good morning. this is "news 4 your sunday." good i'm pat lawson muse. today we celebrate fathers and l we takeok at some of the ways local programs are supporting fathers and families. we begin by introducing you to a father and son whose relationship has been through many phases. two men whose trials and experiences have helped to strengthen their bond. joining us now are eric wear sr., chairman of the national association for the advancement of returning citizens. also joining us is his 29-year-old son eric weaver. thank you both so much for being with us on a day like this. it's a special day and your storysp is ial. this is your first father's day together and you actually get to

start it together with us.or but the s behind the reason that it's your first is a rather extraordinary story. eric senior, starting with you, you were incarcet the age of 18. tell us about that time in your life. >> well, it was a time when d.c. was the crack epidemic had just started and me being young and chasing the money and all of the glaur of what was going on at the time ended up getting incarcerated when all this type ff was going on and ended up doing 22 years in jail. had my criminal behavior. >> eric junior, you were bo while your dad was in prison. g at was it like for you growing up without him beound? >> it was difficult at times now that i can reflect to see how things would have been different if he would have been there

physicallyutor me, i also grew up in a neighborhood that my father grew up in so i still had guys there to tell me certain things. i always looked u to my father. i didn't have a role model other than my father to loo up to >> and the people in your neighborhood talked about your dad because they knew him and looked up to him. >> they looked up to him. >> you got to visit him while he was at lorton. what were thosesits like? >> riding ponies, after the basketball games, i remember the visits weren't enough. it w getting good. my mother would take . they still have to have the conversation, you're a kid, you don't understand, you want to move around. when you d t sit andlk and get that bond, it's like, okay, the visit up. >> you only have that hour and you wanted more. at one point, eric senior, you startedlewriting ters, exchanging letters. what did you talk about in the

letters? >> the letters really came once he got in trouble, was in a court involved juvenile. pretty much this kind of got him. that's when i had to be a father because i wa trying to be a friend more than a father to him. when he started getting in trouble it awakened me to concerns and i hado have some conversations with him about, you know, his decision making and that really trying to follow in the steps of me and trying to stay focused and stuffike that. >> so as the years went by you uere in the juvenile system, wound up incarcerated yourself in a d.c. jail? >> yes. >>ouou both up there at the same time. >> yes. >> how does that happen? >> i actually came back -- i was in the federal system. i believe i was in indiana at the time and he got locked up

and i was coming bck for someone with me who was giving their time bac in court a they called me back as a witness for that and i was able because i sll had a relationship with another officer, i was able to ask them to move me in a unit where he wat. and so we got to be around each month.or maybe a >> and you got to spend time with him. what was that like? >> it was amazing. i mean, me just looking at him, i found myself looking at him all the time. he looks like me.n, agefore that, i was looking all over the jail tcause i hadn't seen him in so many years tryin see what he looked like or when people walked past me i wondered if it was him or not. >> a lot of years passed since those ear years at lorton. he had grown up and changed and him.didn't really know >> exactly. it may have been seven or eight years since the last time i saw m. >> yeah, yeah. wow. must have been quite an experience.

we're talkingith a fathe and son, eric weaver sr. and his son eric junior andow their lives have turned around. we'll be right back. here's money for pizza. here's the wi-fi password, but, if you go online while the boys are online the internet can slow down and... they don't like it. you guys don't have fios? [mrs. jennings] oh-no. but it's a 100% fiber-optic network with ridiculous speeds. you could have, like, a hundred devices online at once. interested, talk later. bye boys! don't even think about going online. woah... i can't work like this. the 100% fiber-optic network means more speed for more devices at once. so get a fios triple play with a 2-year agreement, and choose a free samsung chromebook 3 or credit towards other samsung tech.

for tthere's no place like rocfloor & decor.s, you'll find the largest in-stock selection of tile, wood and stone. you have to see it to believe it. visit us in-store or online at flooranddecor.com. we continue our talk with a special d.c. father and his son on father's day. eric weaver sr. when your son was incarcerated, he continued meeting people who knew you and hearing stories abouyou. other inmates and staff talked about it. was that theeginning of the organization? >> so i kind of thought reaching out to the yunger population, i noticed a whole lot of young guys coming in jailn that d have any direction and so they

started following me and actually it was the chaplain at the correctional institutionth she told me i was the new joshua and iidn't know anything about the bible so i had to goread it and it was when moses died joshua was the one that took over anded the people and she told me that people were following me and i had toe decide wh did i want to leave them. and so that's kind of what made me just start reaching out to the guys and maki sure that if you were going to follow me, i would lead you in the rig direction. >> wow. the national association for the advanceme of returning citizens is your group and what do you do? >> we educate, mobilize so making them aware. a lot of them didn't even know they could vote. d.c. being a unique city, they

come home to vote and helping get webs. o a support group which is like a peer support group. navigate through the barriers of re-entry and ran by people who have success with it. and shedding some of those layers of the emotions we had. >> and you work with other organizations. >> we work a connect with them and they allow through them i am able to go into the institutions as well. i talk the guys before they even come home. >> eric, you've recently come home. >> yes. >> you spent a long time away. how are things with you now? >> they're muchbetter.

i came into a persuasion to a father that did years incarcerated before me. i had to navigate not onlyh throe same system but in the same city, in the same environment with the same people that i have to negotiate with w. he's already opened those doors to me. i meet so many people in position to help me succeed in mye because they already m father prior to that so they know the bloodline and the dedication that we haveinto he the community. >> so he's really helped you transition. >> yes. definitely. >> so what's itto likebe together now? >> to use a basketball analogy, i feel like if shaq and kobe got back together. it's the greatest feeling. i spent ten years incarcerated. you wait for it. you wait fou it when really don't know. you hear stories about being reunited with your family.

we have a unique bond. i can't explain it. every day i wake up i just feel happy soday being father's day and our first father's day i perfect.e it's i can't wait to surprise him today. i can't wait. >> and to me it's still an adjustment because sometimes he's saying, dad, and i havto remember that he's talking about me. so sometimes he might have toor say than once for me to know. >> really? it's an adjustment. it's a good adjustment. i'm happy every day i think about it. i waited so many years to actually be out he with him. when he came homeua was ay in switzerland when he was released. i didn't know he was release this had day and his mother kept calling my phone, kept calling. called like 2:00 in the morning and she was like, answer the

phone. your son is home. so i shxt back the n day from switzerland and the whole plane ride i couldn't wait toet home to see him. >> this is such an inspiration and i can't thank you enough for sharing it with us and with everybody who is watching. i know that, eric, you have a big surprise planned for ydur on your first father's day together. >> yes. >> and we're not going to ask you to share it on the air because we want it to be a surprise for you. thank you both. eric and eric weaver. bless you both. >> bless you. >> we wish you a lot of happy years together. >> thank you. >> thanks for having us. and up next, two programs working to help fathers and sons turn thei on numbers, the numbers of young men incarcerated today. we'll be right back.

the or fnization 100thers is a group working to change the way fathers and men are viewe by society. joining us now are clinton lacy, director of the rehabilitation services also joining us is frank malone who is fouer of the 100 fathers incorporated. thank you bo so much for being with us. we just met eric weaver sr. and h eric junior.

while eric was incarcerated his s became involved with juvenile services in the juverile justice system un our agency supervision and you actually help get that letter writing going and the fostering of that relationship which is part of wat you . >> i think that's a reflection of ourop phil, our approach and people who understand that the key to servinge anding young people involved in the amurt system is to help them build strongies to connect them to their loved ones. it's not surprising that our staff that we call youth development representatives, not see ctional officers, who their role as helping young people to develop, mst of all strong relationships with their family. >> mr. malone, we know the importance ofn fathers the lives of their children. you founded th organization, you say to try to change the wan

fathers and are viewed by society. what do you mean by that? >> if you brought up a father, it was an afterthought. education and planning, the father was the after thought and we wanted to move men out from the shadows into the familynd the community. and so we founded this ornization to educate and train, to change the paradigm as role models and the past islation that would pu fathers in the lives of their children. and th is happening right now. there's been a change when i started for where we e now. actions have decreased. the child support agency, most of the people they're looking for so it's dissipating. and so there's a time when fathers can be celebrated. fatherhood is not just fath's day, either. it's 365 days a year and 24

hours and 7 days a week and we love and care about our children. >> int, fa your organizaton called absent fatherhood a disease. you're working on the cure. >> absolutely. b we'inning to make that happen fathers are coming to the plate to stand up and be heard. and we're advocating -- we've been getting calls from institutions, prison institutions, and the community to come in and train men. we advoce that you get fatherhood training to become a better dad and involve yourself in your community as role models and it works. >> what are some of the ways you are doing that and prioritizing theunding and the distribution of services to families where fathers and families need help >> exactly. and i think priorities is the right word.

we prioritize investment in communities and investment in dmilies as oppoo an investment and incarceration in residential placementaking young people out of their homes and out of the community. and so we're pouring resources into an initiative we call the credible message mentoring.er eric wea sr. is one of the great credible messengers. those who have the message and the credibility through their shared life experiences to bring messages of hope and redemption to those who are at risk. we see eric junior a messenger in his own right and a powerful combination wad have that in some ways sad and tragic story of incarceration. they're working with other people being mentors. we fund that program for credible messengers to wrap around young people and dads to become important parts in the lives, important people in the

lives of their young people and their families. >> mr. malone, the thing that we saw, that we see in these two is a cycle and this cycle is ending it well. o en don't see that. that contributes to the perception on the part of many that, you know, well, black men don't want to take care of their they're not around, they don't want to be dads. and you're not seeing that. yo don't even see it in the incarcerated community. >> no. first i want to commend mr. lacy on his innovative program. he stepped out of the box and did something different that making a difference. i also advocate that we take it further. now, yes, they don't see fathers and men that are doing great jobs because, personally, i don't think they're looking for it. the latest research on theapa, the cdc, and the pugh report

says that young fathers and black fathers are sme of the best fathers and most involved fathers in the world. look it up. they care about their children and families m thht need some training. guide it and for. support. they do care about tchir ldren and families and want to make a difference. that's why we're there. we get calls for men who want to make a difference but don't have the tools. we bring the tools to make you e er father. and here's the matrix, love, connection, engagement, enlightenment with spiritual regeneration brings empowerment. >> all right. >> and that's how we do it. >> e're going tock up on that point right after we take another break. we'll be right back.

welcome back. we' talking about fathering on this father's day. mr. malone, you were talking about some of the tools needed to shape the lives of youth and to supportil fs. can you pick up on that point? tools that aret needed today work today. >> sure. young people, those who are involved in all of us as human beings need to love our self, to have coping skills, to have conflict resolution skills. we need to have peer association skills. need a number of other skills to navigate and be successful ie society but atoundation we need love. and so love is a word tt we think is more than just a sentiment but it's an action, i pouri to young people and families, the care, the compassion and the support that they need th we would give to our own children, to our own family members, and so that's whaanymentoring effort or the credible messenger effort or any attempt to really help young people, help fathers in particular but overall help

families become empowered we have to love them. we have t provide the care and the investment and all of the things that franou talks a to help people develop to become ilcure, empowered dads, sons, mothers and fmembers in this whole village. >> and, mr. malone, you said we're beyond just mentoring. >> yes, we are. we also want -- i want you to know i'm connected not just through the commissioner for the city for fathers, men and boys, i'm a member te fraternity which points itself to fatherhood, a network, a national network that we work here. but we're looking for resources in the community before the criminal justice system. those resourceshat a spent incarcerating people should be ple from venting p being incarcerated in the first place. and the tools should be support,

empowerment, boundarand expectation, constructive use of time, committed to learning, positi values, social es competenand, at last, positive identity. they are taught best in the community. the community can do better what the governmentr the criminal justice system. i think he's on the right path because it's got to be some rehabilitation in the system. when they come out they won't be there forever. we have to put some resources in the community andthat's what we're advocating. >> do people come to you just call you up, look you up online? >> we're at www.100fathers.org and are working with parent help which is a national network and will tell people that number is, we have a number people can just call and get help so we're connected. >> they can look it up online.

and do you charge for your services? >> our services, it depend. we have contract and agreement. we stick to that. h we try p no matter what we can do. we try to get you to the resource. >> okay. and you have the resources as well. >> right. and we're u set to serve young people but our approach and philosophies, we serve the whole family, the whole community.n we just wait for kids to come to the court system. we go out in the community tog brmpowerment, to bring love. >> okay. the apprch that you have described is very comprehensive and we thank you so much for being with us. happy father's day to both of you. >> thank you so >> all righty. and to see any of our news 4 your sunday progams logon to our website nbcwashington.com and click on your communy. i'm pat lawson muse. we'll see you next week. for the latest innovations in water-resistant flooring,

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6:00 this sunday morning. seven people had to be rushed to the hospital after a late night head-on crash in montgomery county. protests spread as the trump administration is splitting up families as ty arrive at the border. and choosing between saving cash when they go out or giving a big raise to thousands of workers. that's the big issue coming up for vote thek. first, welcome in on this sunday morning, happyy father's o all of the dads out there. i'm adam tuss. >> today iyour day. >> it is. >> do i get to take a n>>?