Fathers and Mothers Who Care, a nonprofit organization, held an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony on May 4. A large turnout of friends, family, and political leaders came out to see the hard work and dedication that went into opening the facility at 515 East Rosecrans in Compton.
According to the group’s website, the organization helps in tackling the causes of poverty by assisting homeless, youth and veterans facing a wide range of challenges including employment, education, health, and mental illness. The organization’s services are available anyone who visit their location.
“What I wanted the Compton community to know about our organization is that we have been serving the community for 26 years. I am a veteran and wanted to help other veterans. Anyone who wishes to donate by assisting us with their talent, we would love to have them,” said Argyle L. Prevost, Sr., vice president of Fathers and Mothers Who Care.
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“In our community, there are a lot of pop-up health clinics where we have people that are community members cannot even understand. These same clinics are not geared towards our culture. We wanted to combat disparities in our community and have quality of service,” said Shannon D. Jones, communications manager of Fathers and Mothers Who Care.
Jones gave the Sentinel a tour of the facilities. One of the buildings had items for the homeless such as clothing, towels, Depends, children’s diapers, personal hygiene, shoes, and more. Another building provided a room to conduct case management for veterans and space for the telecommunications training. Tony Jenkins, instructor for the telecommunications course, has been in the field since 1978.
“I taught for the Los Angeles Unified School District for seven years, but the program got shut down. There is a great need for the course because it allows people all over the universe to converse by telephone, text message, emails and fax machines,” said Jenkins.
“We received donations for the books and tools that the students will need,” he added.
“The telecommunications course is a 14-week course through the Department of Labor,” said Jones, who credited Rising Communities organization with awarding a grant for the course to Fathers and Mothers Who Care.
“Some of our sponsors include Blacks in Motions, City of Compton, Community Garden, and Pucker Up Lemonade Company,” Jones said.
“Another sponsor of Fathers and Mothers Who Care is the Los Angeles South Hope Foundation, whose mission is to provide economic development in the South Los Angeles area in business development and entrepreneurship and financial literacy,” said Darlene Ross, LASHF director.
Compton Councilmember Lillie P. Darden attended the ceremony and remarked, “I have been a resident of Compton for 60 years and I thank Fathers and Mothers Who Care for the great things they have done.”
A representative from the office of Assemblymember Mike Gipson presented certificates to the members of Fathers and Mothers Who Care. In response, Linda Kelly, operations director for Fathers and Mothers Who Care, said, “I thank Compton for supporting us.”
Others who expressed support were U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, State Senator Steven Bradford, and County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell.
Also, Apostle Beverly “Bam” Crawford, founder and pastor of Bible Enrichment Fellowship International Church in Inglewood, delivered a rousing prayer to open the ceremony and pray over the FMWC.
Al Walker of Compton graduated from the previous location of Fathers and Mothers Who Care where he studied case management.
“After previously being incarcerated, Shannon Jones let me know about the organization and she asked me to give it a try. Now, I am a case manager downtown at the Women’s Center. I help women with housing resources and those dealing with domestic violence,” said Walker.
To learn more about the services offered through Fathers and Mothers Who Care or to donate to the organization, call (323) 247-7667.
