About

For more than 80 years, the St. Dominic Catholic Parish at West Warren and Trumbull in Detroit served all its neighbors, spiritually, liturgically and communally, but especially in meeting the daily needs of the unemployed, working poor and homeless. This charitable work built upon a very long tradition of service. St Martin DePorres, the patron saint of the St. Dominic Outreach Center, was a poor 16th century Dominican Brother of African and Spanish descent. As "almoner" of his friary, he raised considerable sums each week to support the poor in Lima Peru. His pantry was said never to run out of food whenever the poor came in need.
 
St. Dominic Parish embraced St. Martin's model and at one time was home to a St. Vincent de Paul food depot. In 2000, the depot left and the parish established its own Outreach Center to continue serving people in a large area in west-midtown Detroit. When St. Dominic Parish was closed in 2005, the Archdiocese of Detroit recognized the critical importance of sustaining and expanding the ministry to a community where more than a third of households subsist at annual incomes below the poverty level. Today the need is greater.
 
In 2006, led by Fr. Mark Soehner, O.F.M., the St. Dominic Outreach center was formally structured as a
501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization with guidance and oversight by an Advisory Board. The Advisory Board includes academic, business, religious, government and community leaders from the area.
 
Now led by Fr. Mario Amore, St. Dominic Outreach Center is one of the Franciscan Ministries of Detroit which include St. Aloysius and St. Aloysius Neighborhood Services. The Outreach Center is open to all and works with other agencies to meet the needs of our neighbors. Well-nurtured "bridging" relationships with partner parishes are the key life's blood of the Center. Since 2005, the Outreach Center has significantly enhanced the range of programs and increased the numbers of families served.
 
The St. Dominic Outreach Center continues to progress in building new and deeper donor relationships with parishes, businesses, organizations and individuals. The number of volunteers from churches, youth groups and other organizations increases each year. The ability of the Outreach Center to meet dramatically increasing needs for assistance, under very challenging economic conditions in Detroit and Southeastern Michigan, depends upon new, continued and growing support from all sources. The St. Dominic Outreach Center is dedicated to securing the means necessary to meet the basic life needs and maintain the self-dignity of its neighbors. We invite new partners to join us in supporting our mission of charity.