Faith Fowler

Faith Fowler is the senior pastor of Cass Community United Methodist Church and the executive director of Cass Community Social Services, a large nonprofit in Detroit that serves more than 700,000 meals a year and houses about 300 homeless people per night alongside a day program, medical clinics, and a job center.[1] She has been the director of Cass Community Social Services since 1994.[2]

Under Fowler's leadership, Cass Community Social Services has expanded its jobs programs and campus. Her original goal was to expand the social services available in the Cass Corridor beyond emergency-only programs.[3] Fowler's focus on sustainability and jobs has helped address income inequality in Detroit by creating jobs for homeless people and people under the poverty line, through products like mud mats made of repurposed illegally dumped tires, coasters made wood sourced from demolished houses, and Detroit-branded sandals. Her expansion of Cass Community's programs and properties has increased the number of homeless people who have successfully moved into transitional housing.[4] Fowler helped create the Tiny Homes Detroit project, Cass Community Publishing House, and Cass Green Industries, which produces the sustainable products sold by Cass Community Social Services.[5][6]

Fowler graduated from Albion College and has received a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.[7]

Fowler felt the call to pastorship in junior high, but was told by her church's pastor that she was "wrong".[5] Nonetheless, she studied religion and English at Albion College. To save enough money for a Master of Divinity degree from Boston University, she worked a full-time job at a children's care and rehabilitation facility, and a part-time job at a church youth program.[1]

Fowler has also served as an adjunct professor at University of Michigan-Dearborn,[7] a board member for the Cass Corridor Neighborhood Development Corporation, an advisory board member of the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, and chaired the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority Advisory Committee.[2] She is the author of two books.

Controversy

In 2016, Fowler helped create the Tiny Homes Detroit project, a development of small, one- and two-person tiny homes constructed for low-income tenants by Cass Community Social Services. According to CCSS, anyone who remains in the house for seven years will be "given the opportunity to own the home and property."[8] In early 2023, after a two-year long legal battle, Fowler came under fire for evicting a local Black woman with a terminal illness from one of the tiny homes.[9] The tenant claims that they were evicted in retaliation for "blowing the whistle" on problems at Cass Community Social Services.[10] In a written statement, Fowler claimed that the resident has not used the house as her primary residence and chose to live somewhere else during most of her lease, a claim that the resident adamantly denies. On April 4, 2023, bailiffs were sent to the home to evict the resident but were met by activists blocking the door.[11] In an attempt to enter the residences, the bailiffs verbally threatened and physically attacked the activists, punching them, throwing them to the ground, choking them, pulling their hair, and brandishing a knife.[12]

Further reading
  • Fowler, Faith (September 8, 2014), This Far By Faith: Twenty Years At Cass Community, Cass Community Publishing House, ISBN 978-1939880703
  • Fowler, Faith (January 1, 2018), Tiny Homes In a Big City, Cass Community Publishing House, ISBN 978-1942011750

References
  1. Green, Leslie (13 November 2021). "Crain's 2021 100 Most Influential Women". Crainsdetroit.com. Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  2. "Rev. Faith Fowler". Humanityinaction.org. Humanity in Action USA. May 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. Fowler, Faith (September 8, 2014). This Far By Faith: Twenty Years At Cass Community. Detroit: Cass Community Publishing House. p. xii. ISBN 978-1939880703.
  4. "This Far By Faith: Twenty Years at Cass Community Social Services with Faith Fowler". Mlive.com. MLive Michigan. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  5. "Rev. Faith Fowler: Making Disciples in Detroit". UMC.org. The people of The United Methodist Church. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  6. "The Rev. Faith Fowler of Detroit to receive Shining Light award". Freep.com. Detroit Free Press. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. "1986 Faith Fowler". Bu.edu. Boston University. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  8. "Tiny Homes Detroit". Cass Community Social Services. 2013-01-30. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  9. Neavling, Steve. "Activists ready to defend Detroit woman facing eviction from tiny home". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  10. Neavling, Steve. "Activists ready to defend Detroit woman facing eviction from tiny home". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  11. "Activists Physically Protect Detroiter With Kidney Disease From Eviction". theshaderoom.com. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  12. "https://twitter.com/MCmuckraker/status/1643279470676115463?s=20". Twitter. Retrieved 2023-04-04. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
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