Mentor of the Year - Charles Thomas Jr.

Charles Thomas Jr. has helped young men stay out of trouble and keep on the right path for decades. He has mentored at-risk boys and helped them create a better life. In 1999, Charles formed an organization called RESULTS (Reaching Every Student Using Love Training and Support) Mentoring. The nonprofit targets underserved youth and provides mentoring and redirection/behavioral intervention. Charles has served more than 12,000 hours with his organization and raised $800,000 to support mentoring, tutoring and redirection programs for RESULTS. He has also worked in collaboration with other organizations to take 40 young men annually on an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., and New York.  As part of their journey, they visit historical sites and learn from positive male role models. Charles knows that he alone cannot fill the mentoring gap for the young men of Detroit, and he has joined forces with churches and other organizations to recruit others to serve. In recognition of the many mentors that are making a difference, Charles sponsors an annual awards dinner to honor them for helping Detroit youth reach their full potential. His dedication and passion are a true inspiration to many, as is represented by this praise of one of his mentees, “I’ll forever love and appreciate what you did for me. I was an extremely lost youth, and you took the time out to make sure I didn’t fall into the cracks of life!”