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The news said there are no good father figures around. James Savannah wasn't having it.

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In the summer of 2013, James Savannah became a full-time single parent almost overnight.

The change came after his ex-wife hit a rough patch and their kids moved in with him. He went from seeing his kids only during school breaks to being their full-time caregiver.

With three children to care for alone, the transition was rough, to say the least — and was made even more difficult by the fact that he was in between jobs and didn't know where his next paycheck was coming from.

"I cried hard because they deserve more than what I was giving them at the time," says Savannah.

All images via Minute Maid.

But this hardship only made him more determined to succeed at one thing: being a great dad. "I just had to step my game up," he says.

The news kept feeding him the story that there aren't enough "good father figures" anymore, which bothered him a lot.

“That’s not true,” Savanah says. “There are so many fathers that inspire me on a daily basis.”

Feeling both personally concerned and universally motivated to create a sense of community among the great fathers of the world, he decided to do something about it.

Check out Savannah's full story:

He was living paycheck-to-paycheck trying to provide for his kids, and he decided it was time to step up his game.
Posted by Upworthy on Monday, July 17, 2017

Savannah created a hashtag, #ProudDads, and started tagging his own photos and tweets as well as photos of others dads doing an amazing job.

I don't care what anyone says. Being a dad is the coolest thing ever!!!....#prouddads
— James T Savannah (@James T Savannah) 1445663666

The goal was simple. "Let's just show what good fathers really are," he said.

Savannah also launched an event called Fathers First to help equip, uplift, and inspire other fathers to be great dads and offer them a support system.

"I hope ProudDads [is] a place where they can go to receive the help that they need, wherever they are in the process," Savannah explains.

Savannah's kids wanted to do something to thank him — and to show their "proud dad" that the feeling's mutual.

They wanted him to know how proud they are of him — and how grateful they are for everything he does for them — so they decided to present him with a special care package.

In it, they gave him a framed hand-drawn family portrait titled "Proud Kids" and a heartfelt letter.

"I hope you know that you have some very proud kids to match your proud dad," they wrote.

Savannah's story reminds us that there are so many dads who are involved in their kids' lives — even though sometimes it isn't depicted that way in popular culture or the media.

Fathers that are very involved in day-to-day parenting are often considered "exceptional." Too many people assume that they must take a less-active role. But there are lots of great dads out there, and Savannah wanted to raise their profile with #ProudDads.

And Savannah couldn't be more proud of the role he plays in his kids' lives.

"The good of parenthood far outweighs any challenges that you have," Savannah says. "Just your kids being happy with no cares in the world, this is what you live for."

Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

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Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

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A post shared by 𝐍𝐘𝐂 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐒𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐝® (@nycbrunchsquad)

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

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friendship

Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

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money

Identity

One man turned nursing home design on its head when he created this stunning facility

"What if we design an environment that looks like outside?" he said. "What if I can have a sunrise and sunset inside the building?

92-year-old Norma had a strange and heartbreaking routine.

Every night around 5:30 p.m., she stood up and told the staff at her Ohio nursing home that she needed to leave. When they asked why, she said she needed to go home to take care of her mother. Her mom, of course, had long since passed away.

Behavior like Norma's is quite common for older folks suffering from Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia. Walter, another man in the same assisted living facility, demanded breakfast from the staff every night around 7:30.

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Health

If you're grieving a loved one this holiday season, here's a gift you can give yourself

After losing her almost-4-year-old daughter to epilepsy, Kelly Cervantes created a "grief companion" that meets people wherever they are in their grief journey.

Images courtesy of Kelly Cervantes

Kelly Cervantes wrote her way through grieving the loss of her daughter, Adelaide.

Kelly Cervantes begins the Introduction to her book with five words: "Grief sucks. It's also weird." It's a concise truth that anyone who has lost a loved one knows all too well.

Grief is a universal experience—none of us get through life without loss—but it's also unique to each person. Most of us are familiar with the popular "stages of grief" theory, but denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (along with guilt and a host of things) are less like sequential rungs on a ladder and more like pools you fall into at various times as you stumble your way through the grief process. Grief is not linear and it's not neat and tidy and it's not predictable.

Take it from someone who's been there. Kelly Cervantes lost her daughter, Adelaide, to epilepsy just shy of her 4th birthday. Using writing as a therapeutic tool to help her process Adelaide's medically complex life, death and everything that came after, Kelly created the book she wished she'd had as she was trying to navigate her own grieving process.

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grief

The news said there are no good father figures around. James Savannah wasn't having it.

In the summer of 2013, James Savannah became a full-time single parent almost overnight.

The news kept feeding him the story that there aren't enough "good father figures" anymore, which bothered him a lot.

Savannah created a hashtag, #ProudDads, and started tagging his own photos and tweets as well as photos of others dads doing an amazing job.

Savannah's kids wanted to do something to thank him — and to show their "proud dad" that the feeling's mutual.

Savannah's story reminds us that there are so many dads who are involved in their kids' lives — even though sometimes it isn't depicted that way in popular culture or the media.

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

"What if we design an environment that looks like outside?" he said. "What if I can have a sunrise and sunset inside the building?

92-year-old Norma had a strange and heartbreaking routine.

Confusion is common in Alzheimer's patients, but Makesh knew there had to be some way to minimize these conflicts.

Instead of rooms or units, each resident gets a "home" on a quiet little indoor street reminiscent of the neighborhoods many of them grew up in.

Instead of a boring panel ceiling, residents look up and see a digital sky, which grows dimmer late in the day to help keep their biological clocks in tune.

Throughout the day, nature sounds and fresh aromas like peppermint or citrus are piped in.

For Makesh, this isn't just about making patients comfortable, though. He wants to change how we think about the endgame of severe dementia.

Of course, we're a long way from a cure for Alzheimer's.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

Trameka Brown-Berry was looking over her 4th-grade son Jerome's homework when her jaw hit the floor.

The school assignment was intended to spark debate and discussion — but isn't that part of the problem?

The assignment was real. In the year 2018. Unbelievable.

The shockingly offensive assignment deserved to be thrown in the trash. But young Jerome dutifully filled it out anyway.

"You, white friend, need to speak up and say something when I can't."

1. You're going to have to get uncomfortable.

2. "Your black friend would like to say something to the racist lady, but doesn't want to appear to be that 'angry black man.'"

3. We are constantly monitoring our surroundings and adjusting our clothes, hair, speed, and speech to maintain white comfort.

4. "Your black friend wishes you'd play more than Beyoncé. There are more black performers than Beyoncé."

5. Speaking of which, performative blackness is really uncomfortable.

6. "Your black friend feels like a man without a country."

7. We would love it if we could stop talking about our anxiety and frustrations regarding racism. But right now, that's impossible.

The billionaire passed away on November 28 at the age of 99.

After losing her almost-4-year-old daughter to epilepsy, Kelly Cervantes created a "grief companion" that meets people wherever they are in their grief journey.