For some kids, the idea of being a leader is as remote as the idea that they can become an astronaut. But Kalamazoo’s Charlie Parker doesn’t want it to be.
The 74-year-old is the co-founder and executive director of Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E., a local organization formed in 2013 to help “youth understand the importance of being a leader and what a leader looks like.”
“A leader’s not always the person out front all the time,” Parker says. “The leader is the person behind the scenes, listening, pushing, encouraging and giving directions.”
The P.L.A.C.E. of the organization’s name stands for Pursuing Leadership and Community Engagement, and while the organization’s education, athletic and skill-development programs are youth-focused, the organization also involves families and the community in its work.
“Through Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. we give families a place to come in fellowship and be involved with their kids,” Parker says. “We get the community involved with building leaders.”
Although the organization does not have a place of its own, it is taking steps to find property and build a multipurpose recreational center and is seeking donations to make that dream a reality.
Parker estimates that Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. programs touch the lives of more than 5,000 youth and their families annually. Its four primary programs each year are a mother/son dance in May, a summer Youth Basketball League, the Kalamazoo County Track and Field Meet in August, and Trunk of Treats on Halloween.
Other Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. endeavors include judo and self-defense demonstrations and classes; a summer reading program; a two-day youth basketball minicamp where young people learn body conditioning, fundamental basketball skills and sportsmanship; and a support program to assist families in need.
The organization also collaborates on community events such as co-sponsoring Kalamazoo’s annual Memorial Day Parade with the Kalamazoo Sunrise Rotary Club and is involved in the Kalamazoo Promise’s Beyond the Backpack program, an event in early September to provide students with information and resources regarding basic education, socio-emotional and physical health issues, literacy, and recreational and enrichment activities.
All of these efforts are meant to be in keeping with the organization’s motto: “Sowing seeds of hope, reaping a harvest of dreams.”
Early involvement with youth
Long before Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. was created, Parker was heavily involved with developing youth in the community. He worked for Kalamazoo Public Schools for two decades as a football, wrestling and track coach and as a behavioral specialist; served as director of program development at Lincoln Program Center and for Kalamazoo’s Parks and Recreation Department; was a client advocate within Kalamazoo County’s Public Defender Office; and worked with the Boy Scouts of America and the YMCA.
His credentials include an associate’s degree from Kalamazoo Valley Community College (1982), a bachelor’s degree in social work from Western Michigan University (1988), graduation from the Kalamazoo County Reserve Police Academy (1971), and attainment of YMCA senior director status (1990).
While at the Boy Scouts of America in 1971, Parker became part of the group who started the Youth Basketball League, a summer program teaching basketball fundamentals, team building and social skills.
He took over the YBL program in 1982 when he became outreach director for the YMCA. While the acronym “YBL” stands today for Youth Basketball League, Parker explains that those letters initially represented the involvement of the Y, the Boy Scouts and the Lincoln Community School, which became involved in 1992. When Parker left the YMCA in 2003, he developed the Community Outreach Committee, which became the new organizer for the YBL.
Over the years, the games have been held in a variety of facilities. In 2024, the YBL games were held in a newly renovated gymnasium at the Douglass Community Association on Paterson Street.
“Everyone is invited, no matter the skill level,” Parker says. “For some kids it’s their only opportunity to play organized basketball. We get the families involved. It gives them something to talk about around the supper table. They share it on Facebook. The kids see their mom and dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles cheering for them and supporting them. That’s what it’s all about.”
James Ray, who played in the YBL in the 1970s, says, “I had all kinds of relatives who watched me play.” Ray went on to be the point guard for the Loy Norrix High School district championship team in 1978. Ray’s son also played in the YBL, and his 16-year-old grandson plays now.
“YBL is about sportsmanship and camaraderie,” Ray says. “The teams are like family, and Charles is always teaching, helping people reach their potential.”Gwen Lanier, who has cheered for her three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren playing in YBL games, says the program “is one of the most organized sports programs in this community.”
YBL celebrated its 53rd year in June and now has 27 teams involving 270 youngsters, girls as well as boys. Parker’s daughter, Tiffany, became commissioner of the league in 2010 and developed a co-ed league for third- and fourth-graders as well as a two-day co-ed basketball camp for third- to ninth-graders. Many of these girls and boys become varsity players at Loy Norrix and Kalamazoo Central high schools.
“Our intent is to develop scholar-athletes,” says Parker, “so this year we encouraged all our players to read one book of their choice and do a one-page book report and also attend leadership and sportsmanship workshops.”
Recreation figures into several of Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E.’s programs, including the annual Kalamazoo County Youth Track and Field Meet, held in August and hosted in collaboration with Gazelle Sports to encourage youth to keep active and moving. This free event is open to all youth ages 5 to 14, and no experience is required. More than 125 youngsters participated in 2023. This year’s meet, held at Kalamazoo Christian High School, drew 155 participants.
Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. also hosts Trunk of Treats annually on Halloween in the 1900 block of Krom Street near Parker’s home on Kalamazoo’s Northside where community members and volunteers line the street with decorated cars to pass out candy to participants.
Trunk of Treats officially began as a Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. event in 2013, but in the last decade, has grown immensely. “We had over 2,000 people in 2023,” Parker says.
Involving families
But beyond providing an opportunity for families to watch children participate in sports, Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. also aims to create family engagement through events such as the annual mother–son dance, held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel and attended by 400 people, including mothers with their babies.
“You see moms out there dancing with their sons, playing games, having a ton of fun,” Parker says.
“And we have moms who are 60 or 70; they bring their sons who are in their 40s or 50s. We don’t discriminate. We’re wide open.”
Parker and his organization also promote gentlemanly conduct. When a boy and his mother enter the dance, Parker says, “we tell them, ‘Open the door for her and stand behind the door. Let your mom come through and smile at her.’ That’s part of being a man, an adult. To respect their mom and all ladies.
“I’m always looking at ways to help kids build positive images and not let other people define who they are.” Parker says he applied this philosophy when raising his six children and now does so with his six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
His family encouraged him in 2013 to bring all the various programs and efforts he was spearheading in the community into one entity and to call it Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. Parker says he was hesitant at first. “I’m a behind-the-scenes person. I didn’t want them to name it after me.”
Yet, he acknowledges that Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. brought his various skills and interests together in one entity. But most of all, he was simply motivated to help young people. “It’s better to get the kids involved now, while they’re young. The money spent on youth camps and programs is nothing compared to trying to get them out of jail.”
Several of his children and two of his grandchildren are involved with Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. and serve on the board of directors, and other grandchildren and great-grandchildren are also involved in the organization.
Parker says that 95% of the young people who participate in Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E programs are students who attend Kalamazoo public schools, but youths from other Kalamazoo County communities, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor and even Detroit also participate. “That’s how big our programs have grown,” he says. “Everybody’s welcome. We don’t turn anybody away.”
Regardless of the activity, Parker says, Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. “is all about giving youth an opportunity they normally wouldn’t have to be in the spotlight and feel good about themselves.” He adds that this exposure has led some youths to find beneficial, community-service employment in all parts of the city and beyond.
Lanier, who is co-founder of Mothers of Hope, a nonprofit that helps people with substance abuse issues, says, “Charles and his daughters come out and work with people where they are. They reach a lot of kids down in the trenches.”
Currently, Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. operates out of Parker’s home and conducts its programs in rented facilities, but the board is looking for suitable land on the Northside to construct a building where they can conduct more youth programs and parenting classes. “We want to have three gyms and a community room that will hold 300 people and a second room for classes and office space,” says Parker.
He expresses gratitude to those who promote the organization’s efforts through word-of-mouth and funding from private donations, grants, and individuals who pay a fee to participate in some of the programs.
Parker is motivated by what he sees as the need for young people to know their history and not allow anyone to take that knowledge away from them. “It’s important,” he says, “to know where you came from, where you’re at, and where you want to go. To take responsibility for making your own future and writing your own history and not let other people do that for you.”
