SPRINGFIELD, IL — Michael Phelon, the founder and executive director of The Outlet, a program that gives fatherless youths in Springfield a place to plug into positive relationships and activities, recalled a traffic sign reading “No outlet” hanging outside the agency’s birthplace, in the 2500 block of South 12th Street.
“That was our first building and where our organization kind of took off and Brother Marcus was a big part of that,” said Phelon, in a recent interview with The State Journal-Register.
Everyone, Phelon said, knew Marcus Butler Sr. as “Brother Marcus.”
It was a term of reverence and sincerity.
“When you’re talking about community and family, there’s no better way to connect with somebody than by saying, ‘I’m your brother or I’m your sister,'” Phelon explained. “He’s always been Brother Marcus to the community.”
A brother, but also a father, a mentor and a coach, Demetrius Young of Springfield told a gathering at The Outlet July 1.
“He was all those things,” said Young, who met Butler at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Illinois. “He was always an uplifting person. He gave good advice.”
About 60 or so people, including Butler’s wife, Monica Walls-Butler and their son, Marcus II, and Butler’s mother, Evelyn Butler of Maywood, gathered for the dedication of the 11,000-square-foot “Brother Marcus Wing” at The Outlet’s current location, 3306 S. Sixth St. Road, the former St. Joseph’s Home.
The Outlet purchased the home the year after the Catholic nursing facility closed in 2021.
Butler, who died of an asthma attack Sept. 28, 2020, may not have been part of The Outlet’s new building, but his presence is undeniable.
Phelon said the organization tried to replicate “the sense of community” from the old building while paying homage to Butler, from the music recording studio to the red and black tones of the furniture.
The renovation took about 18 months, Phelon said.
Russell Moore III, who mentored under Butler, called him “a force of positivity.”
“He had so much wisdom, so much charisma,” Moore told the crowd. “There was never a dull moment (with him). You could not not smile next to the man.”
Michael May recalled traveling with Phelon and Butler to Houston after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The Outlet was assisting another organization with cleanup, but also brought supplies and donations from Springfield.
“As soon as we got down there, the van’s transmission blew out and with the hurricane, there were no rental cars and how are we going to get back?” May said. “I remember being in the hotel room and we were like, let’s pray one more time and call the rental car place and sure enough, we got a minivan and we were able to get back home.”
“I think the reason the transmission blew,” Phelon interjected, with a laugh, “was because Marcus was pushing it the whole way down. They fixed it the next week, but we gave it to an organization, so thank you Marcus Butler for blowing up our van so we could get a new one.”
At The Outlet, Phelon said Butler was “an open book,” sharing stories with mentees about his youthful involvement with gangs in Chicago, where he had been shot and stabbed on numerous occasions. Butler served a prison sentence for aggravated battery and was living in a halfway house in Springfield when he met Phelon at a bible study at Koke Mill Christian Church.
“When you think of mentoring and you think of family and community, that’s Marcus Butler,” Phelon said. “I know if he was here, he would be a big part of what we’re doing.
“We wouldn’t be where we’re at today without him.”
Bryant Walls of Springfield said never referred to Butler as his son-in-law, only his “son.”
“He was crazy about his son and his wife,” Walls said, recalling Butler. “Not only that, he was crazy about The Outlet, about helping the young men.
“I’ve got pictures of him on my phone. Sometimes when I look through (it), I see him and I say, ‘Son, I sure miss you. But the good thing about it is, You’re in the Lord’s hands.’ That’s where I’m trying to go, whenever he calls me.”
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Exclusive: The Outlet in Springfield honors late mentor Marcus Butler
Reporting by Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register / State Journal-Register
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By Steven Spearie, Springfield State Journal-Register | USA TODAY Network
