Support Group for Spanish-speaking Latino Males

The Metropolitan Parent Center and the Fathers Forum of NY, a men only support group for males who are raising children with special needs have entered into a partnership to create a support group for Spanish-speaking Latino males. The group had its first meeting Wednesday evening on April 3, 2013. Latino fathers were welcome to attend so they can share their stories regarding what it is like to raise a child with special needs.  

They  spoke of unique challenges which they had to confront including the lack of support from family and the struggle to get and keep jobs in order to try to address the needs of their children. They spoke of feeling loneliness and isolation because they were living in communities that were less than supportive with no connection to a support system. However, their stories were not just about struggles, frustration and despair. They shared wonderful and illuminating observations such as how they learned about patience, compassion, and acceptance and expressed their relationships with their children as being something precious.  

This unique support group offers Latino males with the occasion to get together with other males and to share their stories, challenges and their dreams and hopes for their children.

This support group will present fathers and other males with an opportunity to create and grow a community of Latino Fathers who will then reach out to other men who are raising children with special needs and invite them to join this unique group. This is an important objective because it is vitally important for males who have children with special needs to become more involved in the lives of their children. The next meeting will be taking place in the fall of 2013.  

You can visit the Sinergia website, www.sinergiany.org and click on the calendar for the announcement regarding the date of the next meeting.