Proud to Be From Pittsburgh

Proud to be from Pittsburgh: Mad Dads

PITTSBURGH — They're an army of green. Their battleground is the streets. The group of men is armed with two weapons: prayer and a desire to walk the community and make a difference.

Mad Dads, which stands for Men Against the Destruction Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder, has been walking the streets of Pittsburgh for the past 10 years to bring positive change to members' communities.

"A lot of things that go on would simply not take place if the men in the community would just stand up and be dads," said George Spencer, president of Pittsburgh Mad Dads.

The group patrols the streets at all hours.

"Chaos never stops, so we have to be there when it's happening or when we're requested," said Donald Giddens, street patrol director.

The members of Mad Dads talk to neighbors, offer compassion and provide resources in the communities across Pittsburgh and Allegheny County hit hardest by crime and unemployment.

"It's a walking conversation," said Spencer. "It's a walking crime watch. It's walking dads playing ball with children. It depends on who's out and what makes sense to do that day."

Some of the members have felt firsthand the toll violence has taken on the area. Spencer's 75-year-old father-in-law was murdered at a bar. It's tragedies like that, and a passion to uplift area communities, that keep Mad Dads going.

"Some of the things that occur are simply out of our hands, but what we can say is being a presence in the community will always help in that we'll be supportive to a young man or woman," said member Ernest Bey.

Right now, Mad Dads is concentrating its work and street patrols in Wilkinsburg, Clairton, the East Hills and Homewood. Still, the group knows crime and drugs are everywhere.

"We need to be a brotherhood of fathers," Spencer said. "We got the jacket on in the Hill District, we got the jacket on on the North Side, we got the jacket on in Bethel Park and other communities. Let's put the 'neighbor' back into the 'hood.'"

For more information on Pittsburgh Mad Dads,