'I can never give them too much': 22-year-old Iowa City father also mentors community's youth

When Davonte Foster graduated from Iowa City High School in 2018, he didn't expect to be raising a child less than two years later.

But he'll celebrate this Father's Day with his son, in addition to the young adult men throughout Iowa City that he's been mentoring.

Foster, 22, enrolled at Waldorf University to play football, a lifelong goal, he said. He played one season, then returned to Iowa City, where he was told he was expecting a son.

"I found out the day after I turned 19 years old," Foster said. "I had dreams of playing college football, possibly pursuing a career in football."

Foster said he did not know how to react to the news he was going to be a father. After a day of thinking, he realized he needed to broaden his horizons to include a whole other human being.

Foster started working three jobs to garner as much income as possible for his future child.

When Zion was born in 2020, Foster said he found a new reason for living.

"It just stopped me from hanging around certain things and certain people, because I knew I didn't want to go down the wrong path," he said. "I just stopped living for myself."

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As Foster was raising Zion, he realized the amount of time he was spending with his son wasn't enough. He decided to go to court to try to receive as much visitation time as possible. It was there he found out Zion was not his biological son.

"It was a big hit on me because I put a halt to everything that I had going on. I sacrificed everything, and I have a lot of love for him, still to this day," Foster said. "I've loved him more than I love myself, more than anybody else. So that kind of shattered me and it took a real toll on my life."

'He gave me another purpose': Second son enters Foster's life

The news left Foster feeling lost.

In the midst of figuring out how to continue being a father to Zion, Foster learned he was expecting another son. When Legend was born in 2021, he said it brought him out of the darkness he had been experiencing.

"He gave me another purpose," Foster said. "To this day, he's my bright light. The reason I wake up and go to work every morning, the reason I work from sunup to sundown, the reason why I make sure that there's always food on the table, the reason why I make sure I always keep a roof over my head."

Throughout his process of becoming a young father, Foster was able to lean on and receive advice from family members. People like his mother, father and grandmother were influential in teaching him how to be a good parent.

"As you get older, you realize it's kind of instilled in you because that's how I was raised. My grandma had cancer. She had to raise her grandkids, and she was still doing what she could do for kids, and she never complained once," Foster said. "So I don't have an excuse to not give them everything that they deserve in this world."

Along with his family, Foster credited much of his success to Frederick Newell, executive director of Dream City, Iowa, and a father figure he looked up to while growing up.

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Foster met Newell in 2010 when he and a friend were wandering around Iowa City. Newell invited them to come to the Dream Center at Dream City, Iowa, a local nonprofit where youths can spend time relaxing, playing games, reading and engaging with one another.

'I immediately saw maturity in him': Mentor becomes father figure

From that moment, Foster spent his adolescent days at the Dream Center being mentored by Newell. For Newell, it was remarkable to see Foster transform from a boy into a young man and eventually into a father.

"I immediately saw maturity in him when we found out that a child was on the way. He instantly began to change some of the things he was doing, became a lot more responsible, found employment that would allow for him not only to take care of him and his child, but to prepare at home for a child before he was born," Newell said.

Newell was there for Foster as he entered fatherhood. He said they had discussions about the importance of fathers taking on responsibility and being active in their children's lives.

"I've seen him literally grind and be a 24/7 dad," Newell said. "To see him care for his baby sons, cook for his sons. ... To see him spend quality time with his children, it's just been a joy."

In addition to being a father to his two boys, Foster serves as a father figure for other young adults in Iowa City through Dream City, Iowa. Newell said Foster has always been a leader and is a great mentor to the young adults.

"There are so many young people that can learn from a person like him how you don't allow life circumstances to have you create excuses," Newell said. "I think he's an amazing role model. I think he's an amazing father. I think that he's an amazing leader within our community that I can't wait to see how he continues to grow and develop."

Foster said he loves being able to act like a "big brother" to Iowa City youth and teach them what they need to know about life.

"It's just the cycle that I would like to carry on. It did a lot for me. It worked wonders for me, and it just prepared me for the real world," Foster said. "I'm just trying to instill that same thing in kids under me and prepare them for the real world as much as possible."

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The kids look up to Foster the way he did Newell growing up, he said. Often, the kids talk to Foster about wanting to play sports professionally, and he said he takes the time to remind them how important academics are as well.

"I can use my athletic abilities to be able to tell them, well, my athletic abilities didn't mean anything if I wasn't doing what's right in the classroom, or my athletic abilities don't mean anything if I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do," Foster said.

'He's always a good role model': Foster looks after teenager

Jameer James, 15, has been attending Dream City and has known Foster since he was young.

Foster never treats James like a kid, he said. James said he has looked up to Foster and has watched the choices he has made.

"He's never doing bad things he doesn't want me doing or any of my family members, my brothers, doing. He's always a good role model when he's around us," James said.

James said Foster has always been there for him on any issue he may have.

"We didn't talk as much during the quarantine but he always texted me and checked up on me all the time," James said. "Even when I was having rough times at school, we just sat down and played games and he just would talk to me and tried to help me out."

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Foster continues to work for both Legend and Zion to provide the best life he can. Every moment of work has been worth it, he said.

"I feel like I can never give them too much. I feel like I always want more for them," Foster said.

"It is never enough when it comes to your kids. You want to give them the world. You want to give them everything that you didn't have growing up."

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City native Davonte Foster serves as a father figure to young men