Curtis McDonald: ‘Family Care Centre changed me’

When Curtis McDonald decided to meet up with friends on the corner in his Trench Town community six years ago, he thought it was going to be just another typical afternoon of chatting, telling jokes, and idling the time away.

Little did he know, however, that a stranger was about to approach him and change his life forever.

“Dr Stennett and some other teacher come towards us and introduce themselves – it was me and ’bout three to four somebody. She start tell we about a parenting programme,” he explained. “Because I was the one that really find it interesting, I say to my fren dem ‘mek we go, cause we nuh have nutten a do’. So, we take a walk go over there.”

Unemployed at the time, the then 28-year-old enrolled in the newly established Parental Skills, Education, Fitness and Nutrition Club at the Boys’ Town Infant and Primary School, despite his and his friends being the only men present. Just two years later, he had emerged as a graduate of its first cohort, a model father, and as a pillar in his community for young men and children.

As he credited the chance experience for moulding him into the man and father he is today, his hope is that more men will take their role as a father more seriously.

“I learned a lot, you know. Everything I know pertaining to parenting, I learned at the centre. Some man a go think that is a babymother fi always be there for the kids like that … I always make sure I’m there and it’s at least 50-50 with my partner,” McDonald said. “Even recently, my babymother was sick and she called on me. Is me had to take the kids to the clinic. And even when I was there, the nurse dem applaud me.”

A past student of Denham Town High School and a father to three – two stepchildren from a past relationship and his biological daughter from his current relationship - McDonald said he feels a deep sense of fulfillment in his role as ‘daddy’. He is particularly pleased since he never had the opportunity to interact with his father on a meaningful level.

“I don’t really grow with a father. My father died from a tender age. I was about seven years old. Him and my mother wasn’t living together or anything, so because of his absence, my mother was my mother and father,” he said. “My ultimate dream is to always have a sturdy relationship with my kids. Mek sure dem excel and come fi see them pass the worst, and can say, ‘yea, I was there from a foetus to baby stage until they are adults’. I always want to be involved in their lives.”

Today, the intervention programme continues to be administered at the Family Care Centre in Boys’ Town by psychotherapist, Dr Christine Stennett, and it is still the only one registered to host parents and children. Serving Trench Town, Denham Town, Tivoli Gardens and their surrounding communities, it offers psychosocial and economic training for parents, as well as academic training including City & Guilds mathematics and English classes. It is primarily funded by the C.B. Facey Foundation, which functions as the charitable arm of PanJam Investment.

“We had a dire need for a family care centre in Boys’ Town simply because we found that the parents, based on their level of parental skills, needed greater empowerment in being able to take responsibility for their children and families. So, establishing a centre where they could learn and grow with their children while getting the opportunity to sharpen their skills was vital,” said Dr Stennett, who officially founded and launched the centre in 2018. Its reach currently spans nine communities in the area and one of its major achievements to date has been enrolling people in HEART TRUST/NSTA programmes in order to train them for careers in childcare, cosmetology and food preparation, among others.

“On the social front, we’ve seen the change,” Dr Stennett continued. “The cognitive and behavioural changes in the lives of the individuals and families who access the programme are measurable as it is observed in how they interact with the children and are better able to manage their households, which has contributed to a more peaceful environment, with reduced domestic violence and abuse of children in the community.”

She added, “The bedrock of society is the family. So, if we are effectively able to have the family strengthen themselves and empower themselves, we can have a better society. Because there is no society without families.”

Describing McDonald’s journey of transformation as a “success story”, C.B. Facey Foundation Executive Director Anna Ward said she is happy to be part of the change. “Curtis’ story is one that explains why we do what we do. We want to make a positive impact in our local communities by addressing the root issues and we’re happy that the family care centre has been doing just that over the years,” she said. “Through our funding, parents and guardians from Trench Town and the neighbouring communities can feel more empowered to take on their responsibilities in raising our future leaders.”

McDonald hopes that men realise that fathers, like mothers, are pillars in the development of a child’s emotional wellbeing and that their role does have a great impact on a child’s emotional, cognitive and social development. Reflecting on his past, he said, “Before the programme, I was a violent person. Right now, the whole community look pon me different because them never really see certain side of me until I attend that programme. Certain things I used to do back then, I cannot do now because me is a motivation to the youths dem inna the community. It just set me pon a different path.”