About the 21st Century Dads Foundation

21CDF is a 501c3 created to address the issue of father absence, one of the root causes of what ails society.

THE PROBLEM

There are approximately 24 million kids growing up across America without their dads. Children from father-absent homes are more likely to; drop out of school, abuse drugs and alcohol, get involved with crime and become incarcerated, become teen parents, have psychological problems and commit suicide.

There are a number of factors contributing to father absence, including, but not limited to:

  • Out-of-Wedlock Births, which have increased from 11% in 1970 to 41% today
  • Divorce, which strikes and estimated 1:2 marriages,
  • Lack of Paternity Establishment, which is greater than 50% in some communities,
  • Incarceration, which is more acute in certain populations,
  • Abandonment, which can be both physical and emotional
  • Lack of Employment, which results in lack of supporting basic needs
  • Death, which occurs prematurely too often among low income families.

To learn more about father absence, click here.

21CD Timeline

2015 2015
2016 2016
2017 2017
2108 2108

2015

March – 21st Century Dads Foundation is created with the mission of: “Improving the lives of children by raising awareness and resources for greater father involvement, and inspiring dads to be present; physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually.”

June 1-21 – to raise awareness and resources for existing fatherhood organizations, 21CD staged and executed Dads Honor Ride 2015, a 21 day, 2,325 mile bicycle ride from Santa Monica to Chicago.

October – David Hirsch made a TEDx presentation entitled “Why We Need To Break The Cycle Of Father Absence.”

2016

May – 21CD publishes the book “21st Century Dads: A Father’s Journey To Break The Cycle Of Father Absence.”

May 30 – June 19 – 21CD staged and executed Dads Honor Ride 2016, a 21 day, 1,400 mile bicycle ride from Boston to Chicago.

2017

January:  The inaugural Cycle To End Father Absence (C2EFA) Event takes place at the CycleBar in Burr Ridge, IL, 32 riders raised $10k.

June 8 – 16: 21CD stages and executed Dads Honor Ride 2017, a nine day, 958 mile bicycle ride around Lake Michigan, starting and ending in Evanston, IL.

October: 21CD creates the Special Fathers Network, a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising a child with special needs.

December: 21CD creates the SFN Dad To Dad Podcast.  Randy Lewis is the first interviewee.

2108

March: 21CD holds its 12th Cycle To End Father Absence Event (C2EFA) in conjunction with the Squires Teen Fathers Program at the Cyclebar in Tigard, OR.

July: Special Fathers Network has 100th Mentor Father join the SFN.

October: 21CD launches the SFN Dad To Dad closed Facebook Group for dads raising children with special needs.

Mission Statement

Improving the lives of children by raising awareness and resources for greater father involvement; and inspiring dads to be present —physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually.

Vision Statement

That all children will grow up with a loving, caring and nurturing father and family.

Resources