MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Ty LeRoy still remembers what convinced him to sign up for a fatherhood class when a group promoting the course showed up at his workplace.

Fathers Making Progress first launched 20 years ago, and one of its cornerstones is its fatherhood class. About three years ago, LeRoy said he decided to be honest with himself and check out the course.

"I had this mindset of everything's always okay and that I'm doing great, I'm doing fine," he said. "In reality, I was not always doing great and doing fine."

It didn't take long for LeRoy to look around and recognize he'd been needing something like the 'Fathers Building Fathers' course, which runs for 12 weeks. He was immediately drawn to the idea of being able to open up among others experiencing similar struggles.

"The first time I came to a space, what made me want to keep coming back is for the first time in my adult life, I heard men talk about things other than women and sports," LeRoy said.

LeRoy has remained involved with Fathers Making Progress long after his graduation. These days, he leads classes. Wednesday night, the group held a celebration for 32 men who recently completed the course.

The group's founder, Terron Edwards, said the course is about more than just becoming a better parent. He emphasized the sessions aim to instill a complete set of life skills.

"Not just about fatherhood, not just a parenting class," Edwards said. "We peel back, and we talk about positive manhood. We talk about value systems."

LeRoy said he believed the course could play a role in addressing some of the city's public safety concerns. He suggested much of Milwaukee's violences stems from young men not having an outlet to open up about their problems.

"Not to be dramatic, but I feel like a lot of us are ticking timebombs," LeRoy said. "Just walking around carrying around a whole lot of baggage with nowhere to actually put it."

Edwards said the course emphasizes discussion of values and how to build and maintain relationships with both children and significant others. He said the goal is also to build a brotherhood where clusters of men form lifelong friendships.

He added seeing LeRoy go from taking the course to teaching it is one of the most rewarding things he's experienced.

"Watching and observing that growth and leadership is the biggest thing for me," Edwards said. "It's been a joy and a pleasure."

At Wednesday's graduation, that was part of the message to the 32 grads. They were encouraged to remain in touch and keep leaning on one another as sounding boards. Part of that will include enforcing the message that it's okay to struggle.

"Trying to be the best man we can be," LeRoy said. "Not the perfect man, but the best that we can do at the moment."

Last year, Edwards said a record-high seven classes graduated from the fatherhood course. Wednesday's event celebrated three graduating classes.

The next class begins this weekend, and there are some seats still available. It will be held Saturday at the Urban Ecology Center in Washington Park, starting at 10 a.m.