Family and youth advocacy has been a lifelong commitment for Billy Davis, who moved from Washington, D.C., to Key West in 1996 to run a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development family drug and alcohol treatment program.
Three years after his arrival on the rock, Davis took a leap and launched A Positive Step of Monroe County (APSMC), a nonprofit organization with a mission to serve Monroe County’s highest-risk kids and their families.
Originally, APSMC, with Davis as executive director, was mainly focused on local kids. But because a large percentage of the young people the organization serves come from homes with absentee dads, in 2019 APSMC launched the Southernmost Fatherhood Initiative. The free program is designed to provide supportive training for dads, including incarcerated ones, to develop new skills in parent, co-parent and child relationships.
Only a few years ago, William “Trey” Ashing, now 44, was finishing a stint in the Monroe County jail. At that time, he had a daughter in the Wesley House Family Services foster care system, and a son he barely knew in another state.
Ashing heard of the Southernmost Fatherhood Initiative during his incarceration and was keen to participate, but at the time there was a waiting list, so he was not able to begin the program until after his release.
“Both my parents were amazing,” Ashing said. “But I was a troubled kid; they just couldn’t control me or understand me. When I lost custody of my daughter, my mom, who had been diagnosed with cancer, was so disappointed and worried. I knew I had to change my life before she died.”
Highly motivated and seeking to regain custody of his daughter, Ashing completed the fatherhood curriculum, as well as a Wesley House Family Services program, while also attending the Key Bridge substance abuse counseling program. A master carpenter, he went to work for Keystar Construction, a Spottswood company, which he says was very supportive. He did not have a car of his own, and would use public transportation to spend time with his daughter in Key Largo and Miami.
Before Ashing could be eligible for a driver’s license, he had to pay off about $2,500 in fines and warrants accumulated in Florida, Oklahoma and Arkansas. When he had paid off all his fines, Ashing provided the receipts to APSMC, and through Southernmost Fatherhood Initiative grant funding, APSMC was able to reimburse him, making it possible for him to buy a truck.
Since then, Ashing also pursued and was awarded custody of his son. He said that when his mother passed away, he knew she was proud of the man he’d become, and he and his father now enjoy a close relationship. Today, Ashing lives in St. Petersburg, where he works with a construction company handling commercial and residential projects. He and his kids are now also half of a blended family of six.
“You change how you live, people start to recognize that, and eventually you meet someone good,” he said. “Elizabeth had a son and daughter. I had a son and daughter. Now we are one family, along with Liz’s mom, who also lives with us.
“I’m living proof that men can change,” he said. “A man can change his stars. A lot of people say, ‘These guys don’t change; deadbeat dads don’t change; druggies don’t change,’ but anybody can change. It’s just a mindset. Once you change your mind, then it’s one step in front of the other, one day at a time. Everything adds up in the long run.”
According to Davis, the Southernmost Fatherhood Initiative program welcomes Monroe County dads, stepdads and grandfathers with children under 18. Along with a curriculum consisting of 12 two-hour sessions, the program also offers support in the form of introduction to 12-step programs if needed, GED referrals, OSHA training, job coaching, construction job referrals and case management, he said.More information is available from Davis at 305-304-1969 or APSMCCRP@aol.com or at apsmc.org.
