{"id":15005,"date":"2012-06-14T16:01:38","date_gmt":"2012-06-14T20:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=15005"},"modified":"2012-06-14T16:01:38","modified_gmt":"2012-06-14T20:01:38","slug":"happy-fathers-day-single-fathers-share-more-than-bloodline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=15005","title":{"rendered":"Happy Father\u2019s Day: Single Fathers Share More Than Bloodline"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON<\/strong>
\n Sentinel City Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oftentimes, the lives of some family members seem to mirror each other. In some instances, they even experience the same things at the same time.<\/p>\n

This is the case with Tampa brothers, Vincent Campbell<\/strong> and Willie Campbell, III<\/strong>. Both men are single parents, entrepreneurs, and ministers.<\/p>\n

The duo are the only offspring of Mr.<\/strong> and Mrs. Willie<\/strong> (Frances) Campbell<\/strong> and both are assistant ministers at Embassy International Christian Center. They are also graduates of Hillsborough High School.<\/p>\n

Willie<\/strong>, 37, is self-employed as a Computer Technician.\u00a0 As an entrepreneur, he has the opportunity to attend conferences and some of the functions his children may be involved.<\/p>\n

Willie<\/strong> is the father of four children, Daveen<\/strong>, 17, Jordan<\/strong>, 15, Tia, 11, and 7-year-old Justin<\/strong>. He was by no means a stranger to fatherhood, but his experience was one of having two parents. He obtained custody of his two younger children after a divorce. \u201cI was not really prepared for being a single parent. It\u2019s a lot easier when you\u2019re married,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, for the last year, he has learned a lot about parenthood. One of the most obvious, \u201cYou can\u2019t treat them all the same. You have to realize that each child has his or her own personality.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willie<\/strong> describes himself as somewhat of a flexible parent most of the time. However, when it comes to their education, his children know that school is important.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome things I\u2019m strict about, and school is one of them. If they don\u2019t pass, it\u2019s my fault. They are not going to do their best unless you\u2019re on top of things.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for single parenthood, Willie\u2019s<\/strong> advice to others is, \u201cIt\u2019s challenging, but keep your head up and have an idea in mind of how you want your children to be because what you produce is what you get.\u201d<\/p>\n

His brother, Vincent\u2019s<\/strong> journey into single parenthood came about suddenly. He and his wife, the late Janice Campbell<\/strong> had a daughter, and she was pregnant with their second child.<\/p>\n

Two weeks after Jonathan<\/strong> was born, his wife died. Vincent<\/strong>, 34, suddenly found himself raising a 2-year-old daughter and a newborn son.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenges of raising a newborn were new to me. I really had to learn about programs such as WIC and Head Start, which helped a lot. I\u2019m doing a lot better, but it was a challenge at first.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been in the youth industry as a mentor. But fatherhood is a whole different ballgame,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Vincent<\/strong> describes himself as a kind of \u201claid-back, but disciplined type father.\u201d For him, each day is a learning experience.<\/p>\n

Both men credit their parents with helping them when possible. Vincent<\/strong> said, \u201cThe only way you can really make it, is through the help of God,\u201d and his brother agreed.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vincent<\/strong> works 40 hours a week, and when time allows, he spends time repairing computers and creating graphic designs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor Oftentimes, the lives of some family members seem to mirror each other. In some instances, they even experience the same things at the same time. This is the case with Tampa brothers, Vincent Campbell and Willie Campbell, III. Both men are single parents, entrepreneurs, and ministers. The duo […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15005"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15005\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}