ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES, December 31, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- So many of today’s youth are faced with the challenges of absent fathers, increased incarceration numbers, and high education dropout rates.

It’s time we make a stand and make a change. With community support the lives of our youth can be permanently changed for the greater good.

Keynon Lake is the CEO and founder of My Daddy Taught Me That, is a non-profit, grassroots organization dedicated to teaching young men in the underserved communities of Asheville how to transition from adolescence to manhood, by focusing on good decision making, accepting responsibility, and being accountable for their actions.

“My Daddy Taught Me That is a program for any young man who wants to learn and do better,” says Lake. “The mindset is to help as many kids as we possibly can.”

A social worker with nearly 20 years of community involvement and outreach, Lake was inspired by his father Bennie Lake, one of the original Harlem Globetrotters, who himself dedicated his life to working with the youth as a social worker for more than 30 years.

“I've been working with kids my whole life and I have a deep passion for youth and kids,” says Lake. “It's also an opportunity for their voices to be heard; I probably learn more from them than they learn from me.”

My Daddy Taught Me That partners with schools, low-income housing developments, faith organizations and the juvenile court system to provide academic and emotional support to young men through tutoring, discussion groups, field trips and career training opportunities.

“We go to Carolina Panther football games and Charlotte Hornets basketball games, but we also marched across the Pettus bridge shoulder to shoulder with Jesse Jackson, Hillary Clinton and Cory Booker,” says Lake. “We have guest speakers from the US district attorney to the chief of police to a man who spent 18 years in prison for murder. We have women come to speak to our young men about how to treat women, how to be respectful, and how to practice safe sex.”

According to Lake, one of the biggest problems facing our country today is absent parents. There are nearly 16 million single parent families, the overwhelming majority of which are headed by single moms with no positive male role models or influences.

“We can’t allow these statistics to continue to grow,” says Lake. “Iron sharpens iron. We need to talk to men about stepping up and making a difference, the unwritten rules of being men: how to carry yourself, how to dress yourself, how to tie a tie. We need to create opportunities and put the youth in positions to be successful. If they can see it, they can achieve it.”

Close Up Radio will feature Keynon Lake in an interview with Doug Llewelyn on January 4th at 3pm EST

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guest, please call (347) 996-3389

For more information, visit www.mydaddytaughtmethat.org

Lou Ceparano
Close Up Television & Radio
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