My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond Provides School Backpacks on Behalf of Incarcerated Dads

This post is a recent press release from My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond who runs NFI's InsideOut Dad® program in the Henrico County Jail. We're posting it to highlight unique ways that organizations that run our programs also serve the children and families of fathers who participate in the program, and especially since these fathers are currently incarcerated. Rewards for participating in a fatherhood program are always a good idea—even rewards for their families!

Read on to be inspired by MBK’s Founder and Executive Director Stephan “Coach” Hicks!

Richmond, VA – My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond, along with two other community organizations (Sharing Among Men and the National Counseling Group), collaborated to supply backpacks and school supplies to support children of Henrico County Jail West incarcerated fathers, who are participating in MBK’s Inside Out Dad® Fatherhood Program.

MBK’s Founder and Executive Director Stephan “Coach” Hicks personally delivered 15 backpacks on Saturday, September 4, 2021, to families located in Richmond and Henrico County. A total of $250 in gift cards were sent to the eight children who live in other jurisdictions (Woodbridge, VA, Powhatan County, VA, Tennessee, and West Virginia). In all, 23 children (ages ranging from 6 to 20), representing 10 fathers, were served. 

“We are proud that we are not just facilitators of a course, but also a support system for these fathers and their children. Providing school backpacks lifted the esteem of the fathers and showed their children that Dad still loves them,” said Coach Hicks. 

“My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond Virginia is an exceptional, non-profit organization that provides the necessary tools to equip the inmates incarcerated here at the Henrico County Sheriff's Office to become better men, so they can be not only better fathers to their children but a productive member of society as well,” said Annette Baker-Brooks, Henrico County Jail West Administrator. “MBK has been building up a better foundation that will prepare them once released. We are proud to be a part of this program and what it represents. These fathers have made a commitment to the process and displayed an eagerness to apply the tools given through their journey.” 

My Brother’s Keeper of Greater Richmond (MBK), founded in 2009, is one of the leading fatherhood programs in Central Virginia. MBK has equipped many fathers with relationship and parenting skills that lead to increased involvement in their children’s lives. Learn more at www.mbkgrva.org. 

The National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI), founded in 1994, is the #1 provider of fatherhood resources in the nation. NFI has trained more than 25,000 practitioners from more than 6,300 organizations on how to deliver programming to dads. Learn more at www.fatherhood.org.