CLEVELAND — Three-year-old Lucy isn’t old enough for Kindergarten yet, but her dad Matt Blixenstine said it's important for her to be a part of his walk to Harrison Elementary School, along with her brother who’s beginning first grade.
"I've been a stay at home here ever since the pandemic, when our daycare closed. I'm not going to say it's always easy, but I'm really blessed to be in this position,” he said.
He is one of thousands of dads, granddads and other father figures walking their children to school for the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Initiative’s annual Fathers Walk. The initiative aims to address the absence of fatherhood as nearly one in four children in the United States grow up without a father at home. Besides their usual resources and programs, the walk is one of the group’s long-time traditions that encourages fathers to stay actively involved in their children’s lives and education.
“It’s terrific. It’s heartwarming to see, you know, such an active role that so many fathers are playing in their kids’ lives here in Lakewood,” Blixenstine said.
But, Blixenstine said, taking a stroll to school is nothing new.
“This is my everyday of taking the kids to school, taking care of them, before and after school,” he said.
Aldonis Grimes, director of the Cuyahoga County Fatherhood Iniative, said they put on the event once a year but its impact on families lasts much longer.
“It’s an effort to make sure to stay engaged in the educational life of their children year round, because we know how important it is for not only that, but both parents to be involved in raising their children,” Grimes said.
After almost two decades of success in Cuyahoga County, Grimes said they’re expanding Father Walk to schools across the state.
“It’s been 19 years and we’ve grown from 50 schools originally… to today,” he said. “There’s going to be over 200 schools in Cuyahoga County and about 25,000 fathers walking their children to school.”
Grimes led the fathers making 11 pledges to their little ones, which included promises to come back to the school, work with teachers, help with homework and encouraging their kids to stay engaged with academics.
This type of day-to-day involvement is becoming a reality for more and more fathers across the country, said Bixenstine.
“Fathers should play an equal role in the upbringing of their children, and the traditional way of who’s a breadwinner [and] who’s parenting, it’s changed,” he said. “We’re in a new world where either parent either spouse can play a different role in the family.”