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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Faith @ Work

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published April 18, 2008

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Founder Beth Collison stands in the entry of Faith @ Work, in front of four posters detailing the four missions the nonprofit supports through its sales.

Troy — What sets Faith @ Work apart from other bookstores and coffee shops is that the retail side is only a sliver of its overall mission.

In fact, frames behind the front door contain descriptions and pictures of the four missions which Faith @ Work will be supporting through its revenue, explained Faith @ Work founder Beth Collison.

Profits will be split among:

• Project Linus, which makes blankets for traumatized or needy children;
• Believe in Miracles, which grants wishes to children with life-threatening illness;
• Capuchin Soup Kitchen, which supports the needy and homeless in Detroit;
• Lifewater International, which drills wells for African villages to have fresh drinking water.

"This is the reason we exist," Collison said.

But supporting those in need goes much farther than just splitting up the store's profits, Collison explained. There's work space in the back of the building for Project Linus to store blankets and Believe in Miracles to work on its mailings, and for teens to drop in and help out with ongoing service projects. The week before Easter, a boxful of plastic Easter eggs was in the process of being stuffed with small toys, to be dropped on the lawns of a dozen children who have suffered a loss, trauma or illness in the previous year.

Baked goods through the ROPE — Reaching Our Potential Everyday — program, born out of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen to help restore men formerly incarcerated or in rehabilitation, will also be for sale. Funds support the men's community home and the baking mission, and on Saturday mornings, pies, coffee cakes and breads will be for sale in addition to pastries and cookies. Coffee is for sale nearby, with a seating area to enjoy those goods.

Faith @ Work What: Catholic bookstore, coffee shop, meeting place, service center Where: 1977 E. Wattles, at John R, in the Infinity Plaza Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.; Monday, closed. Group meetings after hours can be arranged. Contact: Call (248) 250-9216 or visit www.faithatworktroy.org.

The building space also includes a small conference room, which can be reserved for small prayer groups or Scripture study groups for no charge, and an Internet corner offers teens a place to go online or do their homework. Some of the items for sale benefit other nonprofits, such as Paint a Miracle greeting cards and Angel's Place decorative plates.

Faith @ Work is cooperating with the GROW program, Getting Ready for the Outside World, a part of Troy public schools. It gives young adults with disabilities the chance for hands-on job training to give them a bit more experience before they find work in the community, Collison explained.

She's also willing to work with clothing and food drives to be a drop-off point, and work with other parishes for service projects. By establishing relationships with other nonprofits, she said, Faith @ Work is able to extend the hands of Christ to everyone that comes into the building, she said.

"The desire is to use it to promote the Catholic faith, but also to give back," Collison said.

The retail part of the store supports all those service missions, Collison explained. Faith @ Work carries between 600 and 700 book titles, as well as religious T-shirts, book bags, hats, rosaries, medals, crosses and other Christian book store fare, especially targeting teens.

Collison said she was first called to open the store last spring, after Fr. John Riccardo, then the pastor at her parish, St. Anastasia, asked his parishioners to pray for an hour each day during Lent. She's a social worker who had worked with the disabled at Troy schools, so she had no previous business experience.

She believes God started telling her she needed to open the store, she thought, "OK, Lord, you're talking to the wrong person," she remembers. But a business mentor, friends with experience, and others willing to help quickly stepped in. "Once I said 'yes' the Lord just sent people in," she said.

Volunteer Marian Bart, coordinator of Project Linus and also a member of St. Anastasia, said by helping at the store, she likes that she has the chance to help people deepen their faith by reading faith-based books. She said she was also happy for the chance to get the Project Linus blankets out of her house, and give people who are making them a more convenient place to drop them off.

She's already told her kids that the store would be their new home, she joked. Her 12-year-old paid the ultimate compliment: "It is so cool," was the verdict.

Employee Paula Kast, whose family started Believe in Miracles and who is also a member of St. Anastasia, said the first day the store was open — about four weeks ago — was pleasant and inspiring. "It doesn't even seem like being at work," she said.

"It's exciting to see it come from the ground up — to see it come to life," she said of Faith @ Work. "What's really exciting for me and the foundation is to see how much we can do for other people, and how much other people want to help."

Collison said going through the store's opening has deepened her faith and taught her to trust in the Lord. She remembers that she would pray for the Lord to send her what she needed, such as a timely phone call, and it would come within days.

"It truly is just about promoting the faith, trusting in the Lord and following what He asks you to do," she said. "I don't stress because I know the Lord wants it as much as I do."