Q.& A. with Alba Perez, who leads a support group for fathers City Edition

• Published in: The Boston globe
• Main Author: Meagher, Christian
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston, Mass Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC 02.05.1999
• ISSN: 0743-1791

Alba Perez, 43, a family advocate supervisor at Head Start in Somerville, has been working at the center for low-income families for five years. Two years ago, she and Head Start director Donna Cabral started an education and support group for fathers called FACE IT. The group meets at the Community Action Agency of Somerville, 73 Union Square, on Mondays from 6 p.m. usually until 9 p.m. All fathers are welcome; dinner and child care are provided. Globe correspondent Christian Meagher recently talked with Perez about her group. A. The name means Fathers Are Critical Educators Impacting Tomorrow. Most of the fathers in the group are Latino, but it is for all fathers. Right now, we have a Haitian and two English-speaking fathers, the rest are Latino. Our goal is to include fathers in our programs and to let fathers know that they are validated {by the Head Start program} and that they are very important in the education and lives of their children. I think people in general want to be a good parent, but they don't know how. We explore our skills as parents and human beings; we talk about issues such as jealousy, diseases, prostate cancer, and finances. We also do activities like bonzai trees and cooking. We want to make sure they feel they are always welcome here. I think they feel validated in this group because they are given the chance to be heard.