President's
Message
Hello DETROIT!
My name is Eric Ford. I'm the president of the Detroit 300 Community Action Team (C.A.T.) This is an organization that I am very passionate about and I'm committed to its success. Growing up in Detroit gave me a sense of community and pride. Most of all, it gave me what I needed to be resilient and cultivated my passion for helping others in need.
My Story
When I was a senior in high school, I became a child impacted by domestic violence in the most tragic and devastating way. My mother was murdered by my father when I was 17 years old, on October 28th, 1984. It was a day I'll never forget because my life was forever changed.
Without my parent's guidance, it wasn't difficult for me to be enticed to the wrong side of the tracks. I embarked on a path that my mother would not have approved of. It was a path that I chose, with the hand I was dealt. It gave me a welcoming space that allowed me to channel the anger I had towards my father. If there was something positive that came out of that time, it was that I was exposed to some things and experiences that made me street-savvy. After about 15 years of living the street life, I finally began to deal with my pain and make different, favorable choices to live a life that my mother would be proud of.
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One day, while at work, I heard Raphael B Johnson and Angelo Henderson on the radio, asking for 300 men to meet them on Leslie and Petoskey to help the Detroit Police Department (DPD) look for three perpetrators, who raped and assaulted a senior citizen. I felt a sense of urgency to help apprehend these cowards. I truly believe my mom sent me over there that day. I promised my mother at her casket that since I wasn't able to save her, I would try my best to save someone else's mother and to this day I'm still working to uphold that promise.
My sincerest thanks to Mayor, Mike Dugan, Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison and their staff, and the Detroit City Council for choosing Detroit 300 C.A.T. to be one of six organizations chosen to receive the CVI Grants from the City of Detroit to help keep our communities safe. As a recipient of this honor, myself, along with the mighty volunteers of Detroit 300 C.A.T., are in a position to serve many more families and help decrease violence in Detroit.
There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of my mother. I now use this passion and devotion to serve the city I love. Thanks to my city... one Detroit, for life!