The Manhood Tree

When a group of men is in a room together, the discussion usually remains at the surface, focusing on sports or debates, or switches to lower-level thinking regarding women. The Manhood Tree group is an opportunity for men to express their thoughts and seriously reflect on their choices, relationship ideas, and personal boyhood-to-manhood journey while learning from other men’s experiences.

The Manhood Tree group is a facilitated, nine week group process that includes a weekly individual check-in with each participant. Through The Manhood Tree groups, the goal is to help men look at their lives—where they have been, where they want to go—and determine the changes they will make to improve and encourage growth in the future. The Manhood Tree groups seek to get men to think about their lives fully, from boyhood up; identify their needs and wants; recognize and address areas of their life in which they are deficient and need support; and celebrate their growth.

The Manhood Tree groups provide men with a platform to view the “six hoods” Neighborhood, Boyhood, Young Adulthood, Brotherhood, Fatherhood and Manhood and from a bird’s-eye view. In the best-case scenario, the groups will comprise a range of men of different ages and life stages. The benefit of having a group with men of different stations in life allows younger and older men to learn from each other, support one another, and share the differences and similarities in their manhood experiences.

The purpose of The Manhood Tree group is to provide men with a supported reflection of their past and a preview of their future. Through the group process, men are allowed the time to stop and think about their lives rather than operating on autopilot. The goal is for men to fill in the gaps of their history, realize the areas of their lives they needed or wanted more, reflect on their relationships, open up lines of communication with family and friends, and commit to being better men once they have assessed their lives and decided to implement the changes that will help them be the man they desire going forward.

The Manhood Tree initiatives are provided as ongoing community-based activities and events for men in the community. Our programs seek to allow the true voice of men be heard through their stories and in our groups, the beauty of their brotherhood to be displayed through our photo shoots and documentaries and the bonding with their children and friends through our community events. Too often, men and fathers are presented through the lenses of an old narrative of manhood and fatherhood when in actuality men are taking a more active role in the lives of their children and are more open to addressing the trauma that may be holding them back in their lives. The Manhood Tree provides a portal for men to express their full self and surround themselves with other men who are working on being the best version of themselves as well.