Cass Community fighting through crisis to still serve Detroiters

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Volunteers are staying home and staff is doing double duty at Cass Community Social Services, a Detroit-based agency that provides food, housing, health services and job programs.

At the building, which also serves as a homeless shelter, social distancing is difficult, underlying medical conditions are rampant and cleaning is constant.

“We're getting tired, as you might imagine,” said Rev. Faith Fowler. She’s the executive director of Cass Community Social Services. You know her for her progressive ideas to help and employ the homeless:  building tiny houses, turning tires dumped in Detroit into welcome mats - but now all that is on hold now as they shelter-in-place in the shelter.

“All of a sudden we had 50 kids here all day long with no access to the internet to do homework,” she said.

Every day it's another challenge. Cass Community Social Services is feeding not only its families but also now families in the neighborhood.

“The people staying in our shelters, about 150 people will eat lunch inside the building. People outside the building who come from the community receive a bag lunch at the door just to try to keep folks inside safe and folks outside safe,” Rev. Fowler said.

Cass is constantly trying to raise money to continue their mission but their spring fundraiser is canceled due to the virus. However, people are still helping.

Right now they need $15,000 to meet a $100,000 match donation from the Kim Cares Foundation. And in these increasingly tough economic times for so many, Rev. Fowler knows there will be even more mouths to feed.

“What we've had to do is cater to more and more people who are unemployed who weren't coming to us for meals before,” she said.

Rev. Fowler says three shelter residents are quarantined after showing symptoms and one is hospitalized with COVID-19. A couple of members of the staff have fallen ill and are home under quarantine as well.

As COVID-19 threatens an already-vulnerable population, Rev. Fowler is just grateful for all of the help they can get.

“It's been amazing, the generosity of people,” she said. “People are struggling financially themselves so we're very much appreciative of the help and the sense that we're not in this alone.”

You can help Cass Community Social Services continue to do its valuable work by volunteering, donating money, food, cleaning supplies. You can get more information on that here.