Focus: HOPE
Focus: HOPE is a Detroit-based, non-denominational, non-profit organization whose aim is to overcome racism and poverty by providing education and training for underrepresented minorities and others. The organization is a public foundation under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue code.
Focus: HOPE was established in Detroit, Michigan in March, 1968 by co-founders Father William T. Cunningham, Father Jerome Fraser and Eleanor Josaitis. At the time the social environment in northern Detroit was one of severe racial tension as a result of the 12th Street Riot of the previous summer. The co-founders’ objective was to create a harmonious community where diverse people live and work together. Starting out in the basement of the Catholic Church of Madonna, where Father Cunningham was pastor, Focus: HOPE eventually grew to encompass a 40-acre (160,000 m2) campus along Oakman Boulevard in Detroit. Despite its origins, however, Focus: HOPE has no affiliation with the Catholic Church.
Focus: HOPE’s first significant action was a consumer survey on the disparity of food and prescription drug prices between inner-city Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The survey was conducted in April, 1968 and was aimed at answering three questions:
• Do the poor pay more?
• Does skin color affect service?
• Are facilities and products equal for inner city and suburban shoppers?
The survey was designed with the help of local universities, government agencies and private firms. Focus: HOPE recruited 403 women from the city and surrounding suburbs to shop for a prescribed list of items at various chain and independent stores throughout the Detroit area. The findings of the survey were that people in poor, inner-city areas paid roughly 20% more for groceries and prescription drugs than people in the more affluent suburbs Furthermore, survey participants reported inferior quality and service in the inner-city stores. The consumer survey was instrumental in Focus: HOPE becoming the host agency for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program for the Detroit/Wayne County, MI region.
In 1972 Focus: HOPE formed a coalition opposing the relocation of the Automobile Association of America of Michigan’s headquarters from the city of Detroit to Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit in which the black population was less than 0.02%. After an injunction against the move was denied Focus: HOPE filed a class action suit against AAA on behalf of its black employees alleging racial motivation for the move. The lawsuit, “Bell et al. vs. The Automobile Club of Michigan, et al.” claimed that the relocation would force 200 black employees of AAA to leave their jobs due to the unavailability of public transportation to or affordable housing in the city of Dearborn. Shortly after the lawsuit was filed a federal judge ruled that Focus: HOPE had no standing in the case, since the organization itself had not suffered any damages. For the duration of the case, however, the majority of the financial support of the legal action against AAA was provided by Focus: HOPE. In February 1983 a settlement was reached between AAA and the plaintiffs for a substantial cash amount and a court-enforced affirmative action program to be implemented by AAA. The Housing and Transportation Trust fund was formed with part of the cash settlement for the purpose of providing low-interest mortgages and automobile loans for black employees of AAA, with Focus: HOPE appointed by the court as trustor. In the same timeframe a second lawsuit against AAA was also funded in large part by Focus: HOPE. “Greenspan, et al. vs. The Automobile Club of Michigan, et al.”, was a gender discrimination class action fought on behalf of 7,000 female employees. The lawsuit branched off of the “Bell” case in 1974 and the trial concluded in December 1979. In February of the following year AAA was found guilty of discriminatory compensation and job-promotion practices.
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