Stepping into the Gap of Fatherlessness

January 30, 2025

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YFC Rochester’s Fatherhood Initiative is using basketball to build a new generation of men

Felix Ortiz, YFC Rochester Sports Director:

‘Through the program, we teach them spiritual and moral values that are going to carry over into the real world’

The National Center for Fathering estimates that more than 20 million young people live in a home without a biological father present. The results can be devastating.

  • Sixty-three percent of youth suicides are from a fatherless home.
  • Ninety percent of homeless children lack a father figure in their life.
  • Eighty-five percent of young people with behavioral disorders live in fatherless environments.
  • Seventy-one percent of high school dropouts have no father in their household.

This trend is particularly prevalent in Rochester, New York, where 73% of children live in single-parent homes, typically led by the mother.

Youth For Christ (YFC, www.yfc.net) Rochester is responding to this epidemic through the ministry’s Fatherhood Initiative, which seeks to make an impact by raising and connecting a team of godly father figures with young men.

YFC Rochester Executive Director, Michael Hennessy, stated, “Fatherlessness is at the root of so many of the problems we face in our society. Our children need fathers, and this is particularly true for boys. We all know it and now is the time to do something about it. Together, we are standing in the gap to become part of the solution and bring some discipline, confidence, stability and love to a child’s life. Our goal is to build an army of male role models who can give kids the stability, discipline, character and confidence that only a dad can provide.”

The Fatherhood Initiative initially drafted volunteers through local conferences that highlighted the plight of fatherlessness in the community.

Hennessey said, “When I first got here four years ago, there was one coach in the gym with 30 boys. It’s difficult to enforce a strict code of conduct that will foster a safe sanctuary when it’s one coach and 30 boys. So, we created The Fatherhood Initiative and began having conferences to draw attention to and shine a spotlight on the fatherless homes in our city. Out of those conferences we had several men step up and become godly father figures in the gym and become mentors to these young men.”

The initiative creates opportunities for men to mentor youth through programs, outreaches and activities. One pivotal activity is YFC Rochester’s All-Star Basketball Program.

Felix Ortiz, YFC Rochester Sports Director, said, “Kids get an opportunity to play basketball in a safe place. We teach them spiritual and moral values that are going to carry over into the real world. We provide them with life skills through structure and organized activities. And then we provide support from other caring adults. We always say it’s bigger than basketball.”

While these games are a highlight for students, Hennessy shares that Christ remains central to each session.

“It’s about God first, then everything else comes after,” Hennessy said. “Nobody touches a basketball until there’s a prayer circle, where we share a Biblical principle, a Scripture, a devotional and some Biblical advice from a coach and other men.”

And though the program is focused on pouring into students, young people are then encouraged to pour into others.

Hennessy remarked, “Coach Ortiz created a community service program outside of what happens on the basketball court in order to give the kids an opportunity to give back to the organization and build community service hours that they all need for graduation anyway.”

Hennessy summarized, “Fatherlessness is a spiritual issue, and until we call on God to do His redemptive work on our mind, body and spirit, we are simply treating the symptoms and never solving the problem.”