Cutting the Inspiration That Is Focus:Hope

I woke up this morning to an article in the Detroit Free Press that is disturbing to me.  There are certainly enough bad news articles out there but this one is personally infuriating.  The article describes how because huge cuts in state funding 70 of Focus:Hope's 300 employees will be out of work and 225 students who are currently enrolled in it's training programs will be turned away.

Let me back up a bit and give you an imperfect history of Focus:Hope.  In the late 1960's after riots had overwhelmed much of the city of Detroit, a woman from the suburbs named Elanor Josaitis joined forces with Father William Cunningham to not only try to help combat the devastating effects of poverty but also bridge the very tenuous cultural divide.  Their mission statement was this: “intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice." They understood that if anything good would ever come in the city of Detroit, it would be through the combination of faith, training, education and the belief that the future for the young people of Metro Detroit was brighter than the existing landscape.  Their passion inspired men and women like my grandfather, Donald Pizzimenti, to give of their time, talent and treasure to invest in this better tomorrow.  My grandfather would visit churches and meeting halls to convince the people of the congregations to give, to invest in the next generation of Metro Detroiters and the world.  It was not easy then, in that racially charged time, but they did it.  Generations of young men and women have benefited from this amazing work.

But now we see a lack of care and respect for the futures of young people, especially those in areas of increased poverty and decreased opportunity.  Areas where there are no longer any bootstraps for people to pick themselves up by to make something of their lives.  The talk continues to be that we need to cut programs, cut investments so that we don't leave our children with a huge government debt.  And the desire to not spend more than we take in is an appropriate one.  But a future without debt accomplished this way will mean nothing to a generation of young people who have less and less invested in them.  The cutting of funding to Focus:Hope is a symptom of a much bigger problem.We have forgotten that hope produces dreams which produce great futures.  We must find that spirit, that focus on community that truly believes that we are our brothers and sisters keepers.  Focus:Hope has always believed that.