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The Father Center helps area dads be all that they can be By SUe FerrArA In 2008, Karen Andrade-Mims, then a longtime board member for New Jersey’s oldest nonprofit, was asked to take the helm of the organization. She imagined she had been chosen as the next leader to steer the organization into the future. Instead, she was told by board members that they wanted her to manage an orderly shut down of programs, and ultimately, to dissolve the nonprofit. The organization was called the Union Industrial Home for Destitute Children of New Jersey, and had been in existence since 1859–so by 2008, the organization was almost 150 years old. Andrade-Mims wasn’t ready to let the organization fade away, especially under her leadership. Instead, with some guidance and thought, she led the transformation of the nonprofit by re-focusing its mission on helping fathers—and by extension, their children—to live better lives. And thus, after a rebranding, Trenton is now home to The Father Center. The Father Center currently runs two programs: Operation Fatherhood, which started in 1993; and WorkFirst NJ, a
program The Father Center manages on behalf of Mercer and Burlington counties. The men who land on the doorstep of The Father Center come for one of two reasons, and enter one of those two programs. Operation Fatherhood helps men who are behind in child support payments. Men entering the WorkFirst NJ program receive financial assistance from the state, funding which only lasts five years, so WorkFirst NJ helps them reach financial independence. In both cases, the men need to ultimately find employment. What path they take to reaching that goal depends on the person. Some participants want to earn a high school diploma, AndradeMims said, and The Father Center can help them achieve that goal through a program at Mercer County Community College. Others want to go directly to work, but need skills. Those men can participate in a program called Bridges to Success which is a short-term credentialing program. The Father Center addresses needs with virtual programs which participants access through the center’s computer lab. But two programs–one to train forklift See FATHERS, Page 8
Linda and Steven Fonseca outside Turtle Beans Coffee Roaster on Farnsworth Avenue in Bordentown.
Turtle Beans invites Bordentown to slow down and smell the coffee By JOe EMANsKi Growing up in Costa Rica, Steven Fonseca was surrounded by coffee. His mother, Ada, used to pick coffee beans with Steven and his sister, Samy, by her side. It was the family’s main source of income. Later, Steven worked for the largest coffee company in the Central American country, which is known the world over for its
high quality coffee beans. As a missionary for his church, he moved to Seattle, a city known for its love affair with coffee. There he became a pastor and met his wife, Linda, and together they became habitues of Seattle’s many coffeehouses. Ada, meanwhile, had settled in New Jersey. A few years ago, after Ada became sick, Steven and Linda and their golden doodles, Nala
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and Gordo, moved across the country to help her. They settled in Hamilton, and Steven became a pastor at a church in Princeton. But he grew dissatisfied with the direction the church was going and his inability to make it a more welcoming place for all. So he quit his job and together with Linda founded Turtle Beans Coffee Roaster, first in his home and See COFFEE, Page 5
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