It’s hard to keep up with all the good things happening at Cass Community Social Services and Cass Community United Methodist Church in Detroit. The Fox Family Center is the newest in a wide array of ministries that enhance the quality of life for vulnerable families in the Motor City.
Cass Community United Methodist Church is a part of the Michigan Annual Conference.
Once a Roman Catholic convent, the center has been rehabilitated and refurbished to accommodate up to 75 members of single-parent families. The building has 29 bedrooms plus three ADA-compliant bedrooms for persons who need wheelchairs, walkers, or other physical accommodations. What makes it different from the current short-term transitional housing at Cass is its individual sleeping areas. This configuration ensures much-needed privacy for each family in residence.
“Have you ever had to share a shower, bathroom, and sleeping area?” asked the Rev. Faith Fowler, who has served as Cass Community’s Executive Director since 1994. “That can be so uncomfortable for parents and children. Each family will now have its separate bedroom, so there is no worrying about everyone intervening in your conversations or judging your parenting, which tends to happen in communal settings. It’s also healthier, helping to alleviate worries about everyone catching the flu or COVID-19.”
The 75 residents currently housed in one of the other Cass campus buildings will soon transition to the Fox Family Center once the city of Detroit gives the all-clear. The current communal spaces allot about 6 feet for each person, sleeping head to toe, with non-relatives of several families occupying one large room. Plus, everyone must contend with lights until the lights are turned out for the night. “Now, with the new Fox Center, when moms decide to put their children down to sleep, they have control over their private space. They can talk, share family time, and work on developing their own bedtime ritual, which is exciting!” said Rev. Fowler.
The newly renovated edifice located at Webb and 14th Streets on Detroit’s north side has free Wi-Fi, the campus’ first and only air conditioning, a generator, a cafeteria, and a stunning chapel with stained glass windows for worship and multipurpose use. “We partnered with Comcast to provide Internet services, and they donated 50 tablets,” explained Rev. Fowler. “The number of bathrooms, showers, washers, and dryers have doubled, and the number of available appliances, in some cases, has tripled. We want everyone to feel at home and know this is their home until they get home.”
“The families that stay at the Fox Family Center also have access to all the other services that Cass offers because they are right there on campus,” says the Rev. Sue Pethoud, Church and Community Relations Liaison for Cass Community Social Services. Single-parent families, primarily mothers and their children living on campus at present, can use the new library and take advantage of mental health counseling, the free medical clinic, career resources, food services, job training, GED classes, literacy courses, the community garden, meals, and anything else being offered. This is important because few families have cars, and some have no phones. Everything Cass offers is close at hand.
Plus, each parent can personally attend to their children and walk them to the nearby public school. Living in the new center will also make complying with the state’s social services regulations easier. To be sure, the opening of the stunning Fox Family Center, underwritten in part by significant contributions from the Fox family, is an exciting development for this community.
Rev. Fowler’s vast connections and reputation in and beyond the city of Detroit have enabled her to help thousands of vulnerable persons through Cass Community Social Services. The old convent, once home to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, was most recently owned by the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. As soon as Rev. Fowler caught wind of potential change afoot, she seized the opportunity to acquire the space.
The Fox Family Center is one of the latest developments in a continuum of housing options and employment opportunities offered by Cass Community Social Services.
excerpt from a story by Faith Green Timmons
This story represents how United Methodist local churches through their Annual Conferences are living as Vital Congregations. A vital congregation is the body of Christ making and engaging disciples for the transformation of the world. Vital congregations are shaped by and witnessed through four focus areas: calling and shaping principled Christian leaders; creating and sustaining new places for new people; ministries with poor people and communities; and abundant health for all.
