It all started at Pasadena’s Flintridge Center, which aims to break the cycle of poverty and violence. Rewind: Maybe it all started when Edwin Hernandez realized that he was a father of four in need of support. In 2023, he graduated from Flintridge Center’s Institute/Vision 2020 leadership program, where he created his own 10-week curriculum for dads, in which they talked about a different topic each week, such as trauma, mental health and healthy relationships. While talking with a therapist at the center, he was strongly encouraged to start the program right there, right then.
“My therapist said, Edwin, this is amazing, we don’t hear about anything like this for dads. When you have something special in your hands, you should really push it,” said Hernandez. “He walked me to his boss’ office, and he scheduled me for 10 weeks for the classroom. He said, Edwin, we’re just going to push it out there. If nothing comes from it, then at least we could say you tried.”
When he first entered Flintridge’s leadership program, Hernandez had no idea what he would create. As he was sitting in class each week, he started thinking: “I am a dad, and I have gone through things with my kids, and it was difficult for me to find resources. There are a lot of dads that go through the same thing I’ve been going through.” . . .
Read the entire article at Pasadena Weekly.
Jessica Koslow 