BLOOMINGTON—Charline Whitehouse Watts of Bloomington died early on Saturday, March 9. She was 89 years old.

Charline had a fierce passion for addressing the root causes of injustice in the world and she worked tirelessly to advance initiatives that addressed them. In 1965, while caring for an infant and two preschoolers, Charline founded the Bloomington-Normal Summer School Readiness Program, Inc. (BNSSRP) to give children from historically marginalized communities access to programs that support school success. BNSSRP became the first federally funded Head Start program in Illinois. In that time period she also was a founder of Meals on Wheels and a program that extended transportation options for people without vehicles.

In 1979, having moved to the Cleveland, Ohio area and mother of 5 (and mother to deceased infant son George Bryan), Charline became involved in the Alternative Christmas movement which became a major focus of her economic justice work. Determined to extend opportunities for shopping “with a purpose” year-round, she co-founded the One World Shoppe in Lakewood, Ohio at a time when few people were familiar with the term “fair trade.” The aim of fair trade is to partner with communities around the world to provide just compensation and a ready market for goods produced through microenterprise. After returning to Bloomington-Normal in 1988 she co-founded a second fair-trade shop called Crossroads; both of these shops are still thriving today, educating customers while giving them a way to “shop their values.”

Charline also worked as a Hunger Action Enabler for 5 years for the Presbyterian Church, USA, and led hunger action work in Louisville, Kentucky. Through these positions she helped churches and communities advocate the policy changes needed to address the root causes of hunger, while also administering food aid programs. In her final years, Charline continued advancing her vision for a more compassionate and just society through conversations with Bloomington leaders about creating an Office of Civic Imagination. She was convinced of the need for a more powerful shared vision and the importance of “tangibilitating” that vision so as to turn civic dreams into civic realities.

In all these initiatives, Charline cared deeply about collaborating with others to bring them into being. She was energized by her many close relationships with friends who shared her vision. She loved to laugh and delighted in spending time with life-long friends and her large family. She learned clowning skills and made many people laugh through her antics, in full clown dress and make-up. With her husband, Dick, she gave many workshops on Mr. Rogers, Dr. Seuss, and the importance of humor.

Charline is survived by her husband of 67 years the Rev. Richard G. Watts; brother David Whitehouse; her children, their spouses, and grandchildren: Kevin (Lisa) and children Bryan (Lisa) and Eric (Hilary); Deborah (Martha) and children Rachel (J) and Peter (Sehar); Rebecca (Jon) and children Noah and Amina; David (Taiye) and son Rahmello; Beth (Jason) and children Brendan (Trang) and Jake (Madeline); and 8 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Charline’s life will be held on April 6 at Westminster Village at 2:00pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to one of these programs: 1) Labyrinth Outreach Services for Women, made online at https://www.ywcamclean.org/how-to-help/donate/ (select “Labyrinth Outreach Services for Women” in the drop-down menu) or by checks made out to YWCA Mclean County (“Labyrinth” in the memo line); and 2) Dreams Are Possible which prepares local women for employment in fields that provide them a family sustainable income, with donations made directly to the Dreams Are Possible fund at the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation (ilprairiecf.org) or by check sent to 1311 W. Olive St., Bloomington, IL 61701.