, themselves, have come to us for help. We're trying to bring this all together so that they can help."
The Prevention and Treatment Center and Tranz Center are both located at Refuge Temple Church on North Carolina Street.
The Prevention and Treatment Center is a nonprofit that provides at-risk youth with day services, including education, mentoring and character development, in Wayne, Lenoir and Pitt counties.
The Tranz Center, also a nonprofit, offers after-school activities for children and teens in Wayne County. The center's director, Timothy Whitfield, is also the pastor of Refuge Temple Church. Colebrook is also involved in other community efforts and serves as the first vice president of the Goldsboro/Wayne branch of the NAACP.
At least 50 people have already expressed an interest in attending the summit, Colebrook said. For more information about the event Saturday, call 734-0305 or 396-8855.