Rotarian David Steele, founder of Dads of Steele, was our speaker on Dec 6. Prior to founding Dads of Steele, David worked in social services for 14 years. He noted that absent fathers was a common denominator troubled children shared. When he and his wife lost their one-day-old daughter, Aubrey, he realized that a support system for grieving fathers was lacking. His wife seemed to have more opportunities to cope with her grief. David wanted to build a place to support grieving dads, especially as he appreciated the important role dads played and he wanted them to be available to their other children.
 
Dads of Steele is now a 501(c)3 non-profit with the motto “Committed, Connected, Courageous”. They have grown to 6000 followers on Instagram and they have a podcast.

Grieving dads find them via postcards at hospitals, word-of-mouth and Google searches. They offer various opportunities for grieving dads to find support, such as a support group phone call every Sunday morning. Their events have included a 3- on-3 basketball tourney, Christmas Karaoke, and organizing to send pencils to Kenya.

Their website is dadsofsteele.org