“Men travel side by side for years, each locked up in his own silence or exchanging those words which carry no freight… Then they stand shoulder to shoulder. They discover that they belong to the same family. They look at one another and smile. They are like the prisoner set free who marvels at the immensity of the sea.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Wind, Sand and Stars
The Men’s Resource Center was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1979 to provide counseling services for men going through transitions. Gerald B. Evans, the founder, was the first person in the Philadelphia area to develop a program dealing with the issues men face. Since the founding, the Center and Evans have helped thousands of men develop successful, satisfying relationships.
Beginning in the 1980s, the Center conducted Intimacy Training Seminars, a ten-month journey of self-exploration for groups of men, meeting every other week. Over the years, Evans began to wonder about the homogeneous nature of the people he worked with – they were predominantly white and middle class. For social, cultural or economic reasons people of color had not applied. To work with a more diverse group, the Center would need to move to another arena.
One arena he found is the justice system and in 1996, the Center began working with violent offenders both in and out of prison. He took a program developed for industry and adapted it for inmates with the goal of reducing recidivism. In the process, a life-skills training program for men in prison was developed, and support services for men on parole were initiated.
In 2001, based on the success and satisfaction of working with men having committed violent acts, the Center began a domestic violence intervention program and anger management for men in the community. Evans currently serves on the Mayor’s Commission on Domestic Violence in Philadelphia.
Over the course of his work, Mr. Evans has come to believe there are few real differences between the man in prison and the man on the street. Both are to one degree or another disconnected from their feelings, struggling in their relationships and capable of violence.
Evans has facilitated sessions at Brown University, Bloomsburg University, Temple, St. Joseph’s, Drexel, Hahnemann, Penn State, and La Salle, as well as private corporations including Verizon (formerly Bell Atlantic) and General Electric. He has been featured and interviewed in People, Self, USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Boston Globe.
He has appeared on the NBCs Today Show with Jane Pauley, People are Talking, Good Morning New York and radio shows across the country. Evans holds Masters Degrees in Social Work and Divinity.
Contact the Center for current offerings in the above program offerings.