June 13, 2025
Fathers Matter: How Larry Young and EveryStep Are Making Dads and Families Stronger
“Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers and fathering is a very important stage in their development.” –David Gottesman
Raising a child and building a family is the biggest challenge a man will face in his life. And doing it – and doing it right – will bring the greatest rewards in his life. It is the most important thing a man will do – and he will do it without a manual, without instructions, and without a finish line. It is a lifetime commitment that men walk into blindly.
The path men blaze in fatherhood can be set for them by their own fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers before them. But where do men turn for help if they didn’t have a positive role model in their life to guide their journey? Where do they turn to learn to be a good father?
At EveryStep, we turn to Larry Young. Larry is the director of EveryStep’s ‘Fathers Matter’ program. In fact, he is army of one within our offices with a mission to make men better husbands and fathers. “I love challenges, so it works out very well for me,” says Larry.
A part of EveryStep’s Healthy Start program, Fathers Matter provides assistance and guidance specifically for fathers. As Larry will tell you, men don’t like asking for help. Men sometimes view asking for help as a sign of weakness. So how do you overcome that?
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“I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren’t trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom.” –Umberto Eco
Larry introduces himself to fathers in the program by having them read ‘Larry’s Story’ – an autobiography highlighting the successes he’s seen in life – his business and community leadership - as well as the failures – including divorces and the loss of connection with his own kids.
“I learned by my mistakes in life,” Larry says in his story, “I am going to help you be the dad you should be! The dad your children will love and respect and need!”
Larry started the program in 2016 and has helped dozens of fathers grow as men in the last nine years. “A lot of dads, fathers feel that it is mom’s job to raise the kids. No, it is not! Dads are so important for children,” Larry writes in his story, “They have something that moms don’t! They love, play and discipline differently and the kids need that!”
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” –Frederick Douglass
Larry says no two cases that he’s taken on are the same. Each father faces unique challenges and have unique resistance to asking for help. One thing is universal in his approach to offering that help – Larry makes sure that it is a two-way street.
“I make sure that they have goals to do in order to help them out,” he says, “I try to push them to get goals taken care. If they don’t do it, I tell them I can’t help them. I don’t want to enable them.”
“When you’re a dad, there’s no one above you. If I don’t do something that has to be done, who is going to do it?” –Jonathan Safran Foer
Through the years, Larry has helped with everything from assisting a young father to get the laptop he needed to complete a degree to aiding immigrants and non-English speakers navigate the complexities of finding insurance and discovering other local agencies. “There’s was one father who went out and bought a car but didn’t have his license or insurance,” Larry says, “I worked with him to get his license.”
As with everything in life, Larry says he’s seen successes and failures within the program. It’s not uncommon for fathers to walk away from the program – a fact he contributes to the stubbornness all men have. But its not uncommon for some of those hard cases to eventually reach back out to him once they see the light.
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“I had one dad who was the primary caregiver for his kids,” says Larry, “I helped him do a bunch of different things.” Frustrations in his life eventually lead him to quit the program, but that wasn’t the last Larry heard from him. “He came back a few months ago and said we really helped him out.” Now in his 40s, the man is finally working to get his GED.
“My father didn’t tell me how to live. He lived and let me watch him do it.” –Clarence Budington Kelland
Larry’s vision for Fathers Matter is simple – teach men to be a good example for their kids and set them on the right path and overcome generational deficiencies in fatherhood. “Your children will most likely have children. They will be your grandchildren and great grandchildren. Give them the education, the experience, the happiness they need to raise their children with the highest standards,” Larry writes.
Fathers enrolled in the program will receive up to two visits per month at home from Larry. They’ll discuss what’s going on in their home and work with Larry to find ways to overcome the roadblocks keeping them from being the dad’s that they want to be. That includes tips on parenting, raising healthy kids, and keeping them safe.
“It’s been a challenge, but it’s been a good challenge and I’m happy that I’m doing it.”
Fathers Matter is offered through EveryStep’s Healthy Start program. The program offers comprehensive assistance to families struggling to find services in their community. The program offers a hand-up, not just handouts. We work with parents to make their families stronger by requiring education and training along with donations of goods and services.