Unsung Heroes: Detroit Central City

Everybody promotes about Detroit's pretty parts: Midtown, the Riverfront, Campus Martius.

But those places could not exist without the help of non-profit organizations that generally operate under the radar. That is the perfect description of Detroit Central City. Without DCC, Detroit would look a lot different.

So would Pattie Charleston. Her story is an after-school special of epic proportions. She ran away from home at age 16. For the next 20 years, she was in and out of jail and prison. In and out of homelessness. In and out of a bottle. She walked into DCC in 2003 a hot mess.

Today, she's just hotness. She has her own three-bedroom home on the East side of Detroit. She's got a car. She's happily married. And she's a noteworthy singer, sharing her talent alongside the best of Detroit. (Check out her video at the end of this blog post.)

“I am living life,” Pattie says.

DCC is just one little group with a big purpose: To stabilize the community. Just one meal, just one night in a warm room. That's what it takes to keep Detroit moving forward. And to make life comfortable for us all.

A little background: Detroit Central City Community Mental Health Inc. is a place for the city's unemployed, homeless and mentally ill population. Most of its clients have a substance abuse problem. Many are trying to return to “real life” after time in jail or prison.

Founded nearly 40 years ago, DCC serves about 4,500 people in Detroit and Wayne County. About half of them are homeless when they arrive at its offices are located at 10 Peterboro, between Woodward and Cass avenues. More than three-quarters of them make $8,000 or less annually. Even in Detroit, that kind of money doesn't go far.

DCC has a staff of about 150 people, many of whom are certified peer specialists. That means they were once in the same place as their consumers. The people that greet you at the door? Some were consumers. So was the beautiful woman at the welcome desk. Pattie says you'd be surprised how many people at DCC once used nearly every service DCC offers: employment assistance, housing support, substance abuse treatment.

Peer counselors like Pattie help consumers learn the little things: problem solving, life skills. This sort of training is key to keeping people out of the situation that brought them to DCC in the first place. Some slip, some fall. Doesn't matter. DCC is there.

“They know no matter what they go through, we're there to give them that support,” Pattie said.

The results are stunning, notes Irva Faber-Bermudez, president and CEO. Given the right services, few people slip through the cracks.

“The community knows we're here,” Faber-Bermudez said.

Oh, it goes without saying that the state and county are cutting funds to DCC and its peer organizations. Michigan is chopping its budget for mental health services, with more than half of these cuts in Detroit and Wayne County alone. This, of course, comes at time when more people are out of work, losing their houses and losing what is left of their dignity.

Addressing these issues is central to Detroit's recovery.