Connections

Fallout from fatherless homes

By Evan Dawson,

Megan Mack, Julie Williams

Published November 19, 2025 at 3:55 PM EST

Four men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has very short dark hair and is wearing a grey button-down shirt with beige pants; a man front right has short dark hair and is wearing a blue button-down shirt, jeans and brown shoes; a man back left has short grey hair, a grey beard and is wearing a maroon sweatshirt; a man back right has short grey hair and is wearing glasses and a plaid button-down shirt. — (foreground) Felix Ortiz, (background) Louis Curwin and Mike Hennessy with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, November 19, 2025

By some measures, Rochester has the highest percentage of fatherless households in the country.

We meet mentors who are working on mitigating the effect of absent fathers, and we talk about what kids miss when fathers aren’t involved.

In studio:

Louis Curwin, mentor
Mike Hennessy, executive director of Youth For Christ Rochester
Felix Ortiz, mentor

Connections

Evan Dawson

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.

See stories by Evan Dawson

Megan Mack

Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.

See stories by Megan Mack

Julie Williams

Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.

See stories by Julie Williams