For years, he watched the numbers grow.

More mentors. More programs. More excitement surrounding efforts to help young people succeed.

But instead of feeling encouraged, Levar Robinson felt frustrated. He believed something was missing.

Raised in Baton Rouge by a single mother after his father chose not to be involved, the founder of Fathers On A Mission, better known as F.O.A.M., understood firsthand the impact an absent father could have on a child’s life. 

After serving in the Navy and building a successful career in the petrochemical industry, he spent years volunteering with mentoring organizations, hoping to make a difference. Yet the more he volunteered, the more convinced he became that communities were addressing the symptoms rather than the source.

“If we keep needing more mentoring organizations,” he said, “something is creating youth who need mentoring.”

That realization became the foundation for F.O.A.M., an organization focused on strengthening fathers in order to strengthen families.

What began in 2017 as a handful of conversations at a community center has since grown into a rapidly expanding organization with two locations, a staff of six, about 60 volunteers and a mission reaching across Louisiana. 

The nonprofit provides wraparound services for fathers and father figures, whether they live in the home or not, helping men navigate everything from parenting and communication to employment barriers, financial literacy and mental health support.

The organization’s founder never expected to run a nonprofit.

At the time, he was working shift work in the plants, first at Dow Chemical and later at ExxonMobil. He had no formal business training, no college degree and little understanding of how nonprofits operated. What he did have was lived experience as both a child without an involved father and as a single father himself.

Initially, he tried taking the concept to other organizations, hoping someone else would launch a fatherhood initiative. No one was interested.

“So I prayed about it,” he recalled. “And I felt like God was saying, ‘I didn’t give this to somebody else. I gave this to you.’”

The answer terrified him.

He had a stable career, child support obligations, a mortgage and a lifestyle he enjoyed. Leaving corporate America for nonprofit work seemed unrealistic. Still, the idea would not leave him alone.

So he started small.

He rented space at a community center and created a plain-paper flyer advertising a discussion called “The Life of a Single Father.” Two men showed up. They talked openly about the complexities, joys and traumas of fatherhood. The next month, he hosted a conversation for married fathers. Then came sessions on talking to children about hygiene, relationships, sex and communication.

Month after month, he used his days off to facilitate meetings.

At the same time, local schools began inviting him to speak at father-daughter dances and fatherhood events. His own daughter eventually encouraged him to host one himself. He secured a small venue, charged fathers $5 to attend and personally covered most of the decorations and expenses. Sponsors slowly began stepping in. Attendance grew. So did the organization’s visibility.

By 2020, F.O.A.M. was beginning to gain momentum when the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything.

Like many organizations, the group shifted to Zoom. Weekly online meetings quickly exploded in popularity, drawing as many as 150 to 200 participants at a time. Men logged on from their cars, homes and workplaces seeking honest conversations about fatherhood, relationships and life struggles.

Then came a pivotal moment.

A representative from the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services contacted the organization after hearing about the virtual sessions. Soon after, the founder met with then-Secretary Marketa Walters, who offered F.O.A.M. a $250,000 contract.

There was just one problem.

“It was reimbursement-based,” he said with a laugh. “I didn’t even know what that meant.”

Determined to make it work, he took out a personal loan, hired two employees and opened the organization’s first office. Four months later, he made another life-changing decision: leaving ExxonMobil to run F.O.A.M. full time.

Today, the organization’s work centers on meeting fathers where they are, without judgment.

Some fathers come seeking reunification with their children. Others need help learning how to communicate more effectively with co-parents or children. Some need assistance finding stable employment, transportation or housing. Others simply need a safe place to talk openly, often for the first time in their lives.

One father earned his first driver’s license in his 30s after joining the program. Another learned healthier ways to communicate with his child’s mother. Others have secured apartments, jobs or stronger relationships with their children.

For F.O.A.M., success is not defined by one outcome.

“Anything that increases a positive outcome for kids is a win,” the founder said.

That philosophy shapes the organization’s approach.

Facilitators are trained to listen more than they speak. Instead of telling participants they are wrong, they encourage them to look at situations from different perspectives. Meetings are intentionally conversational, often filled with humor, accountability and peer-to-peer support.

Men from all backgrounds sit around the same table sharing struggles many have never spoken aloud before. Professionals, laborers, fathers with custody and fathers fighting to regain access to their children all participate in discussions designed to break isolation and create connection.

“When was the last time you had a conversation like this?” the founder often asks participants.

For many, the answer is never.

The organization also addresses challenges unique to modern parenting.

Technology and screen time have become recurring topics in workshops and discussions. Fathers are encouraged not just to be physically present with their children, but emotionally present as well. The organization calls it “being there but being there.”

The founder recalls one public official attending a session and realizing he had spent years sitting beside his children while remaining mentally consumed by work, television or his phone.

“He realized he was there but not there,” he said.

F.O.A.M. also works to challenge stereotypes surrounding fatherhood.

One misconception the organization hopes to change is the belief that every absent father is simply a “deadbeat.” The founder says many fathers face complicated barriers, including unstable employment, transportation issues, childhood trauma and parental alienation, where one parent intentionally or unintentionally damages a child’s relationship with the other parent.

The organization does not ignore accountability, but it also recognizes that many fathers need support systems that historically have not existed for them.

“Some dads become dads and don’t know how to be dads,” he said.

That belief fuels F.O.A.M.’s emphasis on prevention and education.

The organization advocates for earlier conversations about relationships, parenting responsibilities and the long-term impact family instability can have on children. The founder often speaks candidly with his own children about the pain of growing up in separate households and his desire for them to make different choices in the future.

“I apologized to my kids for not giving them the opportunity to grow up with a mom and dad in the same home,” he said.

Those difficult conversations, he believes, are necessary to break what he calls “generational conditioning.”

While much of the organization’s work happens through meetings and mentorship, partnerships have become another key component of its growth.

F.O.A.M. collaborates with organizations including Goodwill Industries, Volunteers for Youth Justice, United Way and the Department of Children and Family Services to connect fathers with additional resources and services. Workforce development partnerships are especially important, helping prepare fathers for employment opportunities through resume assistance, interview preparation and job-readiness training.

The organization hopes local businesses will increasingly view F.O.A.M. as a trusted pipeline for dependable, prepared employees.

“We want employers to know if somebody comes from our program, they’re ready to work,” the founder said.

In Shreveport, the organization is continuing to expand its presence through monthly meetings, community partnerships and volunteer opportunities. Meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at Goodwill Industries of North Louisiana, located at 800 W. 70th St., where fathers can participate in discussions, access resources and connect with support services.

Ultimately, the founder hopes F.O.A.M. leaves behind something larger than a successful nonprofit.

He hopes it changes outcomes for children by strengthening the people raising them.

“We’re always trying to fix the youth,” he said. “But we have to work on the environment. We have to work on the home.”

For him, the mission remains simple.

“When you strengthen dads,” he said, “you strengthen families.”

This article was originally published in the June 2026 issue of Three18 Insider magazine.