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BY DESIREE COOPER
FREE PRESS
COLUMNIST
January 18, 2005
The North American International Auto Show may have changed how you look at cars, but not many people can say it's changed how they look at life.
Not so for 15-year-old Brittany of Detroit. She and her twin brother are the oldest of five children born to a heroin-addicted mother. All the children eventually ended up in foster care or with relatives.
"I was in two foster homes between the ages of 5 and 7," said Brittany, who preferred not to share her last name. "Then my grandmother took me and my twin brother in when I was 7."
Brittany is a poised, bubbly teenager with hazel eyes that hold a deep, introspective gaze. She loves English and wants to be in advertising or the entertainment industry one day. It's a dream that is entirely possible, despite her inauspicious start in life. That's because she has the support of relatives, and a warm, supportive home, thanks to Boys Hope-Girls Hope of Detroit.
Since 1985, the organization has been serving academically capable children who have undergone unfathomable life stress or trauma. The youths, who live in groups of six in a home setting, typically come to the program at about age 10 and stay until high school graduation. Although they may maintain ties with their birth families, the program helps them forge relationships with peers and with the live-in staff.
"We had two homes for boys," said executive director Tim Hayes. "But thanks to the auto show, we were able to open a home for girls in 2001."
Each year, the North American International Auto Show Charity Preview -- which costs $400 per person to attend -- raises nearly $35 million for Detroit area children's charities. For the past 12 years, Boys Hope-Girls Hope has been one of the 10 organizations to benefit from the black-tie gala. Friday's Charity Preview sold out its 17,500 tickets, meeting its $7-million fund-raising goal. Recently, the organization added the Detroit Area Dealers Association Charitable Foundation to the list of charities. Through the foundation, many other smaller grants are given to an additional 14 nonprofit organizations annually.
"The start that we give young people is so important to their outcomes," said event cochair Richard Genthe, owner of Dick Genthe Chevrolet in Southgate. "It's by far one of the most gratifying things you can do -- give opportunity to a child."
Many of the charities wouldn't be able to operate without the Charity Preview support, Genthe added.
"It provides about 50 percent of our budget annually," Hayes said. "Without it, we'd have to reduce our program tremendously and serve fewer kids."
That would be a shame, since 100 percent of Boys Hope-Girls Hope graduates since 1991 have gone on to college. Brittany, a high school sophomore, hopes to boost that statistic by attending film school at Columbia College in Chicago when she graduates.
Through Boys Hope-Girls Hope, Brittany has not only embraced her future, but transcended her past.
"My mother was murdered on July 5, 2004," said Brittany, with disquieting peace. "She had a beautiful voice and was pretty. She could have modeled. She always visited me here and brought me something. She had planned to give my sister some earrings the day she was killed.
"I don't know what this experience is here to show me," she said, referring to her family life. "But I know that drugs aren't the key. Being here has made me a stronger person. I know I may not be perfect, but I can be good. I have people who love me."
Contact DESIREE COOPER at 313-222-6625 or cooper@freepress.com
Copyright © 2005 Detroit Free Press Inc.