  Bdglsmn Member Username: Bdglsmn Post Number: 14 Registered: 01-2008 |
I've been wondering for quite a while now how Focus Hope on Oakman has been doing. When Father Cunningham was alive it seems as thought they were always in the news for the great work that they were (and hopefully still are) doing but I've been back here in the area for two years now and I haven't heard a thing about them. Is co-founder Eleanor Josaitis is still involved? Is the organization still healthy? That place fed and trained a lot of people back in the late 70's and the early 80's and I've always felt that it was an under-appreciated and under-utilized entity here in Detroit. I remember the day Father Cunningham died. One of the TV stations ran an earlier interview with him and he related the story of what he did the day the doctors told him that he was dying... He said he drove to Belle Isle and sat there for a long time just looking at the water. He said that he became angry not because he was dying but because he had a lot more work to do and he didn't have the time to get it done. He was a good man. | ||
Bragaboutme Member Username: Bragaboutme Post Number: 3 Registered: 02-2008 |
yes I agree, he started a good thing for the city and they had an excellent training program, as for it still being in operation i don't know. The building on Chalmers off I-94 seems to have been closed for some time, but the city does need more organizations like focus hope. | ||
Mwilbert Member Username: Mwilbert Post Number: 108 Registered: 11-2007 |
Mrs. Josaitis is still on the board, but I think she doesn't have any formal role anymore other than that. My impression is that she is a nice woman, but not a good administrator--she was too nice to get rid of unproductive staff. They were in some financial difficulty a few years ago partly as a result. I don't know how they are doing now--most non-profits in the Detroit area are struggling to deal with a contracting donor base. It is a worthwhile program, so I would like them to be doing well. | ||
Pam Member Username: Pam Post Number: 3598 Registered: 11-2005 |
http://www.focushope.edu/ quote: | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1213 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was coming back from the Park Bar with Hope Lange. We had been slamming back shots with Jerry and though, to the rest of the world I may have been showing my consumption...I really was trying to get Hope back into the game....she kept mumbling about Faith and Charity and stumbling over the curbs as we headed back toward the Cuban Restaurant where we left our car. Every block, it was the same thing, I would try to steer her towards our destination and she would wander off to talk with some pan handler. "Focus Hope!" I l kept saying "Focus Hope!" | ||
Lefty2 Member Username: Lefty2 Post Number: 1312 Registered: 07-2007 |
That probably what I would do when I find out I'm gonna die. Go to a favorite spot and say to myself why the hell didn't I do this or that. Hopefully I'll have some more good things to dwell on also. | ||
Kid_dynamite Member Username: Kid_dynamite Post Number: 473 Registered: 06-2007 |
My dad worked there as assistant General Manager of Production for 4 years. He left about 3 years ago. I remember him telling me they lost a lot of funding from the big 3, partly due to poor fiscal performances by them at the time. |
