Updated 6:29 p.m. June 5, 2026.
For the past decade, the Dads’ Resource Center has helped hundreds of single fathers in Centre County and beyond to have an integral role in their children’s lives.
Now with the opening of its first office location at 612 W. College Ave. in State College, the nonprofit organization is expanding its services to provide help for fathers who are victims of domestic violence, and to offer space for father-child visits.
Dad’s Resource Center also will continue to assist single father’s facing barriers in family courts and human services while advocating for the importance of both parents being actively involved in the lives of their children, whose well-being is the central focus. Since its founding, DRC has assisted more than 300 fathers in Centre County and a total of 500 statewide.
“There’s a real need to support single fathers,” said Joel Myers, DRC founder and the founder and chairman of AccuWeather. “There’s a crisis in this country where too many children are growing up in single parent households, [as many as] 35%, amazingly, and single fathers often don’t have the support they need. There are resources for mothers, but there really has not been a resource available for single fathers. We feel for the benefit of the children it’s quite important that both parents be involved in the lives of their children.”
The new domestic violence services for fathers, DRC executive director Jeff Steiner said, will provide resources similar to those offered by organizations like Centre Safe, which offers services and resources for both women and men.
Assistance will include helping victims initiate the interview process with police for investigations, apply for an order of protection from abuse, providing support through court proceedings and more.
“It’s very overwhelming, and there is a lot that they need to process,” Steiner said. “So it’s important to be able to hear them, give them time to tell their story, validate them, help them to start figuring out what they do and do not have control over, and to move forward by prioritizing what is important to them, what they really need or want, and to take action toward that to be able to become better empowered.”
An experienced counselor prior to his work with DRC, Steiner brings a foundational skill set to the new services. He also turned to international experts and organizations for guidance in establishing the program.
“We’ve reached out to the Canadian Centre for Men and Families, the ManKind Initiative from the U.K., other academics and researchers from the United States and again outside of the country, to be able to be as well advised in what we’re doing, because there is nothing like this that exists in the United States,” he said. “So we’ve gotten people to share information with us about their programs outside the country, and that’s helping us do what we’re doing.”
The services grew out of a general need — 30% of men in the commonwealth have reported experienced physical violence, sexual violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner within their lifetime, according to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania —and DRC’s experience working with fathers who experienced physical, mental or psychological abuse by a partner, Steiner said.
Myers added that, as it is for women, it’s important for men who experience intimate partner violence to not feel shame or embarrassment for accepting help.
“It’s to their benefit psychologically, as a person and for their children to acknowledge if they’ve experienced violence,” Myers said. “Men are less likely to acknowledge or even recognize themselves, perhaps, that they’ve experienced violence. The first thing is recognizing it. The second thing is acknowledging it and dealing with it so that they can start to help themselves recover, psychologically and practically, and be a better father.”
The new office, meanwhile, helps to provide a centralized location for accessing those DRC services, as well as a comfortable space for supervised visits. Located in a converted home, the office offers a comfortable, relaxed setting and includes a children’s play room.
“The location is ideal for what we’re doing right now,” Steiner said. “It’s an incredible space. We’re grateful that Dr. Myers was able to donate this to the organization. It’s perfect for what we’re doing. It’s also going to be ideal for the services that we’re going to provide with visits and visitation.”
DRC has been assisting more fathers each year, and Myers said it is important for dads who need help to know there is a place they can go.
“That’s part of the reason we established a physical presence, an office, a place where people can come, knock on the door if they need to and say, ‘Hey, I need help. I don’t know what to do. I am in this situation.’ That’s what we’re trying to do,” Myers said.
Fathers can connect with the Dads’ Resource Center by calling 833-323-7748, emailing info@dadsrc.org or through the organization’s website.
