Trevor Wilkins, a Chicago-based Game Changer Fellow wanted to explore the challenges many young, black fathers experience and what is working in Chicago. The Dove Tail program is a program in Chicago piloted by the University of Chicago’s MAGIC program. The program was developed in response to an ongoing problem in Chicago and around the nation: the difficulty of young fathers to stay in their child’s lives.

While the media portrays young fathers as delinquent and negligent, they continuously refuse to expose the truth that being a young father of any race is extremely difficult. The amount of pressure that goes into having to provide for a child at such a young age is ridiculous. The Dove Tail program is held on Chicago’s Southside on a weekly basis. A group of young fathers meet in the field house of Chicago’s Jackson Park. There they discuss good fathering techniques and their legal rights. The group also has speakers come in and discuss fatherhood and responsibility with them while at the same time offering a safe space for them to discuss and ask questions.

In the program’s second year it has doubled in size and graduation rate and success is continuing. Sheldon Smith, the program manager has done amazing things in just two short years to make this program grow and flourish. The craziest part about it is that he’s a young father himself. At just 22 years old, Sheldon Smith is a young father and has monitored and influenced the strengthened relationships of many young fathers and their children in Chicago. He is truly a game changer and his influence will only continue.

To learn more about Trevor Wilkins, please visit www.2025bmb.org/thegame