By Kathy Athearn

Jack Brewer is a former NFL player who is passionate about ending fatherlessness in the United States. In 2006, he founded the Jack Brewer Foundation which includes, among other programs, the American Heroes Fatherhood Initiative (AHFI) which offers after-school programming and serves juveniles and adults who have been affected by the criminal justice system.

Brewer sees first-hand the detrimental impact on kids who grow up without their dad. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 18 million children, or one in four, grow up without their dad. The United States has the highest rate of children living in single-parent households among any country in the world. For black children, the number who grow up in single-parent homes is roughly six million — or 64% of the total population of black children.

The Jack Brewer Foundation has also been involved at the state and federal level to implement policies that build the family up instead of disincentivizing marriage and separating families. They have helped support a United States congressional fatherhood resolution, various statewide fatherhood pieces of legislation, and other reforms.

Brewer appeared on the December 13 episode of “Fox & Friends,” describing the crisis of fatherlessness as generational, impacting communities across the country. He, himself, was only 19 when his first child was born. He explained that when you become a father, you need to be unselfish, commit wholeheartedly to your child, and make sacrifices for the sake of your child. He said that it’s crucial for fathers to be present to instruct their sons as well as their daughters.

The following are all statistics that the Jack Brewer Foundation has discovered:

• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.
• 85% of all children with behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes.
• 85% of all youths in prison come from fatherless homes.
• 75% of families relying on public housing are led by single women.
• 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.

As Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, told The Washington Stand, “The fatherless crisis is perhaps the clearest example of the harm we do when we ignore the design God intended for the world. Just like we are created to need a relationship with God, children are created to need a relationship with their earthly father. When that relationship doesn’t exist, we tend to behave in ways that are self-destructive.”

The Jack Brewer Foundation recognizes the holes in the hearts of children who don’t have their dads and help fill that hole by telling them about their Heavenly Father who loves them and oftentimes reuniting them with their earthly fathers. The work that the Jack Brewer Foundation is doing is encouraging and inspiring. It is an example of how the Body of Christ is loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving their neighbors as themselves.