A look inside Detroit's Pope Francis Center, which helps many in need

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The Pope Francis Center on Detroit’s west side continues the legacy of a man devoted to helping the community after the death of Pope Francis on April 21. 

Local perspective:

At 88 years old, Pope Francis died on Easter Monday. Meanwhile, Father Tim McCabe, CEO Pope Francis Center remembers being in the same room as him.

"You feel like you could pick up the phone and call him at any time," said McCabe. "He’s obviously a guy that I really admire, and someone that I really try to follow his example."

As an example, Father Tim raised $40 million to open the Bridge Housing Campus on Detroit’s west side, an extension of the Pope Francis Center.  

Why you should care:

The Pope Francis Center has been serving Detroit’s most vulnerable citizens since 1990, but this Pope Francis Center is a residential, transitional housing, and support facility that opened in June 2024.

40-year-old Tea has been living at the Pope Francis center for six months after battling drugs, a felonious assault conviction, and homelessness. 

"Basically really change my life that’s what they want to do change my life," Tea said. 

What's next:

Just as Pope Francis changed the lives of the poor, ministered to the LGBTQ community, helped immigrants, all while working to the day he died, even seeing vice president JD Vance on Easter Sunday. 

The Pope had passion.  

The Pope Francis Center here in Detroit is where Pope Francis’s legacy will live on.