JPMorganChase teams up with the Pope Francis Center to help serve homeless in Detroit

The smell of fresh paint and sound of clanking buckets filled the Pope Francis Center’s Day Center in downtown Detroit.

Armed with paintbrushes and cleaning supplies, 27 volunteers from JPMorganChase went room-to-room around the building, helping spruce up the kitchen, dining room and bathrooms.

These are spaces that welcome more than 200 guests each day.

The Pope Francis Center has served Detroit's most vulnerable citizens since 1990, with the mission of eradicating homelessness. Annually, the Center provides more than 110,000 nutritious meals, 2,550 loads of laundry and 6,000 warm showers to those in need. This is in addition to medical, dental and legal support.

"For many people living on the streets of Detroit, Pope Francis Center is a beacon of help and hope,” said Fr, Tim McCabe, SJ, President and CEO. “We believe everyone is worthy of dignity and respect, regardless of their station in life. That’s why we are committed to creating a Detroit without homelessness, where every person has the resources for sustained stability.”


The Center relies on community partners to advance its mission. For the past decade, JPMorganChase has provided not only banking services for the organization, but also an extra set of hands.

"We’re proud of our longstanding banking relationship with the Pope Francis Center,” said Mary McCoy, Executive Director at J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking, who has organized these volunteer events since 2023. “We’re proud to support this organization in another meaningful way as they work to provide our neighbors with critical care, whether it’s a warm shower, a medical exam or a hot meal.”

Volunteers are essential to the success of local nonprofits, helping supplement the work of their daily, dedicated staff and strengthening ties to the surrounding community. Collaboration between companies and nonprofits can also help maximize the organization’s impact. In just over three hours, JPMorganChase volunteers cleaned areas that would typically take staff a week. This has a direct impact on the community, allowing the Center to remain open to guests as much as possible.

“Service is one of JPMorganChase’s core values and one of the most important ways we can impact the communities where we live and work,” said Terrah Opferman, Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Commercial Banking and chair of the firm’s Michigan Market Leadership Team. “There’s nothing more rewarding than supporting local organizations like Pope Francis Center that are truly invested in the future of our city.”

As Detroit continues to face challenges related to homelessness, the Pope Francis Center is focused on increasing its impact through the Bridge Housing Campus, which opened to residents last September. Located in the Core City neighborhood, the 60,000 square-foot campus provides transitional housing and comprehensive, individualized supportive services under one roof to help people move off the streets and into permanent affordable housing, making it the first of its kind in Michigan.


A steady stream of volunteers will ensure that their operations continue to run smoothly.

“We have a saying at the Pope Francis Center – ‘When we work together, miracles happen.’ We are so grateful to partners like JPMorganChase and their volunteers for contributing the time, treasure and elbow grease that helps us help those in need,” said McCabe.

If you would like to get involved with the Pope Francis Center, visit https://popefranciscenter.org/volunteer/.