Contributed by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Rho Theta Zeta Chapter
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Invites Public to Community Celebration
KALAMAZOO (MICH.) – In the month devoted to fathers, two new Kalamazoo organizations that black fathers founded—Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. and The Fatherhood Network—will be honored by a women’s service group. The former serves youth, and the latter helps men and fathers.
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc.’s Rho Theta Zeta Chapter will recognize both grassroots organizations for their commitment to building strong families at a public “Celebratory Brunch” at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 30, 2018, at the Douglass Community Association in Kalamazoo. (See details below.)
“There’s a lot of resources and supports for women and mothers, and that’s great, but we can’t talk about healthy babies or healthy communities and not be healthy fathers,” says Jacob Pinney-Johnson, a married father of two who is one of the leaders of The Fatherhood Network.
Children who are close to their fathers are two times more likely to attend college or find stable work after high school, according to The Fatherhood Project in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. They’re 80 percent less likely to go to jail, and 75 percent less likely to have a teen birth. They also have fewer behavior problems and have better self-esteem, the group says.
Longtime youth advocate Charles Parker, former Senior Program Director at the YMCA of Greater Kalamazoo and later Assistant Youth Program Director for the city of Kalamazoo, founded Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. (Pursuing Leadership and Community Outreach) in 2013 to teach youngsters to be leaders and to encourage parental involvement. Programming ranges from a summer Youth Basketball League and a reading initiative to a mother-son dance.
Single father Kevin Lavender Jr., owner of local independent record label Truth Tone, created
The Fatherhood Network in 2015 to provide discussions, family-friendly outings and other supports to fathers, such as “Barbershop Talks” in hair-grooming establishments so men have a safe setting to discuss the “real issues” they face.
Neither group has been honored before, says Brittnei Averhart, event chairwoman and vice president of community service projects for Zeta Phi Beta’s Rho Theta Zeta Chapter, which serves the Portage and Kalamazoo area and is part of a nearly 100-year-old, worldwide sorority of diverse professional women. Averhart says the chapter started its community recognition luncheon last year to generate increased awareness about important work by and affecting people of color.
“It was to recognize people that are doing things in the community that might not get the recognition that they deserve.”
Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E. and Fatherhood Network representatives are thankful to be honored, but say they’d do what they do anyway.
“We’re not aspiring to be great dads to get accolades,” says Kevin Lavender, who started The Fatherhood Network three years ago. “So, to be honored, is much appreciated. It is blazing a bonfire within me. It’s like pouring gasoline on me. It’s deepening my passion.”
Adds Charles Parker, creator of Charlie’s P.L.A.C.E.: “I’m a doer. I’m not the type of person to take accolades. What needs to be done, I do it.”
For tickets ($25 per person), go online to Eventbrite at: http://bit.ly/rtz-fatherbrunch
For more about the event, visit the Facebook page for Zeta Phi Beta Sorority – Rho Theta Zeta Chapter, or our website at https://www.kzoozetas.org/
For more about our honorees, see our fact sheet. For a feature story on them, visit wmuk.org. Here’s the link: http://bit.ly/ZetaHonorsDads