A Poacher and a Paladin at the Sacred Heart Byzantine Church
Did divine intervention give Sacred Heart Byzantine a new state-of-the-art security system?
Father Joseph Marquis has been with Sacred Heart Byzantine for 18 years and sought to keep the church open during the day for parishioners who want to pray. However, he knew keeping the church unlocked and unattended exposed God’s house to thieves. Father Marquis’ solution was to install security cameras inside the sacristy to promote peace and comfort. But in the 21st century, peace and comfort are not cheap.
The Church began work to raise $5,000 for the project and find a suitable contractor to perform the work. Acting on a recommendation from a parishioner, Father Marquis selected a local contractor who required a $2,500 deposit to install the CCTV system. However, the trusted contractor betrayed Father Marquis by continuously providing excuses for installation delays.
After four weeks, the CCTV was not installed; only a single wire was strung through a window. Realizing the contractor chose to dupe the church during the holidays, Father Marquis attempted to recover the funds, but the contractor blocked his calls. Frustrated, Father Marquis approached a local news station, Fox 2, for assistance.
Fox 2 frequently runs the Hall of Shame segment, exposing companies and individuals who conduct less than ethical business practices. The news station profiled Farther Marquis’ plight. Ryan B. Okerstrom, Vice President of Operations for Huffmaster, tracked down the betrayed Father and bestowed upon him a gift.
In a scene reminiscent of “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the Huffmaster team assessed the situation. They provided a far better security solution than Father Marquis had imagined—a $20,000 security video management system installed at no charge.
Working quickly, Ryan and the Huffmaster team, consisting of Andrew Miller, Director of Technology Solutions, and Brandon Hutchinson, Technology Support Manager, with parts donated by Avigilon and some labor from one of their trusted partners, the state-of-the-art security camera system was installed, giving the church and its community a fresh feeling of safety and well-being. The installation was hassle-free despite the challenges of seamlessly hiding wiring and cameras throughout the church.
The new CCTV system has significantly improved the security and well-being of the Sacred Heart Byzantine community. It provides immediate motion detection and high-quality images that can be easily accessed, bringing additional peace of mind to the church. Farther Marquis admits he is not a technical expert but found that the state-of-the-art security system is user-friendly and allows him to access church images on any mobile device easily.
Thanks to the generosity of Huffmaster, what began as a tale of betrayal and disappointment was transformed into a heartwarming story of community support. Sacred Heart Byzantine can confidently keep the Church open all day, reinforcing to parishioners that there is another earthly set of eyes, keeping watch over them.
Christmas miracle to Detroit? Perhaps. But when we are at our most vulnerable, we are also susceptible to the wonders of humanity.