WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – A father himself, inside linebacker Omar Speights knows the importance of a positive male role model in a child's life.

So, it was an easy decision to support Project Fatherhood for his cause for My Cause My Cleats for a second-consecutive year.

"Where I come from, like, different problems and stuff like that, I think that kind of stems from just sometimes the lack of positive male role models in kids' lives," Speights said. "And I just think that, just shining a light on that, shining the light on the fact that having a positive male role model affects the children coming up in so many different ways."

Created in 1996, Project Fatherhood at the Children's Institute offers Weekly Fatherhood group sessions, education on building healthy relationships and parenting skills, employment services and financial literacy workshops, fun events and activities for fathers to do with their children, and access to resources for growing their family such as groceries, diapers, car seats, gift cards and more. More than 15,000 fathers and 23,000 children across Los Angeles County have participated in the program in more than two decades since its inception, according to the program's website.

Their director, Keith Parker, was one of the Rams' community "pLAymaker" honorees in 2023, so it's a program the Rams know well.

Project Fatherhood's core service is the Men in Relationships Group (MIRG), which offers comprehensive support at no cost for fathers from diverse backgrounds. Fathers from all backgrounds having that kind of community as a resource stands out to Speights.

"It can be for, like, single fathers and stuff like that, but I just think just fathers in general, I think it's really cool to be able to have a resource and find a community where other fathers (are)," Speights said. "Because nobody perfect, we always trying to get better. Some people might be doing better than others (with) fatherhood and stuff like that. And some people may be going through some things, whether that's with parenting just trying to balance things in life. So just being able to have community, and be able to learn from other people, be around other people that have lift you up, and have resources like therapy and different things like that, that you could lean on, I think that's just positive for whoever needs it."