Fathering Support Group a Beacon for Struggling Dads

Better Fathers Inc., one of the few father-centered support programs in Canada, is helping dads be their best.
Fathering Support Group a Beacon for Struggling Dads
Brad Franck (2nd R) poses with three other members of Better Fathers on June 7, 2014, after completing Run for Rights, an annual event in support of Winnipeg organizations working for social justice and human rights. Better Fathers Inc.
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When Brad Franck joined fathering support group Better Fathers Inc., he was at the end of his rope.

In the midst of a difficult divorce, custody disagreements and communication problems with his ex-wife had peaked. She was withholding access to the children, and he was desperate to be more involved in their lives.

“I went there with clenched teeth and closed fists and a lot of anger,” Franck remembers of his first session with Better Fathers. “I was hitting a lot of dead ends.”

The group sessions, led by retired social worker Paul Molloy, include 20-30 dads who meet in the basement of a small church in Winnipeg’s west end. As Franck returned each week to learn about being a better dad, and shared challenges and fears with the other fathers, his anger began to dissipate.

“I looked so forward to every Thursday night, sitting with 25 other fathers that were going through some of exactly the same things as me,” he says.

Franck successfully completed the 12-week program. It helped him better understand himself, his ex-wife, and his children to the point that he went through the program again, and then twice more. The experience was life-changing, he says.

There were no parenting programs to help men become better people, no programs to help them know what they've done wrong on their part.
Better Fathers director Paul Molloy