Celebrating Fathers like Scot on Father’s Day 2017

June 8, 2017

Father’s Day is a simple reminder to celebrate all of the different kinds of Dads in families across the country. Here’s to the dad who makes time to coach his daughter’s softball team. Here’s to the single Dad who juggles the responsibilities of parenting with the demands of his job. Here’s to the stay-at-home dad who manages the house so his wife can run her business or go to school. Here’s to the Grandfather who is “un-retiring” to take his grandchildren into his home.

On this Father’s Day, we want to highlight one father in particular: Scot. Scot first told his story to staff and members of Congress at a briefing sponsored by the National Prevention Science Coalition. Thanks to them, and Scot, we are able to tell it here.

Scot is a dad in Ohio where he and his wife Brenda participate in a Healthy Families America program. Their story began when their son Anthony was born two months premature. The birth was so sudden that it was Scot himself who delivered him; after Brenda went into labor and while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, Scot welcomed his son into the world in the bedroom of their family home.

After the birth, Scot and and his family spent a lot of time in the hospital. While Anthony was staying in the NICU, the nurses told Scot and Brenda that their child would be developmentally behind. Wanting to do more for their son to prevent these delays, the new parents signed up for Healthy Families America while still in the hospital.

Now their family has welcomed Betsy, a home visitor, into their lives.