"Don't tell me you're hopeless. No man is hopeless. Let the power of the Lord break your bondage...None of you need remain (dependent) to alcohol, sin and despair!"
-General Albert William Thomas Orsborn
A Short History of The Salvation Army Harbor Light System of Eastern Michigan
On July 31, 1939, under the watch of Eastern Michigan Divisional Commander Lt. Colonel James Murphy, with inaugural Commanding Officer Adjutant George Bellamy, the Detroit Harbor Light Corps' doors opened as a beacon to the men and women of Skid Row and have never been closed. There have been a total of twelve men of various Salvation Army ranks (some of which no longer exist) and backgrounds who have taken charge of the Harbor Light from Adjutant Bellamy to current Director, Major Edward Rowland.
One of the most unique Commanding Officers of the Harbor Light certainly has to be Captain Tom Crocker (1894-1959); a man who overcame his own addictions to alcohol and drugs living on Detroit's Skid Row, saved through Jesus Christ at the Harbor Light, and grew to show countless others God's Grace and Love. He also helped to create and establish the Harbor Lights in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Washington D.C. "It is our dream to establish on the Skid Row of every large city in this country a Harbor Light - penetrating into the dreary darkness of the squalid flophouses, the sordid saloons, the littered alleys - a light penetrating into the darkness in the souls of those unhappy and desolate human beings who so desperately need our help." -Captain Tom Crocker. He was also named ‘Chicagoan of the Year' in 1951.
His passion and hope for rehabilitating people from drugs and alcohol lives on today through the Bed and Bread Club and at the seven different locations in Eastern Michigan, including: Detroit Acres of Hope, and the campuses in Mount Clemons and Monroe, Michigan.
The Salvation Army Harbor Light System of Eastern Michigan
Compassionate, competent, licensed, and professional care provided with dignity.
"Don't tell me you're hopeless. No man is hopeless. Let the power of the Lord break your bondage...None of you need remain (dependent) to alcohol, sin and despair!"
-General Albert William Thomas Orsborn
Commanding Officers:
(Rank at the time of appointment)
Adjutant George Bellamy 1939-41
Brigadier A.B. Whitney 1941-42
Cadet Captain Tom Crocker 1942-48
Captain John Troutt 1948-49
Major Sandy Nelson 1949-52
Second Lieutenant Charles Smith 1952-54
Captain William H. Roberts 1954-62
Captain Kenneth Stange 1962-75
Captain John MacDonald 1975-89
Captain Geoffrey Allan 1989-99
Major Thomas Tupenney 1999-2004
Envoy Dr. Joseph Baunoch 2004-2006
Major Edward Rowland 2006 - Present