Connection: More Than You Think

Experts don’t know how many single fathers are raising families in Eastern Washington and North Idaho. But they agree the number is higher than most people think.

“People don’t realize how many there are because single dads may not be as vocal (about parenting issues) as single mothers are,” explains Beverly Walker-Griffea, a single-parent counselor at Spokane Community College. The college’s single-parent program represents its clients’ concerns in the community while providing resources to help single parents graduate.

Ten percent of the single-parent students attending SCC are fathers, Walker-Griffea says.

“Sometimes single fathers can become more isolated,” she says, “because societal pressures make it harder for them to speak up and say, `I’m a single dad, and I don’t have the food and housing I need to raise my kids.”’

The number of single dads attending North Idaho College is growing, according to counselors at NIC’s Center for New Directions, which caters to displaced homemakers and single parents.

“Our program used to be women-centered,” says Sarah Hampton, one of three counselors at the center, “but it’s gone to 20 percent men in the past couple of years. And that’s them just finding us, without our advertising.”

The Coeur d’Alene-based Center for New Directions serves about 500 clients a year. Programs range from divorce and parenting education to career counseling.