Men Tasked With Ushering African-American Boys, Teens into Manhood [VIDEO]

Five years ago, a group of eight men came together, concerned about the absent father crisis among African-American households. Their task was two-fold: to encourage fathers to create strong bonds with their sons and compel men to feel a paternal responsibility for boys and teens in the community.

Larry Owens is president of Middletown United Fathers. All day Saturday was the fifth annual Father’s Day barbecue at . This was no mere picnic — there were free haircuts for the first 10 to show up, a large sound system that filled the park with old-school and chart-topping rap and R&B tunes, burgers and chicken grilled on an industrial size grill, a bounce house and giant inflatable slide for the kids.

In 2008, Owens saw a real need for adult males to be a strong male figure in young men’s lives to help usher them to manhood. Owens' own father died when he was very young, which helped him to understand how hard it can be for a boy to be raised without a father.

“Our responsibility is to take care of boys and take care of their mental health,” he said. “We do what we do for our children,” he said, not referring to his own grown children, but to all the young ones in the community.

“They have women and family organizations, but nothing for fathers. That sends a bad message to the boys,” Owens said while keeping the burgers moving on the grill. “Nobody is coming in to save us,” he said.

And it’s just not men who support the United Fathers.

Atia Hart, college-age daughter of the United Fathers secretary Harold Hart Jr. and Board of Education member Ava Hart, was happy to lend a hand keeping the little ones moving safely on the giant slide.

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Annmarie McCalla, whose husband has owned Realto Café for 11 years. When a couple of young women, one who’s staying at the shelter in Middletown, stopped with their children to asked McCalla about community services for single mothers, she had a few suggestions.

The Middletown United Fathers mission is to advocate for men’s issues in education, health, economics and personal and community responsibility. In 2008, because of the absence of father involvement, the Fathers understood children are at higher risk for doing poorly and dropping out of school early, experimenting with drugs, alcohol and early sexual activity, which leads to teen pregnancy, trouble with the law, depression and suicide, according to their website.

The Fathers is now collaborating with the and Middletown Public Schools to create Men At School, which initiates 25-40 boys into responsible manhood.