Charles
Betterton
has
a vision: a Kankakee
filled
with
successful,
motivated
people.
He
knows there
are
motivational
resources
out
there
that
change
lives.
His
own
life
was changed
at
age 16 when his mother
gave
him
a
copy
.of
"The
Power
of Positive
Thinking"
by
Norman
Vincent
Peale.
Other people respond to audio and video tapes,
seminars or even one-on-one success coaching.
Betterton's vision is to make all these things
available in one place.
"For a number of years, I have been developing a
plan for helping more people take advantage of
state-of-the-art development training resources," he
said. "I think it can best be done through a network
of locally initiated learning Centers, he said.
Betterton's local venture, the University
for Successful Living, offers a "smorgasbord of
resources", including motivational and inspirational
cassette tapes, access to national quality
motivational speakers, classes on time management,
and success coach training.
The USL also gives other communities
the chance to establish their own Centers
for Successful Living. A showcase Friday will
present Kankakee County with an overview of what is
available.
Betterton calls the Center for Successful Living
Showcase, an all-day event at the downtown Kankakee
Executive Centre, a chance for area businesses and
non-profit organizations to spend the day
experiencing hour- long mini-sessions that
demonstrate different motivational resources.
Registration is $25 a person for the half-day
session or $50 for the full day. It will also give
them an opportunity to regain their inspiration and
learn how to motivate others. Betterton, 49, will be
one of four professional trainers making the
presentations.
He has created a number of the seminars and
workshops himself. "I've been designing development
training seminars for 25 years. My first program,
the Introduction to Personal and Professional
Success Techniques, is still in use. In fact, it's
one of the 10 programs offered at the showcase," he
said. He is also affiliated with and owns
distributorships for a number of related
success-oriented programs.
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Betterton of Stelle arrived from his home state of
Mississippi about 20 years ago with a long history
of accomplishments. By the time he was 19, he was
involved in community development in the Mississippi
Delta, establishing a youth program where 'kids of
both races could get together and hang out."
That experience led to work in the National Disaster
Relief Program, where at 24, Betterton set a record
by finding housing for 107 homeless Xenia, Ohio
tornado victims in one day. He has served as
Kantakee's Director of Community and Economic
Development, a position he assumed at the request of
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
By that time, he had picked up a master's degree in
Community Economic Development and had become a
certified trainer - one of 200 world-wide for Brian
Tracy International. He was a co-founder of the
local CAN DO! and is now working on establishing CAN
DO! Organizations and Centers for Successful Living
in other areas.
Betterton says the centers can also make available a
wealth of state-of- the-art training and development
resources. "These resources are usually targeted
only to the top 5 percent of the people in corporate
America," Betterton said.
"What
makes the centers special is our commitment to reach
as many of the other 95 percent as possible." When
the local CSLs bring in a speaker, the profit
generated stays in the community.
A
Les Brown/Norman Vincent Peale speaking
engagement in 1990 drew a standing room only crowd
to Kankakee. “People from over 200 cities came to
that event," said Betterton.
Betterton is simultaneously working on a Success
Center Partnership with the housing authority in
Muncie, Ind., which he later hopes to introduce to
some 3,500 public housing authorities throughout the
country.
He just returned from a trip to the Bahamas, where
he conducted strategic planning and visioning
exercises for the Bahamas Association for Social
Health, the Unity Church of the Bahamas, and Vision
2020 - a group of 30 leaders who want the island
nation to lead the world in innovation and
creativity. He will return to the Bahamas this month
to continue strategic planning.
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