Mission Statement: A Guided Journey Into Manhood
History
The Males Place is an incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The founder Baba Reggie Singleton, along with the board of directors has embarked upon a community and youth outreach initiatives that has already changed the lives of thousands of young men in Charlotte, NC. The project has played a major role in expanding young minds toward community and civic involvement. From a prospective of intervention through self-awareness, the organization’s by product is the reduction of the percentages of youth delinquency and gang involvement in Charlotte and surrounding counties.
Established in 1993, The Males Place has evolved over the last several years to become a vibrant multicultural community who have mentored over 3000 youth, making our mentoring program one of the largest mentoring organizations in North Carolina.
The mission of the Males Place, Inc., is to provide comprehensive and prevention-based behavior health educational programming, mentoring and life skills training necessary for manhood development for African American boys ages 12-18; while creating a safe environment for young men to grow experientially, in community settings in the United States and abroad.
We offer a holistic curriculum of programs incorporating educational, spiritual, agricultural, social, civic, recreational and cultural enrichment for our youth. We also recognize the importance of integrating artistic expression as a means of broadening the learning aptitudes of young men.
A program in the planning, but not yet offered is our collaboration with local artists that will facilitate our arts education program, instructing our young men in performance music, dance, visual art, and creative writing.
The Program Demographics
Our three tiered program of agriculture, mentoring and social justice has served a diverse population in Mecklenburg and other counties. The current mentee population is: 98% African-American; with 2% multi-racial. Throughout our 24 year existence, we have mentored to a diverse group of African American males as well as males of other ethnicities to include: whites; Hispanics; Asians; and Native Americans. 95% of our mentees are considered economically disadvantaged.
Many graduates from our program matriculated to a four-year college or university, community or technical college, enlisted in the military, entered the workforce and/or other entrepreneurial endeavors.
The Volunteer Mentors
The core group consists of 10 volunteer mentors, including our executive director, two senior mentors and seven support mentors assigned to four kingdoms of the program. Among our mentors four hold bachelor degrees with two holding advanced degrees. Three are retired military members and three employed in various leadership occupations.
The Males Place mentees have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of special interest community service programs, attend sports events, performing and visual arts programs. We provide the young men with the opportunity to learn critical thinking and problem solving skills and apply them in areas of interest over their years with the program.
The boys devote significant time, energy and resources to the planning, planting
design, and launching of a community garden on Charlotte’s Westside providing free fresh vegetables to impoverished local neighborhoods where they lack ready access to fresh produce. We believe in sustainably-grown produce free of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. The youth are involved in impactful community partnerships and projects, which vary from year to year.
For further information, please contact Baba Reggie Singleton at 704-713-3824.
About us
board of directors:
Baba Reggie Singleton
Executive Director
Khalid McRae
Board Chair
Emma Allen
Nekie Boyd
Board Member
Board Secretary
Elders and Washauris:
WASHAURI
Brother DeCarlos Boyd ,Mshauri
Ashanti Kingdom
Brother Jerome Moore , Mshauri
Dogon Kingdom
Brother AJ Simmons , Mshauri
Nubian Kingdom
Brother Varnell Bien-Aime, Mshauri
Zulu Kingdom
ELDERS
Brother Ken Smith
Brother William Jasper
Brother Franzel Cathey ( Garden)
Sister Terri Joelle
Ancestor Elders
Brother Darryl Jackson
Brother Minister P
Brother Rodney Manigo
Brother Austin Roper
Brother Horace “Huck “ Boyd