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Fowler, Faith E.
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WE LIVE
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DETROIT FREE PRESS I WWW.FREEP.COM
Fowler gives Angel Phillips, 8, a ride at Detroit's Museum of African-American History.
REV. FAITH FOWLER
Age: 43
Residence: Detroit
Education: Royal Oak Dondero High School, 1977.
,
read, although I don't have nearly enough time to
read as I would prefer·."
Book that Influenced her: Everything that t he late
Albion College, bachelor's degree in religion and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote- from sermons to
English in 1981; Boston University School of Theol- "Letters from a Birmingham Jail." "He was a very
ogy, master's degree in divinity in 1986. She's work- profound thinker. He had the ability to take scripture
ing on a master's in public administration at Univer- or theology and put it into very practical terms. It
challenged people to see Christtianity as a costly
sity of Michigan-Dearborn. She'Ll finish in June.
Career: Fowler serves as the senior pastor of Cass business, if you will. There's nothing cheap about it;
Community Church and the executive director for it demands your whole life. It demands you engaging
Cass Community Social Services, which supplies systems, which is something he understood. He saw
programs to homeless and hungry people, senior that the gospel had implications for each and every
citizens and at-risk kids and has a medical clinic. level."
She directs a staff of 50, though in April it will Role model: Aside from King, who Fowler says is the
increase to about 80, and the staff works with about reason she went to Boston because that's where he
5,000 volunteers a year.
got his doctorate, she learns from everyone around
Why we should watch: This winter, the center saw her. "There are lots of people that I look to. You can
an increase in homeless women and children. Fowler learn something from just about everybody."
attributes it to the closing of psychiatric beds in local Plans and goals: The center serves 4,500 meals a
hospitals, the elimination of welfare programs and week and operates a welfare-to-work training site.
the la ck of affordable housing. So the center is But the big undertaking starts in April. "The biggest
expanding its services. The plan is to have the same thing we have going right now is that the agency will
services for women that they have in place for men. be moving its programs into a new facility. It's a
And to continue expanding the programs they have large enough facility that we can move a ll of our
for senior citizens. "We've got a lot of good people existing homeless programs there. In addition, we'll
involved here. The staff here works hard and long add two residential programs, one for chemically
and doesn't get nearly the credit they deserve. The dependent men, the second is for chronically mentalvolunteers get down and dirty and make a real ly ill homeless men called Safe Haven. The notion is
difference in what we're able to do. Over the years, to engage homeless people who are living under
we've enjoyed a great deal of church support. Now bridges and in places like abandoned buildings and
we've started to have some great advocates in the to develop a trust level with them so that we can get
corporate world, and that's great."
them to come in and participate in the services that
Hobbies: "I love to travel. I've been to Zimbabwe, will be available. We'll have a psychiatrist and a case
Seoul, Korea, and Europe a couple of times. I'm a manager."
casual runner. I've done the Boston Marathon three Personal: Single.
l
tim,.., N ..u ..r umn hnt T ~lw~ul': finiJO:hPrl T ~ll'<n likP to
The Advocate
ASIZS jl~~~
This week the Advocate
interviewed the Rev. Faitb
Fowler, pastor atCass Commumty United Methodist
Church and Center. She
sketched out new projects on
the h orizon and reviewed the
ongoing programs.
MCA: Could you
describe for us how you got
involved with Cass?
Fowler: I've always felt
called to city ministry. I'd
spent eight years on the west
side of Detroit at Ford M em orial UMC. When the opening
came for Cass I was asked if I
would like it, and I
did som ersaults.
I'm in my sixth
year here.
Fowler: It'll be a year's
worth of renovation, although
it's a solid building. We should
be in by n ext Christmas.
MCA: Where is the funding coming for these programs?
Fowler: The hom eless programs will receive federal
(HUD), state and city money.
Seventy percent of our funding comes from government
grants.
MCA: What's going on
right now at Cass?
Fowler: In the church we
have a medical clinic goin g every Saturday that's staffed
by two volunteer
doctors and interns
MCA: Can
from Wayne State
you update us on
University. We see
your current
between 60 and 80
enthusiasm s?
each Saturday.
Fowler: We're
We have a food
just closing on a
program. We're
brand new buildfeeding 4200 people
ing we're calling
a week right now.
the Scott Center,
We're talking with
which will house '-------- -------'the Area Agency on
the homeless programs
Aging about picking up more
including our d rop-in center,
of the home-delivered meals
for seniors.
rotating shelter and warming
We have been feeding
center. In addition to that • ·
we'll have two n ew programs,
homeless veterans at another
one for mentally-ill homeless
site for about a year and a
and one for transitional housh alf. A large percentage of the
homeless are vets.
ing and homeless. We're very
We have homeless proexcited about that.
It's the old Crittendon
grams at the church . And
H ospital, just south of Highacross the street we have an
land Park five minutes away
activities center for developfrom the church via the Lodge
mentally disabled (DD)
freeway. It give us a new idenadults. We see 200 DD adults
at night and 50 DD seniors
tity as a city mission ministry
an d not just a Cass Corridor
during the day. They just h ad
mission ministry.
a beauty contest, Miss Cass,
We went outside the Corrithat was out of this world.
dor with the Eastside M inWe have a senior center for
istries, which put us on the
people who are able to com e
to it, and we have case maneast side of D etroit. But Scott
Center is new, because the
agement for h omebound
corridor is being gentrified
seniors. They receive assisand many of our clients are
ranee doing their taxes, filling
out medical forms, making
being relocated outside.
sure their heat and water is
MCA: What are some
on, and more.
new programs going on
It's a congregation bent on
right there at the church?
ministry and mission and has
Fowler: We're starting prob een since the Depression,
grams for children and youth.
and will be well into the next
century. It's an exciting place
MCA: When do you
to worship and to work, and
expect to be in the Scott
people really live out what
Center?
they believe here.
Rlllll.,..
~ERE~. F1ITH FOWL~;:
pastor of Detroit: Cass Community UMC, received the
Alumnus of the Year Award
from the University of Michigan-Dearborn School of Education. She received her Master of Public Administration
degree from the school in
2002. Fowler also directs various Cass community outreach
ministrit>s_
'il'
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RESTORING SOULS
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FAITH FOWLER, '8 1, BR ING S DI GN ITY AND HOPE
TO THE PEOPLE OF CASS CO MMU NITY.
No coverage of the revital ization of Detroit wou ld be comp lete without recognition for Faith Fowler, sen ior
pastor of Cass Community United Methodist Church and executive director of Cass Commun ity Social
Services. In her new book, This Far by Faith : Twenty Years at Cass Commun ity, she reflects on her work
in Detroit's inner city through stories like those excerpted here. Detroit Free Press columnis t and author
Mitch A lbom has written : "The world waits fo r people like Faith Fowler. When we most need them , they
come along. This mem oir, like the author herself, is funny, poignant, moving, beaut ifu lly stated, and oozing
with a comm itment to a simple yet profound idea: that other peop le are worth t he troub le."
After 20 years at Hull-House,
Jane Addams wrote a memoir
describing her life and work. In so
many ways, I am no Jane Addams.
She was obviously stationed in
Chicago, and I'm in Detroit. She
dealt with the abhorrent conditions
in factories and child labor abuses
while I have become preoccupied
with creating employment. Her
settlement house was situated
in a crowded neighborhood
composed mostly of immigrants
from European countries. My
city has experienced an exodus of
biblical proportions, and AfricanAmericans make up the majority
of the remaining residents.
Addams dealt with the Industrial
Revolution. I have struggled with
the onslaught of information,
the technological revolution, and
globalization. Jane Addams was
awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and
I operate a haunted house.
Still , I feel a kindred spirit with the
reform leader. I gravitate toward
Addams because s he wasn't afraid
to work at the grassroots level. She
s pent 36 years in Chicago's 19th
Ward , most of it in tireless activity
as if she understood that only a
fraction of the things that cry out
to be done can be accomplished in
a lifetime even for those granted
longevity. I hold her in high
esteem because she was appalled
by the injustice and indifference
she witnessed. She reached
the conclusion that poverty is
complex but that its multifaceted
nature is no excuse for fai ling to
solve the toughest problems. Her
bestselling book, Twemy Yea rs
at Hull-House, still provides a
window through wh ich to watch
her personal development as well
as the struggles and triumphs of
her neighbors.
It is my hope that Twe11ty Years
at Cass Commu11 ity will install
a window in much the same
way. The short stories included
are meant to reveal some of my
incremental changes while they
provide a fuller picture of the
people of the community- their
obstacles, foibles, tragedies,
triumphs, and tenacity. So often,
poor people get reduced to
numbers or graphs. When they
are not treated like research data,
they tend to be either vil ified or
regarded as helpless victims. One
of my goals is to give a sense of
them as three-dimensional, fles h
and blood people.
My Twemy Years book will also
describe the evolution of the Cass
organ izations. It is important to
note first that Cass Community
United Methodist Church was
involved in outreach and advocacy
before I was born ....
[The church's separate nonprofit
organization, Cass Community
Social Services (CCSS) formed in
2002.1has grown exponentially. By
2013, the Food Program prepared
and served a million meals
annually. The Activity Center
for Adults with Developmental
Disabilities had increased to 125
participants, fi ve days a week. In
addition to the Warming Center and
the Rotating Shelter, Cass added
all of its transitional housing and
permanent supportive housing so
that 325 homeless men, women, and
children stay in one of ou r buildings
every night. In response to the
fin ancial crisis, Cass began offering
employment in 2007. Eighty-five
permanent Green Industries jobs
have been created and linked to
sustainability. Finally, seven of the
agency's 10 buildings are located
within five blocks, establishing a
pedestrian campus for residents,
staff, and volunteers.
The 'thi s far' [in the book title]
implies that we have been on a
long, often arduous journey and
that we have made it to this point
because God has been faith ful,
never fa iling us. It reminds us
also that there is furth er to go.
As long as poverty persists and
opportunities are limited or
denied, our work is unfinished.
MISS CASS
[One d ay, Sarah, our CCSS
program director,] said she wanted
to establish a beauty pageant.
That was the day we started drug
testing our staff.
"Are you out of your ever-loving
mind?" I thundered. "What a
sexist, draconian suggestion. The
whole world objectifies wo men,
and I will not be a part of it."
Sarah averted her eyes by looking
down at her shoes. "They don't
have any milestones, Rev. Fowler."
I mulled over her com ment.
Most men and women with
developmental d isabilities don't
graduate from high school. Next
to none Jearn to drive a car. ... For
the most part, they don't marry or
have children. They don't land a
dream job or get big promotions
that involve a substantial pay
raise or an office with windows.
Men and wome n who are
developmentally d isabled never
close on a house. They don't buy a
Spring-Summer 20 15
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cottage, plan a once-in-a-lifetime trip, or spoil
their grandchildren. Sarah was right. They miss
out on celebrations. They don't receive the
recognition that all people need and deserve.
"All right," I conceded, "you can have the
beauty contest, but there better not be any
swimsuits in my sanctuary."
[The first year, women on the CCSS staff
donated the formal wear from their own
closets.] On the night of the Miss Cass pageant,
27 women sauntered down the center aisle of
the church in their long dresses with hose and
high heels, manicured fingernails, styled hair,
and professionally applied make-up. Each was
escorted by one of the 10 gentlemen who were
wearing tuxedos.
In addition to being judged on the evening
wear, the female contestants performed
individual talents. One led the audience in the
Pledge ofAllegiance. She remembered every
word in order, even if she confused which hand
to place over her heart. Another recited a poem
that she had memorized. Jackie delivered Tile
Lord's Prayer. After she fin ished, she added
a knock-knock joke, thinking that it might
help her win. A few women played musical
instruments. There was plenty of singing, too.
Patty, who isn't developmentally disabled, but
a senior citizen with Alzheimer's, surprised the
attendees when she took center stage to croon.
She spends hours each day wandering the Cass
Corridor streets, cradling a baby doll or a stuffed
animal in her arms. When she opened her mouth
to sing "Ave Maria" at the Miss Cass pageant, her
perfectly pitched voice sounded like Adele, and
the crowd empted with wild, effusive applause.
The majority of the contestants, though,
preferred to dance. This wasn't a Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers routine. The women became
Tina Turner. The DJ started the musical
numbers each contestant had pre-selected.
One after another, they lit up the raised chancel
"stage" and electrified the audience with thei r
lip-synch ing, hand motions, footwo rk, and
sometimes overly suggestive body movements.
Twirl ing, swaying, hip rolling, shimmying,
even the splits were performed to Motown
favorites and romantic classics. Sometimes it
was hard to hear the music over all the cheering
and clapping ....
After the celebrity judges cast their votes for
beauty and talent, a s maller group of fina lists
was selected to answer questions. Then the
22 I Albion College lo Triumphc!
fina l votes were tabu lated. A second runnerup and first ru nner-up were an nounced, and,
finally, Miss Cass was crowned. She stood,
waving like Queen Elizabeth, before taking a
final walk up and down the "ru nway" as the
crowd applauded.
Over the years, the audience has swelled
to more than 300 spectators .... Just as
many of the contestants and escorts lacked
opportunities to be in the spotlight, their
fam ilies and friends had gone without events
that allowed them to publicly express their
love, su pport, and pride. The Miss Cass pageant
provided their relat ives a time to celebrate their
accomplishments and talents.
It wasn't until the third year that we understood
what the pageant meant to the contestants. That
year our winner received her tiara before her
adoring fans, and she refused to take it off. For
nearly three weeks, it remained bobby-pinned
to her head-she wore it to bed, in the shower,
to s hop, and on the city buses. She wore it to
church and to the Activity Center. She was Miss
Cass, and she wanted the world to know.
Brazen box trucks do the same, dumpi ng thei r
heavy loads, without even bothering to hide the
s igns that bear their company names . . ..
It won't take you long to conclude that t ires
never make fo r good neighbors. They a re
unsightly. They are heavy and grimy and
costly to clean up. If you don't dispose of them,
their curves will collect rainwater, and they
become breeding grounds for mosquitoes in
the summer. Rodents reproduce in them the
rest of the year. Moving mounds of tires to cut
the grass each week is an impossibil ity. What's
more, tires retain heat and can easily ignite.
Occasionally, someone deliberately sets a pile
on fire. Then you will discover that tires are
stubborn and hard to extinguish. Burning t ires
fill the ai r and your lu ngs with poison.
One day, I read an article about a new cottage
industry in Oklahoma that recycled tires into
doormats. Given the infinite supply of illegally
dumped tires in Detroit a nd the desperate need
for jobs, I reached out to the agency that works
with Native American people, most of them
of the Cherokee t ribe. "Wou ld you tell me how
you got started with the doormats a nd how the
business is doing?" I asked.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE HO ME W HEN
Return ing to Detroit from Metro Ai rport,
you know you are home when you pass the
gigantic [Uniroyal! tire on 1-94 in Allen Park.
Illuminated, it stands out even at night, as
I imagine it did as part of an 8-story Ferris
wheel in the 1964 New York World's Fair.
The gondolas were removed and a tread
installed in their place when the tire arrived in
Mich igan. Beyond that, there have only been
a few minor changes over the years. But the
treads are deep, and the black rubber never
went flat. Metropolitan Detroiters tend to see
the mammoth ti re as a symbol of the local
automotive industry's might.
When you drive into the city proper, you know
you are home when you pass not one, but
numerous illegally clumped tires. They litter
almost every neighborhood. They are scattered
two or three deep on a curb or vacant lot. In
some spots, they are piled higher than your
head. It is not uncommon to see a few hundred,
heaped helter-sl<elter like a n urban mountain.
In the city, tires are not a symbol of strength,
but of blight and scurrilous activity.
Pickup trucks snake along the city's side streets
in the middle of the night and unidentifiable
people toss the t ires out of the rolling vehicles.
The gentleman on the other end of the phone
was extremely generous with information and
his time. Their employment program sounded
like a perfect fit for what I wanted to start in
Michigan ....
An anonymous donor provided the $4,000
needed fo r startup. The funds allowed us to
purchase a saw and punch, some wire and
spacers. Ten men, homeless and formerly
homeless, were hired to make Cass mud mats
from discarded tires. Since the program's
inception, up to a dozen men have worked in the
Cass program without interntption. All of their
wages have been covered by mud mat sales.
In 2009, Magic Johnson served as the
honorary chair at a Cass fund raiser. The
program manager asked if one of the worke rs
would make a mat in Mich igan State colors
to be presented to Magic at the event.
Alberr volunteered. He set up wires in h is
workstation. Then he painstakingly selected
the pre- punched strips of rubber, collected
enough green and white spacers, and finally
he wove the wires, rubber st rips, and spacers
into a perfect mat. When he was done
clamping the ends, Albert attached a metal
Cass logo tag on the front before he flipped it
ove r. We thought he was going to hoist up the
mat to show off his work. Instead, he signed
h is nam e to the back of the mat us ing a silver
Sh a rp ie perma nent marker. No one had ever
done that before. Since that day, all of the
workers have repeated the act of s igni ng the
m ats they create.
Thousands of voluntee rs help us gather
illegally d umped tires. We call the collection
process "tire hunting," but no hou nds or
weapons are required. An empty truck a nd a
passenge r van go out togethe r. Sometimes t he
search is random, meaning t he team just drives
until they fi nd enough raw materials to fi ll the
truck. At other t imes, neighbors, commu nity
groups, government offices, or even news
stations will alert us to particula r areas that are
rich in illegally dumped bounty.
Eithe r way, the repurposed rubber has helped
us ma rry reducing poverty a nd protecting
the planet. The hunters and laborers turn
blocks of unsightly blight into an attractive,
environmentally friendly Detroit product of
which both groups a re proud.
EPILOGUE
Detroit is changing in some exciting ways. It
is reinventing itself eve n as othe rs a re stuck
in reciting t he lita ny of negative cha nges
t hat began in the 1950s. Take development,
for example. In the last 20 years, Hudson's
Departme nt Store was imploded , and Tiger
Stadium was razed, but during the same
pe riod , the Gem Theatre was moved a few
blocks rather t han demolished. Comerica Park
was built. Ford Field was developed , and the
Lions ca me back to the city....
Campus Mart ius was redeveloped into
a n urba n oasis complete with a fou ntain,
sculptures, a nd the "point of origin" plaque .. . .
Thousands of people enjoy the Motown Wi nter
Blast there. Come in the summer and you
will hear jazz bands or watch movies at night
projected on a giant scree n.
A quiet revolution has occurred in the last
decade. A biking culture now permeates
Detroit. A section of the Grand Tru nk Western
Rail road line has been converted into the
Dequindre Cut .... On Monday nights,
thousands of people pa rt icipate in long,
leisurely group bike rides through the city,
than ks to Slow Roll co-fou nders Jason Hall
a nd Mike MacKool. This wou ld have been
unth in kable 20 years back.
Descr1bed as a 'propilet1c vo1ce,' Fa1til Fowler IS a champ1on for Detroiters- and Detroit. In iler role as executive director
of Cass Community Social Serv1ces. sl1e leads an orga nization that provides meals. shelter. employment. and compass1on
for many of tile City's neediest c1t1zens. and sile rallies thousands of volu nteers ann ually to JOin iler in this work.
The composition of reside nts has changed.
Everyone has written about the depopulation
of the city, but new people a re a rriving. The
influx of transplants from southern states and
Europea n countries has virtua lly stopped , but
Hispanic and Midd le Eastern im migra nts are
choosing southeastern Michigan a nd Detroit in
record numbers. They add to the area's already
rich divers ity. Michigan's Republican governor
has even set a goal of attracting 50,000
immigra nts to help repopulate the city in the
next fi ve years, given their strong drive, solid
work ethic, and e nt repre neuria l skills. This is a
radical change.
You ng adults a re moving into Detroit once
aga in, too. They a re educated , e nergetic, a nd
a mbitious. Scores of the m a re a rt ists and
business leaders. Quicken Loans' Da n Gilbert
deserves a great deal of credit fo r luring
thousands of young professionals to work and
live in the D. Occasionally these young adults
rub the old-time reside nts the wrong way by
implying that they have come to "save" the
city, but no one can argue that there is room
enough for everyone in Detroit . Certainly
everyone benefits from the inco me taxes and
property taxes paid by the latest arrivals. They
also benefit the large r community by shopping,
entertaining, a nd frequently provid ing
leadership in the community.
Are th e re still urge nt issues? Absolutely.
How m any of th e young peopl e will s tay
once they have sc hool-aged c hild re n? The
Detroit Public School system is in disarray.
The charte r sc hools, whic h were touted as
the a nswer to the pu bli c educat ion system,
a re n't performing measurably better. Private
schoo ls and paroc hi al schools a re expe nsive,
a nd suburban schools require travel
time. Ch ange can't com e soo n enough for
education in the city.
The d rug trade and its related violence
continue to plague Detroit. . . . For years, people
protested so that folks wouldn't be con fi ned to
the back of a bus, but today we rema in la rgely
silent as our citizens, many of them child ren,
are put in the back of a hearse.
The economy itself is c hanging. The recession
taught us all about the volatility of t he stock
market, the instability of mortgages and
foreclosure, ban king bailouts and ba nkruptcy.
We have also been properly schooled about the
shrinking middle class, CEO compensation,
and the ever-expanding gap between the rich
and the poor.. ..
Still, there has been a positive cha nge in
Detroit. We're hand -making watches a nd
bi kes at Shinola. Detroit Denim is producing
blue jeans. Tech Town is steadily lau nch ing
new startups. Area gardens are selli ng fresh
produce at Easte rn Market. Stroh's has been
replaced by Atwater Brewery. Trendy new
restaurants have popped u p, like the Green Dot
Stables a nd Slows Bar-B-Q. Some existing large
businesses have moved back into the city, too,
like Compuware and , more recently, the Lowe
Campbell Ewald advertising fi rm.
Detroit is open fo r bus iness. •
This Far By Faith is available at ai/WZOII.C0/11.
Spri ng·Summ cr 2015
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Fowler, Faith E.