Focus: HOPE
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Generational poverty perpetuated by systemic racism and discrimination continues to plague Detroit. A mix of complex circumstances, including but not limited to inadequate education systems, unaffordable housing, and school-to-prison pipeline policies have prevented many from achieving self-sufficiency and economic mobility. Despite this reality, Detroiters have proven themselves to be some of the most resilient, resourceful, and entrepreneurial communities to endure such conditions. The Motor City has the sixth highest amount of African American middle-class neighborhoods. However, disparity can be further evidenced by Detroit having the fewest middle-class neighborhoods among the top 50 cities in the U.S. A total of 27,700 African American families would need to move into the middle class to create a more equitable future for the children of Michigan's largest city. Focus: HOPE provides workforce development, early learning, and food distribution to help combat this reality.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Food for Seniors
Food for Seniors provides 41,000+ low-income seniors with monthly food packages to assist with independence, healthy living and addressing basic needs. The program also provides important infrastructure for health screenings, income support, and tax preparation for seniors and the community at large.
Workforce Development & Education
With an extraordinary record of success in working with underserved and underrepresented adults in Southeast Michigan, we offer high quality work readiness, pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs in a range of in-demand career fields, serving over 600 students in 2019.
Early Learning
Focus: HOPE’s Early Learning programming aims to build a cradle to career pipeline of educational opportunity by providing quality early childhood education for newborn to five-year-olds through evidence-based models.
Youth Development
The Youth Development program includes education, recreation and leadership development activities for students during out-of-school time - including a 21st Century Community Learning Center, Excel Photography, and summer camp programming.
Advocacy, Equity, & Community Empowerment
Focus: HOPE pursues leadership as an antiracism organization by advocating for systems change and integrating racial equity into all it does. Additionally, each core program area is undergirded with services such as financial coaching, accounting assistance, and utility payment assistance, creating a one-stop community hub.
Where we work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students registered for online courses
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups, Work status and occupations, Social and economic status
Related Program
Workforce Development & Education
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of students enrolled
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups, Family relationships, Social and economic status
Related Program
Early Learning
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Average number of service recipients per month
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Ethnic and racial groups, Social and economic status, Work status and occupations
Related Program
Food for Seniors
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The intelligent and practical actions embarked upon include early learning, youth development, workforce development, and food for seniors initiatives, undergirded by foundational tenets of advocacy, equity, and community empowerment. These strategies combine to provide opportunities for individuals and families to empower themselves and make a difference in their communities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Our long-standing programs, each led by subject matter experts, follow best practices, and our wide range of community partnerships ensures wraparound success.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 1968, Focus: HOPE has served thousands of children, students, and seniors, all while acting as a community leader around areas of justice and equality. We have recently refocused on our core mission, and we are committed to continuing to serve the community with intelligent and practical action, with the goal of overcoming racism, poverty and injustice in our area.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Focus: HOPE
Board of directorsas of 10/31/2023
Mr. D. Scott Sandefur
Retired, VP at General Motors
Term: 2020 - 2024
John A. Dunn
President, Ulitimaster
Carlton M. Faison
Senior Vice President, Global Commercial BaBank of America
Kevin Gentner
Superior National Bank, Market Lead, Trust Investment Head
Steven Jensen
Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP
Burt Jordan
Atlantic Coastal Aquisition
Paul N. Myles
Sr. Manager, Government Workforce Development and Training Programs, Magna International
Catherine Clegg
Retired, General Motors
Jane Fran Morgan
President, JFM Consulting Group
Kristi Stepp
Partner, Sigred Solutions
Leo Stevenson
Sr. Resident Director, Wyandotte, Merrill Lynch
Lizabeth Ardisana
CEO, ASG Renaissance
Lisa Caldwell
Managing Partner of the Americas Consulting Practice, Ernst & Young LLP
Tammy Golden
Executive Dir., Workforce Strategy, General Motors
Jodi Frisicaro
VP & General Auditor, DTE
Marco Purty
VP Global Workplace Safety, General Motors
Christopher Pardi
Stellantis
Donetta Houser-Sly
HR Director, North America Fulfillment, Amazon
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/29/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.