Join us on Sunday January 5 th to hear Rev. Faith Fowler preach at SLFUMC! She will be kicking off the January Mission of the Month with Cass Community Social Services, a Detroit-based agency dedicated to providing food, jobs, health services and housing.
 
·        FOOD: One million meals served a year, with food coming from volunteer donations, a community garden, food banks, and meat from hunters in Northern Michigan.
·        HOUSING: Multiple w arming center s, emergency shelters, rotating shelters hosted by churches and p ermanent supported housing (where individuals can stay in an apartment indefinitely) are made available to those in need.
·        JOBS: Green Industries was created for those with significant barriers to traditional jobs and links employment with sustainability. Currently 85 adults produce m ud mats and flip-flops from tires that were illegally dumped in the city, coaster sets using repurposed wood from demolished houses and glass scraps from Guardian Glass, and shredded materials through a document destruction program.
·        HEALTH: A free medical clinic is operated by volunteer doctors and Wayne State medical students, offering health screenings, simple medications, and arrangements for pro bono procedures.
·        TINY HOMES: 25 different homes (250-400sf) are planned for this project (19 are now completed or near completion). The residents are formerly homeless, senior citizens, or college students who all qualify as low-income. For seven years the residents will rent the homes for $1/sq. ft. after which time they will be given the opportunity to own the home and property.
 
Cass has many other outreach programs and services including bicycle rentals, coat and gift drives, a choir of formally homeless men, a store allowing people the opportunity to provide for themselves at a significant discount but giving them a sense of responsibility and accomplishment – just to name a few. They truly are living their motto of “Fighting Poverty. Creating Opportunity. Building Community.”
 
Hands-on projects with Cass and SLFUMC began last year. The UMM built an office inside one of their warehouses and have done work inside an apartment building to make it habitable. The youth remodeled a children’s room at the Cass UMC, a youth group went down to do mission work – and there are plans for more in 2020.
 
·        Welcome Rev. Faith Fowler to South Lyon First UMC on Sunday January 5, 2020! (See article above.) This is a great honor to have her join us at South Lyon First!
 
·        We will be hosting an Empty Bowls painting opportunity at the church on Sunday January 12 th (see further details in this newsletter). These will be used at a fundraiser at Eastern Market on Friday March 6, 2020 (21 & over event). Tickets are available at www.emptybowlsdetroit.org if you would like to attend.
 
·        We will be taking orders for recycled tire mud mats through the month of January. Cass Community Social Services collects illegally dumped tires from vacant lots in Detroit and recycles them into indestructible mud mats ( https://casscommunity.org/mud-mats/ ). The color of beads between the strips of tires are customizable to support your favorite Go Green! Go Blue! Go Tigers! team, or multicolored or whatever you choose! To date, Cass has picked up well over 30,000 tires from the streets and 12 formerly homeless men are employed in a program creating mud mats from these tires. See the kiosk for order forms in January.
 
Detroit is changing, rebuilding and growing stronger, but there is still a lot of work to be done. While the growth and excitement in the city is necessary, please remember those that have been struggling in the city for years and pray we find a way to bridge the gentrification. Please consider supporting Cass Community Social Services. You can learn all about their work at www.casscommunity.org . Checks can be made out to SLFUMC and designated on the offering envelope to CCSS. During the month of January, your prayers and financial support will make a difference in the City of Detroit.
 
Much Praise and Thanks,
Your Mission Team