Fixing a Hole

by Tom Watkins
December 11, 2009

Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press columnist and best-selling author, knows how to go about fixing a hole in a roof. How come the governor and legislature can’t figure it out?

In a recent story (Free Press 11/22/09), Albom writes passionately about the need to provide the warmth and support to feed people down on their luck and in much need. He writes about the generosity of people from around the country and world that helped patch a hole in the roof of the Trumbull Avenue Presbyterian Church.

This building was a place that provided shelter for people who are homeless and far too often forgotten. The building provided the shelter, the people provided the care.

One could say Albom’s story was symbolically about stopping the rot that has become synonymous with the decay of Detroit and Michigan. Clearly, it was much more than just a feel-good story of people coming together to accomplish something bigger than each of them alone — to stop the rot in a church roof. It was a reminder, particularly at this spiritual time of the year, of what is truly important in life — helping our fellow man.

What Albom did was identify a problem and set about mobilizing support to solve it, by making the plight known and identifying the people and resources needed to fix it.

The work that Albom undertook when he set out to solve the problem of neglect and despair was truly doing the “Lord’s work” by helping the least among us. He did not blame others for the neglect that allowed the hole to develop; he did not point fingers at those who could have fixed the hole in the past. No, he saw a problem and took action to fix it.

You can call Mitch Albom many things. He is an award-winning columnist, a best-selling author, the sidekick to Kenny on WJR radio, a sportswriter and a decent human being and good man. Perhaps a word not typically assigned to Mitch Albom is…LEADER. Yes, in my mind, he is a leader.

Leaders see a problem and believe it can and should be addressed. Yet they do more than identify a problem. They lead others to believe as they do that the problem should and can be solved. A leader is flexible and strong enough to accept that others, too, can have good ideas even if they do not share the same political brand, come from the same faith, share the same skin pigmentation or have great economic means.

As a leader, Albom mobilized an army of believers who were able to solve a problem that was left to fester for years. Because of Albom’s values, beliefs, faith, leadership and action, one small corner of the world has become a better place. People’s lives are better because of him and his army. In my mind and heart, that is leadership.

Margaret Mead, the noted anthropologist, reminds us that “a small group of thoughtful people can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Albom, through the gift of his heart and words, helped rally people to change the world, one hole in the roof at a time.

Yet, as I read Albom’s new book Have a Little Faith and his recent column, I wondered why our elected leaders are unable to fix the state budget mess that is the “hole in the roof” of our great state. We have known for years that the hole in the state budget is there and is growing bigger. Yet, rather than fixing the hole, we have ignored, neglected and patched over — hoping the problem would miraculously disappear. As the budget hole grew bigger, our leaders, rather than finding the right combination of cuts, reforms and taxes, simply gathered more buckets to catch the rain of despair while casting blame on others.

Now, through inaction and neglect, the budget hole has grown and our children and the “least among us” are feeling the pain. Rather than mobilizing the people to fix the hole, our leaders have returned to their partisan corners and are hurling insults and blame at each other. All the while, the hole gets bigger and the human collateral damage becomes greater.

Our Lansing leaders, unlike Albom, have yet to set about developing a shared vision and common-agenda plan of action. Albom, the Rev. Henry Covington and his congregation at the I Am My Brother’s Keeper Ministries (which took over the Presbyterian building and turned it into a place of service as well as worship) have offered a powerful lesson to the governor and legislature. It started with a belief that something was wrong and needed to be fixed. It was mixed with the values and beliefs of other people until an army was mobilized that was unstoppable. It not only fixed the original problems, resources were left over to correct other ills.

They have demonstrated the lesson taught by Mother Teresa: “Hands that serve are more sacred than lips that pray.”

Albom asks, “What if our beliefs were not what divided us, but what pulled us together?” What indeed.

As the year comes to an end and Michigan still suffers from a leaky roof drowning our schools and communities from Marquette to Monroe, you have to wonder if Albom and the Rev. Covington and his congregation are available to consult with the governor and legislature to help fix Michigan’s never-ending leaky roof.

Albom and the Rev. Covington have once again demonstrated that faith, beliefs, integrity, values and, yes, leadership matter — because a hole in the roof never fixes itself.

To help them, you can donate to: Aholeintheroof.com and SAYDetroit.org or contact Mitch Albom malbom@freepress.com.

To fix Michigan’s “hole in the roof,” call your state representative, senator or Gov. Granholm.

Tom Watkins is an education and business consultant in the U.S. and China and served as Michigan’s state superintendent of schools from 2001-2005. His “Bridge to China” cover story appeared in Dome in September.