By Bernie DeGroat
News and Information Services
The University has joined forces with Focus: HOPE and 11 other Detroit-area organizations that provide services to the homeless and others in crisis to collectively train staff members.
The Community-Based Training Cooperative, supported by a $130,000 grant from the McGregor Fund, will promote inter-agency cooperation and help enhance the quality of services provided.
“The purpose of this program is to encourage organizations like ours to work together to enhance the skill of community-based service providers and managers, and to improve communication and cooperation among our organizations,” says the Rev. William T. Cunningham, executive director of Focus: HOPE. “I believe this project has great potential. The participating organizations include some of the largest providers of community-based services in Detroit.”
The School of Social Work’s Office of Community Relations and Professional Development (CRPD) will guide the program and assist in developing a training curriculum. Deborah J. Kroopkin, a recent School of Social Work graduate, has been appointed program coordinator.
CRPD Director Larry C. Coppard says a great need exists for this type of project since staff development programs at most of the participating organizations are minimal.
“These agencies serve a multitude of clients facing chronic situations such as mental illness, substance abuse, unemployment, homelessness, family violence, emotional crisis, hunger and extreme poverty,” he says. “Staff and volunteers face enormous demands and frustrations as they attempt to serve these people, but they typically receive little or no formal training, which exacerbates feelings of inadequacy and contributes to high staff and volunteer turnover.”
Bernard Parker, executive director of Operation Get Down, one of the participating organizations, believes his agency has much to gain from the project.
“It is clear that many of our training needs overlap with those of the other organizations, and we have a great deal to learn from each other,” he says. “We support this program as a critical effort toward improved information sharing and cooperation, in addition to its role in meeting training needs.”
The project will consist of a formal organization, headed by a board of directors, and will feature a training certificate program and specialized workshops, a trainer network and a newsletter to be issued three times a year.
The project will be financed by a two-year grant from the McGregor Fund, a general purpose foundation that provides monetary support to Detroit-area organizations specializing in health care, education, human services, and the arts and humanities.
Participating organizations include Focus: HOPE, Operation Get Down, Gleaners Community Food Bank of Greater Detroit, Archdiocese of Detroit’s Society of St. Vincent de Paul, The Salvation Army, Crossroads, Capuchin Community Center, Fort Street Presbyterian Church, Coalition on Temporary Shelter, Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, Daily Bread Ministries Inc., and Travelers Aid Society of Detroit.
