Read the great profile in the Christian Science Monitor of OSI-Baltimore advisory board member, Joe Jones, founder and CEO of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF).
In the piece, published in the Monitor’s “People Making a Difference” section, Jones talks about his struggles growing up – his absent father, his heroin addiction and multiple incarcerations on drug-related charges which subsequently led to a residential drug treatment program.
Those formative experiences, which also included a job with the Baltimore City Health Department working with pregnant women with substance use disorders, led him to first establishing informal support group for men, which ultimately led him to found CFUF.
He believes that investing in responsible fatherhood can reduce poverty and “can be the greatest crime prevention strategy we can find in this country.”
Jones has received numerous awards and honors for his leadership and activities, including the Johns Hopkins University Leadership Development Program’s Distinguished Leadership Award, the Walter Sondheim Public Service Award and the White House Champion of Change Award, and recently served on President Obama’s Taskforce on Fatherhood and Healthy Families.