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Fatherhood Educational Institute
FAST FACTS
ADDRESS
19 S. LaSalle St., Suite 1500 Chicago, IL 60603
PHONE
312-795-9060
WEBSITE
fatherhood-edu.org
The Fatherhood Educational Institute’s mission is to promote positive father involvement and improve the lives of children in disadvantaged communities. The organization was created in 1999 to support low-income fathers, incarcerated fathers, and at-risk fathers and children who would be unable to nd help otherwise. The organization’s work is focused on increasing fatherhood involvement in poverty-stricken communities and reducing the incidence of father absence.
FEI addresses the lack of resources for fathers, speci cally indigent and incarcerated fathers. For example, a father named Maurice, who’s featured in a video on the FEI website, was incarcerated. Without virtual visitation, Maurice missed out on many of the crucial years that connect a father and daughter. His teenage daughter confesses to the hardships of growing up without her father’s presence and how virtual visitation would have helped prevent them. FEI advocated for virtual visitation, which has now been implemented in Illinois prisons.
Our volunteers visit men who are locked up, because we want them to come out of prison prepared to lead healthy, productive lives and to create previously unimaginable bonds with their children.
Father absence can have a horri c effect on children, as shown by the statistics on pages 46-47 of founder Jeffery Leving’s book, Fathers’ Rights. Children with absent fathers consistently score lower than the norm on reading and math tests. In addition, they have higher rates of asthma, headaches, speech defects and psychological problems. Seventy percent of kids in juvenile detention grew up in a fatherless environment.
At this time, FEI is focused on establishing a scholarship fund for fathers who need a course at a community college or trade school in order to help qualify for a job to support their families.
The FEI vision is a world where all fathers are involved in the lives of their families, even if they need help to overcome obstacles.
COMPLETELY VOLUNTEER-BASED
FOUNDED IN 1999
@fatherhoodedu
KIDS NEED DADS AD.pdf 1 5/12/22 6:45 PM Visit: Learn more about what FEI does, has done and hopes to do at our website, fatherhood-edu.org.
Join: The FEI is all-volunteer. If you’d like to help, please visit fatherhoodedu.org/index.php/volunteer-in-chicago.
Donate: We welcome donations at fatherhood-edu.org/index.php/ donate-to-fatherhood.
Share: Please visit our social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and share them.
LEADERSHIP
FEI founder Je ery M. Leving is photographed with FEI board members Wayne Halick (le ) and James M. Hagler (right) a er they delivered informative presentations at the
2020 Illinois Council on Responsible Fatherhood
symposium.
Maureen A. Gorman
President
Jeffery M. Leving
Founder & President-emeritus
