Fatherhood and the Road to Recovery

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

Life often drives and deceives us. However, no amount of deception that comes from the external world begins to equate to how much we deceive ourselves when moments of traumatic events cause us to lose our innocence.

This realization occurred to me during my days in Walter Reed Medical Hospital as a wounded soldier. I was driving a military truck down a dusty road in Iraq when an IED explosion ripped the wheel out of my hands. My truck flipped 10 times crushing my pelvis, fracturing my back and causing me to suffer from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

As I lay in a hospital bed allowing time to heal my wounds, I truly found myself with a sense of peace and comfort. I realized that my story is not going to define me but I would allow my story to shape other individual’s stories through spiritual hope. James Lane Allen said it best when he said, “Adversity in life doesn’t build character, it reflects character.” Using my story to develop, motivate, uplift and inspire young minds through faith and their worldly wounds, I would assist others in transitioning back home from military service or from traumatic events that destiny put them in.         

Champions of Change: Honoring Fatherhood

Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

Watch this Champions of Change video here.

President Obama, like millions of fathers around the country, has said that being a dad is the most important job a man can have. That’s why this past Tuesday, the White House honored 15 Champions of Change who are standing in the gap for our kids, and serving their families, their communities and our nation. Along with Michael Strautmanis from the Office of Public Engagement, I was proud to participate in a discussion with these fathers and leaders as we shared our stories about what fatherhood meant to us and how each person had contributed to strengthening fatherhood in their own lives and in their communities.

Some of these stories are of redemption. Others are about the supportive role that mothers, grandparents and mentors play when fathers aren’t around. More than one is about a father who initially didn’t fully understand his responsibilities, but came to recognize the sacredness of being a dad. 

I hope you’ll enjoy these stories as much as I enjoyed meeting these wonderful Champions of Change.  We’re excited to honor fatherhood—not just on Father’s Day, but in the months and years to come.

Joshua DuBois is Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships and Co-Coordinator of President Obama’s Fatherhood Initiative.

Immigrant Integration: Taking the Conversation on the Road

Last week in Kansas City, and earlier this year in Minneapolis, federal agency staff hosted a roundtable discussion that brought together faith-based, educational, and advocacy organizations, business leaders and local government officials.

At the Kansas City event, representatives from Office of Refugee Resettlement at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Citizenship at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security heard from leaders who helped identify best practices and give their ideas about what the federal government can do to help immigrant populations and the communities where they settle.  

At the Minneapolis event, representatives from the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders led a group of AAPI advocates and community leaders in a frank, constructive discussion about integration successes and challenges and highlighted valuable partnerships they've made across business, law enforcement, and community sectors.

And last month at the White House, the Administration highlighted community leaders – from San Diego, CA to Utica, NY – who are working to connect immigrants with critical services to learn English and assist in the naturalization process, as a part of our Champions of Change initiative. But hearing from two cities and bringing a handful of leaders to Washington, DC is not enough. That’s why the Administration is taking the conversation on the road. We believe that community leaders around the country are doing great work to integrate new immigrants into their communities and we want to know about it.

Over the next three months, federal officials will be traveling around the country to gather feedback that will assist us in developing a federal strategy on immigrant integration. Look for us in a city near you:

• Seattle, Washington on July 7^th
• Atlanta, GA on July 13^th
• Houston, Texas on July 26^th
• New York, NY on July 28^th
• Los Angeles, CA on August 5^th
• Detroit, MI on August 10^th

If we aren’t already headed to your hometown, we invite you to consider hosting a roundtable in your community. With your help on the ground, we will be one step closer to developing an effective federal strategy on immigrant integration and winning the future. Successful integration is part of President Obama’s vision for winning the future.  These efforts benefit immigrants and their families, but also strengthen our communities and nation as a whole.