Cass Park - Part 1

Yesterday I traveled to downtown Detroit, MI to a trash-covered spot of grass known as Cass Park. For the past three years a group from Rochester Church of Christ has taken food to the homeless population every month. On the third Sunday of every month, suburbanites pile into vans, cars, and SUVs to make the 30 minute commute to the "hood" of Detroit. We pile out of our cars, strike up our grills, serve the homeless a hot meal with a drink, and spend roughly 2-3 hours visiting & praying with the people who call that area home.

It was a beautiful fall day! The sun was shining amidst the dark realities that frame each day of these people's lives. As we served chicken casserole, rolls, and drinks to approximately 100 men, women, & children (the youngest was 4 years old), the ever-widening chasm of rich people getting richer and the poor people getting poorer was blatant. Surrounding this park that is known as one of the roughest areas of Detroit (always in the running for the least safe place in the continental US) are signs of incredible wealth and prosperity. The Masonic Temple, a majestic building adorned with unique architectural emblems of the Masons and castle-like towers. The building is owned by the family of the Little Caesar's empire (they also own the Detroit Tigers & the Detroit Red Wings). They also own much of the real estate surrounding Cass Park & there have been discussions of this family buying Cass Park to turn into a new arena for the Red Wings. Across the park on the opposite side is Cass Technical High School - one of the premier high schools in the entire nation. Boasting a new building with the most up-to-date technology and touting impressive stats of accomplishments and accolades, hundreds of homeless live literally across the street.

In the shadow of these structures live the very people Jesus came to serve. When Luke says "Blessed are the poor," the faces of Marcia, Little Bit, Greg, John, Darrell, & Norm come to mind. Faces marked by years of hard lives, bad decisions, substance abuse, despair for the future, and in some the absence of dignity robbed from them at no fault of their own. I asked John what it was like to live down here and his response: "You guys blow in here and the blow back out. Be glad. Be real glad!" Little Bit, a lifetime homeless lady and friend to many in our group, wept over the need to continually ask for help. The day before (Saturday), she found a friend of hers dead in his apartment.

What is there to be done about a situation like Cass Park in the midst of a city like Detroit? Who is willing to advocate for the poorest of the poor and look after their interests? How do you solve a problem that is 140 square miles large (the size of the city of Detroit proper)? What do terms like justice & the kingdom of God & incarnational ministry look like in this context?