Pope Francis Center receives support from Ford CEO Jim Farley
Ford CEO Jim Farley has been a longtime volunteer at the Pope Francis Center in Detroit, a shelter serving people in need.
- Ford CEO Jim Farley volunteers at the Pope Francis Center in Detroit, which helps men overcome chronic homelessness.
- Farley helped raise money for the center and dedicated a room to his late cousin, comedian Chris Farley, to help inspire residents battling addiction.
- The center provides housing, meals, and a comprehensive program that includes job skills and addiction recovery support.
- Farley connected with resident artist Alan Webster and presented him with a handmade model of a Ford Model T pickup truck.
Alan Webster is a talented man with dreams, ambitions, and plenty of demons.
A few years ago, the demons left him on the streets of Detroit. He ended up at the Pope Francis Center Bridge Housing Campus in the Core City neighborhood. He has been living there for the past nine months, receiving support to overcome chronic homelessness.
On a Saturday afternoon in December, Webster is sitting in the center’s art room. He works on sculpting intricate models. That talent, and his dream of one day painting houses, he carries with him in his quest to finally get sober and own a home again.
“When I was on other shows, I used to tell (my mom) that I was drinking and that I was going to do better this time, I was going to stay sober, and then I would relapse,” Webster said. “I’ve done it so many times that when I tell her now, she says, ‘I’ve heard this a million times.’ So I have to really show her that I’m doing better.”
This is a confession Webster made to Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company.
Farley stood next to Webster, nodding as he listened to Webster’s story about how he became homeless. Farley asks Webster about his life and family, and when Webster describes a childhood where his father was largely absent due to his father’s addiction, he simply replies, “I see.” It’s a relaxed conversation, with Webster speaking without the self-consciousness that you typically have when talking to the CEO of a multibillion-dollar global company.
Farley has volunteered for decades at the Pope Francis Center Day Center Church on St. Anthony Street and here at the Bridge Housing Campus, which opened in September 2024. The center provides a food pantry for nearby residents and, although it is a male-only residence, it takes in homeless people of all genders during emergency weather.
Farley supports all of it and continues to do so, telling the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that she hopes others will donate time and money to help the facility. He feels comfortable walking around campus, greeting some of the 37 staff members and the 20 regular volunteers who come in each day. Farley is especially comfortable joking with residents like Webster.
Farley pointed to a detailed model of an old ship that Webster had made and asked Webster how he had built it.
“I make plastic models,” Farley said. “Mine isn’t that good.”
The quiet music accentuated the solitude of the room, and Farley commented, “Do you listen to music? I do too. Just doing my thing for hours on end. Were you in the Navy?”
“No,” Webster answered, then laughed a little, realizing that the ship wasn’t the real surprise that was in store for Farley within minutes.
understanding addiction
Farley helped run a campaign that raised nearly $40 million to build a 60,000-square-foot campus with 40 studio apartments, a kitchen and cafeteria, a gymnasium, medical and dental clinics, a barber shop, legal services, a library, a chapel, and this art room. The facility offers comprehensive classes and programs to end chronic homelessness among men.
He also donated some of his own money (he declined to say how much), which is why the Rev. Tim McCabe, CEO of the Pope Francis Center, wanted to name it after Farley.
So at the center of the facility is a room dedicated to Farley’s cousin, the late comedian Chris Farley, who struggled with drug addiction and died of a drug overdose in 1997 at age 33. It’s in that room that men like Webster go to nightly meetings for Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. They also attend classes there to learn job skills, financial acumen, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence.
Farley said it would be more appropriate and inspirational to name the room after Chris rather than herself. It shows residents that no matter how successful they are, anyone can fall.
“My family is a large Catholic family, and like many Catholic families, there are many stories of people struggling with addiction,” Farley told the Detroit Free Press. “So I thought, I wish I had a room, because it’s a big problem having to unpack for the people here. It’s a big problem for a lot of families like ours, and it’s tragic.”
Farley said that when he worked for Toyota and lived in California in the 1990s, he often met Chris when he was filming movies.
“It was so sad to see someone so talented and making so many people happy, he wasn’t happy,” Farley said.
McCabe said there have been 13 residents who have gone through programs in the Chris Farley Room since the center opened, and there is a waiting list for more residents, waiting for housing to open there so they too can take the program.
“They all have their own stories, their own pains and struggles,” McCabe said.
But McCabe said many men have overcome tremendous obstacles, and if they are surrounded by love and given the tools to succeed, they can often overcome them.
“What keeps us from becoming homeless? We have a web of family that keeps us safe,” McCabe said. “They don’t have that, so we become family to them. It’s not just about giving to them, it’s about holding them accountable, giving them agency, expecting them to succeed and telling them it’s possible.”
There’s nowhere to go until this place saves him.
Back in the art room, Farley watches Webster working on his latest model, which he can’t tell because he’s just started making it.
“You have balsa wood and paint and your creativity,” Farley said. “They drive you crazy.”
After that and some more questioning from Farley, Webster revealed his life story, which began with two years of living in a van.
“What kind of van is it?” Farley asked.
“I had a (Dodge) Caravan,” Webster said. “I was working at the time, but I didn’t like it, so I quit my job and started painting on my own. Things were going well for about a year, then all of a sudden I hit a dead end and couldn’t find any more work. I couldn’t pay rent, and I ended up living in a van for two years.”
Eventually, he explained, the van broke down at a gas station. “Then I thought, ‘Oh my god, where do we go from here?'”
Webster said he went through a 30-day program with the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light System, which helps people struggling with substance use disorders and homelessness. But when that program ended, Webster still had nowhere to go but back on the street.
“But then the Pope Francis Center came down there and introduced this place (to me) and asked if I would like to come here,” Webster said. “I don’t think that’s true. You have your own room, you have your own TV, you have your own art room, you have your own library, you eat good food here…you have a washer and dryer, and they’ll keep you here until you find your own place. They really help you out.”
“That’s the idea,” Farley said.
“I’ve never been to a place like this in my life,” Webster said. “I’ve never heard of a place like this in my life.”
He paused and said, looking stoic. “It saved my life. So many other programs… Once you complete the program, you can get back on the street.”
Gifts that elicit hugs from furries
Webster grew up in Michigan and attended Riverside High School in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. He said he realized he had a talent for art when he was in the third grade of elementary school.
But he never got much direction from adults about what to do with his talents. Webster told Farley that her parents divorced when she was 12 years old, adding: “I never felt like I had a father figure in my life. He was a terrible alcoholic.”
“I see, I see,” Farley said. “Addiction is a big part of our lives.”
At this point, McCabe told Farley that the Pope Francis Center had given him a gift, explaining that the center had purchased one of Webster’s works of art, a model of a Ford Model T pickup truck.
The gift is fitting not only because Mr. Farley owns Ford, but also because his maternal grandfather, Emmett Tracy, was an early Ford employee and built the Model T. Tracy was an important role model in Farley’s life.
McCabe hands Farley a Model T pickup. Details include a green painted bed, black body, and painted red trim around the tires. Farley examined it, dumbfounded.
“This is warehouse hacking. That’s what it’s called,” Farley said, pointing to the undercarriage. “They went through the station. It’s crazy. There’s ridiculous springs in both the front and back, and shackles on the axles. It’s crazy. Is this from you?”
“Yes, I signed it,” Webster said. “From Pope Francis.”
“This one in particular from you is something I will always treasure. Thank you so much,” Farley said, and Webster pointed to the Ford logo on the back. “I really like it. It’s great, thank you so much.”
Farley stopped and said he wasn’t a hugger, and said, “But I’ll give you a hug,” and the two hugged.
Offer to Ford Management
Farley, who keeps his grandfather’s worker ID badge in the CEO office at the company’s Old World headquarters on Michigan Avenue, known as the “Glass House,” told Webster that he plans to keep the Model T in his new office at Ford’s New World headquarters, about a mile from Oakwood Boulevard and Village Road.
“Is that okay?” Farley asks Webster. “Would you come visit me and run the Ford for a few minutes? What would you do if I ran the Ford? If I give you 10 minutes, you can do whatever you want for 10 minutes, but what will you do?”
Webster paused in thought before confirming that new car production was progressing smoothly.
Farley laughs. “Is that all you need for 10 minutes? Go to the factory? Get on the company plane and do a lap?”
“No, I was out of luck,” Webster said with a laugh. “I’d love to see how they come up with these new vehicles.”
“Well, would you like to go to a design studio?” Farley said.
“Don’t they start with a big lump of clay and sculpt it?” Webster said. That’s the part I want.
Farley explained that Ford still uses clay to model new cars. Clay is the best material, he said, because the exterior surfaces of the car are very delicate. He explained that Ford does digital scanning of the clay, adding that as an artist, “the only way to capture light and make it interesting is to use clay.”
“Someday I’m going to take you to a design center,” McCabe said, to which Farley added, “You should be a clay modeler at Ford. I want that job.”
Farley’s Farewell Words to Webster
Webster said living at the Pope Francis Center gives him a sense of security and allows him to reflect on his future goals. He can reflect on his mistakes, drown out his demons, and dream of a better future.
“My goals…I want to be a painter. I want to be a house painter. I want to work with columns and paint on things that look like real marble,” Webster said. “In Dearborn, there are pillars everywhere. I love to draw. My lines are sharp and straight.”
Farley tells Webster to keep that dream alive and to think of him every day when he sees Webster’s gift of a “beautiful” Model T.
“I have as high expectations as your mother has for you,” Farley said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what happens. Good luck and make the most of your time here.”
Jamie L. Lareau is senior auto writer for USA Today and covers Ford Motor Company for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jalalean. To sign up for our automotive newsletter. become a subscriber.
