The District Chronicles

Issue date: 7/26/09 Section: Neighborhood

Media Credit: Jan Ransom James Hall and his daughter Ja'Mya

She sat in the wooden chair at the dinner table but she couldn't stay still. She hopped up and latched onto her father from behind and hugged him as he prepared fried chicken wingettes and salad.

"My eyes are named James Hall because I have eyes like my daddy," said 6-year-old Ja'Mya Hall.

James Hall is 23 and a single father. He and his daughter Ja'Mya live in a cozy apartment on 19 St. in Southeast, DC.

Hall became a father at the age of 17, while he was in the eleventh grade attending Anacostia High School in Southeast.

He was with Ja'Mya's mom for a year and three months in Baltimore where they lived with her family until they parted ways.

He had only spent a month away from Ja'Mya when he found out that she had been placed in child protective services. He immediately filed for custody of Ja'Mya when she was three months old.

Hall said Ja'Mya's mother attempted to gain custody of her but she did not follow through. He said her mother called once after she turned two. Hall hasn't spoken to the mother of his child since.

To support himself and Ja'Mya, he worked at a demolition company, was on public assistance, received social security, food stamps and worked a number of other jobs including a car dealership company, an internship with Councilman Kwame Brown, was a data entry clerk with Councilman Marion Barry and he worked for a year and a half with the Peaceaholics.

Hall relocated from his mother's house because they weren't getting along, he said. He began staying with a friend. Hall eventually found out about the Fatherhood Initiative Program, which at the time was located at a United Planning Organization community service center in Northwest. The program helped him through school, financial issues, problems with his mother and housing.

"I just did it," Hall said of completing the eight week-long program. "As a teen you don't wanna' think you need help," he said.

Teneysa Goodwin was the Fatherhood Initiative Program Assistant when Hall was in the program. She said he found his "direction and focused on the things that he needed to do," which included finishing school.

The DC Fatherhood Initiative is a five-year-old program funded by the Department of Human Resources which supplies a $50,000 grant towards the program.

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