Focus on Flint Timeline

OVERALL RATING

Nine hundred residents shared their views through telephone and online opinion surveys conducted in the first half of 2019. Key findings are summarized, including ratings for different aspects of life in Flint. Ratings are based on a scale of one to five, in which five means “very positive” and one means “very negative.” For more information about how the ratings were calculated, see Methodology.

THINGS TO CELEBRATE/
THINGS TO IMPROVE

This section highlights survey results regarding what’s working and what needs improvement. If a section of Focus on Flint does not include information about Things to Celebrate or Things to Improve, it’s because the survey didn’t yield responses to fit the categories.

ALSO HEARD

In addition to results of the opinion survey, Focus on Flint shares information that local nonprofit organizations and agencies have reported hearing from the residents they serve.

SUPPORT FROM MOTT

Support for the organizations and programs presented in bold text includes funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, which produced this report. To learn more, visit the Foundation’s website, Mott.org.

FACTS & FIGURES

Each section includes data and statistics that illuminate strengths of the Flint community and highlight challenges. These facts were collected through opinion surveys of Flint residents; from city, state and federal agencies; and from local nonprofit organizations. The Flint surveys were conducted in the first half of 2019. Unless otherwise noted, all remaining data are from 2018.

DID YOU KNOW?

This section highlights organizations and programs working to address issues in the Flint community and provides information about how to connect with them.

THE ISSUE AND THE RESPONSE

Focus on Flint explores nine important issues facing the local community: Arts and Culture, Economy, Education, Health, Housing, Public Safety, Quality of Life, Standard of Living and Water. This section describes why each issue is critical to the community and summarizes work underway.

The Focus on Flint initiative launched in the summer of 2019. We began by surveying 900 residents and gathering community data published by credible sources.

We used that information to develop and publish a report that provided a realistic picture of Flint’s challenges and opportunities, and to lift up how residents felt about life in our community. Residents shared their views about quality of life, challenges facing the community, whom they trust and more.

The Focus on Flint report was mailed to every address in the city of Flint to serve as a springboard for community conversations about the needs and bright spots of Flint.

Here’s what happened next.

SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2019

The Mott Foundation hosted 30 community conversations throughout the city. We heard from more than 400 residents and business owners who shared their priorities for making Flint a better place to live, learn, work and play.
2019

NOVEMBER 2019

On Nov. 8, 2019, Mott announced we would grant $1 million in 2020 to strengthen Flint’s neighborhoods, and we asked for residents’ ideas on how to do it.

We gathered ideas from members of the Flint community at a town hall meeting and via focusonflint.org, phone calls, snail mail and suggestion boxes placed throughout the city. Mott Foundation staff read through all of the suggestions we received — 625 in total.

Based on concerns shared during the community conversations, we asked for ideas in four categories:
2020

JULY 2020

Mott staff reviewed all ideas submitted, combined those that were similar and removed those Mott could not fund. This resulted in 70 potential projects. Residents were asked to vote on how they would use $1 million to fund up to 10 of the projects.

More than 800 people voted. After votes associated with ZIP codes outside the city of Flint were removed, votes from 640 residents were tallied.

AUGUST 2020

Listed below are the top eight vote-getters, along with the average dollar amount residents said should go toward each. Based on this, the Mott Foundation was able to fully fund the top seven projects and provide $76,680 toward the eighth project for a total of $1 million.

  1. Demolish vacant houses that are beyond repair. 
    235 votes | $150,553
  2. Hire young people to assist with neighborhood cleanups and beautification.
    215 votes | $109,860
  3. Offer a home improvement loan/grant fund for home repairs and upgrades.
    197 votes | $161,878
  1. Take down properties that have been burned.
    193 votes | $139,378
  2. Demolish homes that appear on the city’s Property Portal, for which no funds are available.
    184 votes | $158,098
  3. Offer a home repair program for seniors who want to stay in their homes but are unable to do minor repairs themselves.
    160 votes | $121,406
  1. Place dumpsters throughout the city during designated times of the year (e.g., spring cleaning and fall winterizing).
    156 votes | $82,147
  2. Build upon the city’s Blight Elimination Task Force.
    146 votes | $139,966
2020

$121,406

AWARDED TO GENESEE COUNTY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY FOR SENIOR HOME REPAIRS

OCTOBER 2020

The first grant awarded through the Foundation’s Focus on Flint community-led grantmaking process was $121,406 to Genesee County Habitat for Humanity to help provide home maintenance and repair services for seniors in Flint.

With the grant, Habitat completed projects at 12 Flint homes in seven of the city’s nine wards. The projects included roof and porch repairs, wheelchair ramps and handrails, as well as accessible showers, toilets and door thresholds.

NOVEMBER 2020

$448,029 was granted to the Genesee County Land Bank to help reduce blight in the city of Flint in response to how residents voted to strengthen neighborhoods.

This granted funded three of the top eight projects residents said they wanted to see happen:

  • $150,553 to demolish vacant houses that are beyond repair.
  • $139,378 to take down properties that have been burned.
  • $158,098 to demolish homes that appear on the city’s Property Portal, but for which no funds are available.

The Land Bank asked for the community’s input to prioritize those properties. A total of 37 structures were demolished across the city's nine wards.

 

NOVEMBER 2020

$192,007 was granted to the Neighborhood Engagement Hub to coordinate neighborhood cleanups in Flint and hire young people to assist with the work. The grants to NEH funded two of the top eight projects residents said they wanted to see happen:

  • $109,860 to hire young people to assist with neighborhood cleanups and beautification.
  • $82,147 to place dumpsters throughout the city during designated times of the year (e.g., spring cleaning and fall winterizing).

The Neighborhood Engagement Hub worked with resident leaders and neighborhood groups throughout the city of Flint to host two citywide cleanup days — May 15 and Sept. 18, 2021. During each cleanup, neighborhood groups and individual residents completed projects on more than 20 sites throughout the city’s nine wards.

2020

NOVEMBER 2020

$76,680 was granted to the Genesee County Land Bank to help update and strengthen Flint’s blight elimination plan and coordinate efforts to fight blight throughout the city.

The Land Bank partnered with the Flint Police Foundation to build upon a five-year blight elimination framework that was adopted in 2015. The work funded through the Focus on Flint grant included evaluating the condition of all vacant lots throughout the city and identifying problem properties and hot spots for dumping.

 

NOVEMBER 2020

The Mott Foundation granted a total of $661,878 to Genesee County Habitat for Humanity to provide funding for no-interest home repair loans for Flint residents and to support Habitat’s management of the program. We awarded an initial grant of $500,000, followed by a $161,878 grant increase as part of the Focus on Flint initiative, to help launch the Flint Home Improvement Fund, which started accepting applications in February of 2021. 

The Foundation has granted an additional $300,000 each year to support the program. Since the launch of the program, projects have been completed at more than 400 homes throughout Flint’s nine wards with support from the Mott Foundation and other funding sources. Learn more about the program at Flint-HIF.org.
$208,579
chainsaw
AWARDED TO GENESEE CONSERVATION DISTRICT FOR REMOVAL OF DEAD TREES

NOVEMBER 2020

The Mott Foundation granted $208,579 to the Genesee Conservation District to remove more than 330 dead and dangerous trees throughout the city of Flint based on residents’ feedback during community conversations. Although it wasn’t one of the top eight projects funded after residents voted on how to allocate $1 million to strengthen Flint neighborhoods, it was raised as a priority by community members.
 
2021

FALL 2021

Mott Foundation staff hosted several small community conversations with Flint area educators, parents and guardians to learn more about what is working well regarding education in Flint and what still needs to be done to help Flint kids thrive.

$140,000
trees
AWARDED TO GENESEE CONSERVATION DISTRICT TO PLANT TREES

OCTOBER 2021

Residents also said planting new trees was important to them, so the Mott Foundation was happy to support that, as well. We granted an additional $140,000 to the Genesee Conservation District to plant 250 trees throughout Flint’s nine wards over two years.
2022
$10 million

November 2022

The Mott Foundation granted $10 million to the Genesee County Land Bank Authority to support the organization’s blight elimination initiative, which aims to demolish 1,910 structures by 2025. A total of 462 structures had been torn down as of April 30, 2024.

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