In a letter to Ferris, Executive Director Deborah Mock said that the Paris location would be closed due to an increase in the cost of services and utilities.
Hope Network Developmental Community Services has ended its partnership with Ferris, due to the program shutting down. This program partnered with the Rock and the Quad Café to provide work to students who needed more help and supervision. Hope Network had to end the partnership with Ferris because they shut down their location near Ferris in Paris, Mich.
“Hope Network’s six decades of service, and its absolute commitment to the persons we serve, leads us to a vision of advocacy on their behalf,” Hope Network said on their website. “We will use our voice to speak for those whose voices are muted by injustice, disability and by fear. We will stand with those we serve, honored by their trust to represent their cause, knowing that justice for them is justice for us all.”
Hope Network is based out of Grand Rapids and has 125+ locations across Michigan.
“Hope Network has made the difficult decision to cease community-based services at our Paris Center, located at 21645 Northland Dr, Paris MI. We continue to experience an increase in the cost of providing services related to supplies, vehicle fuel, utilities and employee wages that have exceeded the revenue we receive to cover the services we provide,” Mock wrote.
This letter was written on June 26, 2024. The last day of the partnership was Aug. 25, 2024.
“Our goal is to partner with you to ensure that the people served can transition services to another provider,” Mock wrote.
Digital animation and game design senior Trenna Smith gave insight into how programs like Hope Network are essential.
“The Rock did hire a couple of people who were part of that organization,” Smith said. “They hired the ones who were more independent, but the rest of them can’t work there anymore because they need more support and supervision. The organization had adults who would supervise and help them out.”
Smith gave a personal testament to the power of programs like Hope Network. Her twin brother, who is diagnosed with autism, was part of a program that helped him get a job, as he wanted to work.
“Many of those individuals enjoyed working at The Rock; I worked with them, and they always seemed happy and fulfilled. It’s just sad that they can’t do it anymore,” Smith said.
Ferris had been partnered with Hope Network since July 1, 2022, and the term was set to end June 30, 2025.