Fr. McCabe lauds partnership with downtown convention center, says new west-side facility can 'absolutely' end chronic homelessness
DETROIT — Last year, with the winter winds whipping and the scourge of COVID-19 ever present in the city of Detroit, Fr. Tim McCabe, SJ, knew something needed to be done for the city’s most vulnerable.
In previous cold spells — including the polar vortex that hit southeast Michigan in 2019 — the homeless crowded into the Pope Francis Center at SS. Peter and Paul (Jesuit) Church in downtown Detroit, staying warm in the company of strangers.
But the coronavirus put an emphasis on social distancing and avoiding sharing spaces, so the staff at the Pope Francis Center needed to think of something else.
By providence, the nearby TCF Center had the space with the lack of commercial conferences and gatherings that normally would occupy the downtown venue, so the center reached out to the Pope Francis Center to host its warming shelter for the winter of 2020-21.
“When we had the polar vortex this past winter, the TCF Center allowed us to shelter in place in the building,” Fr. McCabe, executive director of the Pope Francis Center, told Detroit Catholic. “We were able to take over two rooms in the third and the fourth floor, putting men in one, women in the other. The Red Cross came in with cots. We had Med Star come in with a mobile medical unit. We did this all while keeping our guests away from the dangerous cold.”
That temporary arrangement began a relationship between the convention hall and the Pope Francis Center, so much so that the Pope Francis Center reached out to the TCF Center to ask about returning this winter.
“When the pandemic hit, we moved all our services to the parking lot, but when winter came, we knew we’d have to move back into the church, but that space is not really conducive for social distancing,” Fr. McCabe said. “We couldn’t remain in the parking lot."
The TCF Center agreed, so the Pope Francis Center staff again moved its equipment and resources to the downtown Detroit convention center.
"We do all of our operations from there," Fr. McCabe said. "We have our showers, laundry, two meals a day, a medical clinic, emergency clothing and winter accessory items like handwarmers and that kind of thing.”
A team of Pope Francis Center staff and volunteers moved all of its operations from SS. Peter and Paul to the TCF Center,
Moving all of its operations took six weeks of planning and three weeks of moving items a few blocks west down East Jefferson Avenue, setting up the its new premises for Nov. 1 through April 1, where volunteers and staff will serve about 200 people a day in the lower level of the TCF Center.
“Obviously, it’s a huge undertaking with a lot of work; it’s very hard on the staff and the team, but we all understood it was necessary to keep people safe,” Fr. McCabe said. “We all just rolled up our sleeves and got the job done. But it’s hard. In some ways, we’re homeless, bounding from one place to another. So we get to experience a bit of what it’s like for our guests in a way.”
The conference space offers plenty of room to operate at a safe space from one another — especially important as COVID-19 cases in Michigan continues to rise. The TCF Center has the benefit of having a modern ventilation system and more “elbow room” for the Pope Francis Center staff and volunteers to serve its guests in a socially distant manner.
“The (TCF Center) staff have been incredibly generous with their space and being a community partner to help out here in this crisis,” Fr. McCabe said. “As they started meeting our guests and seeing our services, even the janitorial services and the security services, they fell in love with our program, our guests and what we were doing. That was fun. ... They couldn’t wait for us to come back.”
The Pope Francis Center has been in “casual conversations” about its ongoing relationship with the TCF Center; the Pope Francis Center rents the space at-cost — about $400,000 for the winter — and is hosting a fundraiser, "Sanctuary for the Season," to help cover the costs.
Groundbreaking for the Pope Francis Center campus
Long-term plans for the Pope Francis Center revolve around its soon-to-be-built Pope Francis Center campus, a transition housing facility Fr. McCabe said will be a game changer in combatting homelessness in the city of Detroit.
The Pope Francis Center campus will sit on a 5.3-acre property along the Interstate 96/Jeffries Freeway service drive, just south of Grand River Avenue and north of the North Corktown neighborhood. The center held a groundbreaking ceremony Dec. 3 as it continues a capital campaign for the $25-30 million project.
The center also will retain its location at SS. Peter and Paul (Jesuit) Parish.
“Obviously, it will be no surprise to anybody that the cost has risen substantially as a result of the disruption in the market of materials for construction and the labor costs,” Fr. McCabe said, referring to the cost of the project compared to the initial estimate of $19 million dollars for the facility that was meant to be built on Detroit’s near east side.
“We had to raise a lot more money than we thought we were going to,” Fr. McCabe said. “But people really stepped up; the Julia Burke Foundation has been wildly supportive of us and making sure this actually happens. Jim Farley (CEO of Ford Motor Company) will be there to give the keynote (the Ford Foundation is a significant supporter of the Pope Francis Center), and our capital campaign chair along with corporate sponsors will be there.”
Those interested in donating to the campaign can do so by visiting PopeFrancisCenter.org.
The Pope Francis Center campus will feature 40 studio apartments to house chronically homeless guests for 90 to 120 days as they transition into more permanent housing. The concept came after the Pope Francis Center spent years studying ways to combat chronic homelessness.
With the bridge housing facility, Fr. McCabe said Detroit — which has an estimated 1,700 homeless in the city — can end chronic homelessness in 10 years.
“It is absolutely doable,” Fr. McCabe said. “Based on what I’ve seen around the country, our numbers are low enough where we can end chronic homelessness. And this facility will help us meet that goal.”
Copy Permalink
