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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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January 9, 2018
Flint City Housing Commission
3820 Richfield Road
Flint, MI 48506
Notice of Delinquency
MuniCode: 257546
Fiscal Year Ending: 6/2017
Dear Governing Body:
Public Act 2 of 1968, the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act, specifically Section 5,
requires all local units of government with a population of 4,000 or more to file an annual
audit of its financial records. In some cases, those with less than 4,000 in population are
required to file no less than biennially. Section 7 of the Act requires that a unit of local
government file within six months of its fiscal year end.
Department of Treasury records indicate that we have not received the above referenced
audit. Public Act 2 authorizes the Department to conduct the audit at the expense of the
local unit or, under Public 140 of 1971, the Glenn Steil Revenue Sharing Act of 1971, the
Department may withhold revenue sharing payments if revenue sharing is received. To
avoid either of these actions, your certified public accountant must submit the audit within
30 days from the date of this letter electronically via Treasury’s website at
www.michigan.gov/treasury. Click Local Government, Local Government Financial
Services, File and Search Reports, and File Online Report.
A complete audit should include the following:
Auditing Procedures Report (Form 496, an online form);
Audit Report;
Single Audit, if applicable;
Report of Deficiencies or Findings.
If you have any questions or believe that you have received this notification in error,
please contact the Division at 517-373-3512.
TREASURY - Treasury
MI Dept of Treasury - Treasury
MICHIGAN.GOV
Flint City Housing Commission
3820 Richfield Road
Flint, MI 48506
Final Notice of Delinquency
Revenue Sharing Withholding
Municode: 257546
RE: Audit Report for 6/2017
Dear Governing Body:
The above-referenced audit has not been received by the Department of Treasury as
required by Public Act 2 of 1968, the Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act. In
accordance with the Act 140 of 1971, the Glenn Steil State Revenue Sharing Act of 1971,
section 21, the Department will begin to withhold revenue sharing until the audit is
submitted electronically by logging into the department’s online filing website at:
https://treas-secure.state.mi.us/LAFDeform/TL41W71.aspx. You must request local unit
user access if one does not already exist.
Revenue sharing payments will be released upon the receipt of the following:
The above–referenced audit report
Auditing Procedures Report (Form 496, an online form)
Single Audit, if applicable
Report of Deficiencies or Findings
If this local unit does not receive statutory revenue, the Department of Treasury may elect
to deny or revoke qualified status under the Revised Municipal Finance Act (possibly
preventing your local unit from being able to borrow money) or subject the local unit to an
audit performed by Department of Treasury auditors at the expense of the local unit.
If you have any questions, contact the audit review staff at (517) 373-3227 (option 0) or
email questions to LAFD_Audits@michigan.gov.
Sincerely,
Cary Jay Vaughn, CPA, CGFM
Audit Manager
Community Engagement and Finance Division
Manage
TL41W71
TREAS-SECURE.STATE.MI.US
d TREASURY - Local Unit Audit Reports - State of Michigan
https://www.michigan.gov/.../0,4679,7-121-1751_31038...
VIEW ONLINE REPORTS. Once reports have been filed online, the results can be viewed on our Document Search Site. The following documents are...See More
Manage
TREASURY - Local Unit Audit Reports
MICHIGAN.GOV
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Flintside
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Flint lands new, semi-pro women's soccer team
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
FLINT, Michigan—Michiganders are going crazy for soccer. The sport has gained traction in the mitten state as of late with international teams visiting and playing at Comerica Park in Detroit or at the ‘Big House’ in Ann Arbor. In the last year, alone, considering only the sheer numbers, the sport is surging. Selling out 42,000 and 100,000 seat stadiums respectively.
From Detroit FC gaining a cult-like following in Hamtramck’s Keyworth Stadium to the hundreds of thousands of players across the state in the American Youth Soccer Organization, all across Michigan players of all ages are kicking across grassy turfs every weekend in the spring and summer.
“I think it is funny when people discover the sports popularity here,” laughs Stevie Shard, a coach who has worn many hats for many different teams over the years including as a professional player in England until an injury sidelined him in 2004. His new mission is to use the sport he loves to also show the world the place he loves.
“I’ve been around and have lived in Genesee County for years now and for me it was very disturbing to hear people’s opinions about Flint,” Shard says. “When they speak about Flint without any personal knowledge, it’s tiring and entirely unfair.”
Shard moved to the area 14 years ago, from Manchester, England. He runs youth camps, serves as head coach for the men’s soccer team at Northwood University — and now is serving as director of operations and head coach for Genesee Football Club.
The new United Women’s Soccer League team joins the Midwest Conference, which also includes reigning national champs Grand Rapids F.C. Women. The home field for the semi-pro team is Kettering University’s historic Atwood Stadium. The team kicks off their innaugural season with the first home game 7 p.m. May 18, 2018.
The 30 players come from all over the country including a core contingent from Genesee County.
“We have a lot talented players from this area at the intercollegiate level who are passionate about the area, the game, and equally passionate about putting Flint on the map as a soccer destination,” Shard says.
The home schedule also includes games at 7 p.m. May 20, 7 p.m. June 1, 4 p.m. June 3, and 5 p.m. June 29, all at Atwood Stadium on University Avenue in Flint.
Middle and high school students from three counties studying Flint River quality
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
FLINT, Michigan—Student scientists from Saginaw, Genesee, and Lapeer Counties will soon come together to discuss their findings on the quality of the Flint River.
The summit of the Flint River Watershed’s Flint River GREEN program, the students, from grades 6-12, used chemistry kits to test the water quality of local streams and the Flint River. Results help students identify any water quality issues, prompting them to research potential causes of any problems. Organizers say the science gives students a platform to explore solutions through civic action.
“Students spend an average of two weeks inside and outside of the classroom working together with their peers, learning about water quality, discovering their personal connection to the watershed, exploring STEM careers, honing their presentation skills, and learning new ways to become environmental stewards,” said Program Manager Autumn Mitchell.
Students will present their findings May 18 at Kettering University from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. In addition to presenting their water quality findings, students at the summit will attend breakout sessions with experts from a variety of environmental fields.
“The summit provides students with their first professional conference experience and allows sharing of information from school to school demonstrating how we are all connected,” Mitchell said.
More information about Flint River GREEN can be found at flintrivergreen.org For more information on the Flint River Watershed Coalition visit www.flintriver.org or send an email to info@flintriver.org.
Believing and dreaming: The making of a Flint entrepreneur
THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2018
The first time I met Oaklin Mixon, he was on the other side of a pane of glass, making me my breakfast crepe at the Flint Crepe Co. If you went there a lot (and I used to go there a lot), it was hard to not get to know Oaklin.
In fact, after a while, Oaklin was part of the reason to go to the crepe shop at all. Oaklin is a big guy, who gives big hugs, and who just makes you feel happy. “Scott!” he’d yell when I walked in and he’d shake his head, as though it was hard to believe how good life could be sometimes. My natural state of being usually exists within a few degrees of a shoulder-shrug kind of contentment, but being around Oaklin always left me feeling that things were good—and were just going to get better.
I’m not always the easiest guy to convince on that. I’m a skeptical guy naturally—even more so as a reporter, and especially so as a reporter in Flint, where enough bad things have happened that it’s hard not to look at anything positive with a doubtful eye.
So when Oaklin told me a few years ago he was opening a clothing company while my crepe was cooking, I told him it was great. And I meant it. I want to see more businesses open up. I want to see more people taking entrepreneurial risks here. But ... when the person taking the risk is someone you know, someone you like and respect—I’ll admit it—I was worried. I was skeptical.
Not in his ability, not in his drive, and definitely not his belief in himself or the city he called home. I was just skeptical as a guy who’d written about businesses coming and going, and people with great intentions who got kicked down.
He started small, selling things online. I’d get updates now and then about his company, GoodBoy Clothing, and he always said things were going well. Then I changed jobs, wasn’t at the crepe shop as much, and rarely saw Oaklin except to exchange a few words if we passed each other walking around town.
When I got a journalism assignment recently to look at new developments in Flint, someone told me about a new clothing store downtown, GoodBoy Clothing. A store? Sure enough, on the west side of the 500 block on South Saginaw Street, you can see the sign on the second story.
So I got ahold of Oaklin and told him I wanted to talk to him about it. I met him upstairs in his store, an open space with white walls and some furniture here and there, letting you know it’s a place where you’re welcome and can take your time. A huge window looks out onto downtown (you can see the crepe shop across the street) letting natural light flood the space. On racks and on walls were all of Oaklin’s goods—shirts, pants, hats, many of them bearing the GoodBoy logo he’d thought of when he was across the street, flipping crepes. He has 10 employees, and a back room with screen printing, sewing machines, and his desk—the place where he puts all that positivity and belief to work.
We talked about the business, about his life, how he came to Flint as a teenager in the foster system and fell in love with the city at a time when it wasn’t easy to fall in love with—no crepe shops downtown, no new businesses popping up. But this was where he wanted to be, where he wanted to stay with his wife and children, and where he wanted to make a life.
He did it.
He looked like he couldn’t believe it, but of course he’d believed it all along.
I came home that day feeling great, feeling like things were good and could get better. My wife noticed, and I told her why: I’d just seen Oaklin Mixon. I saw the good in this city. I saw his perseverance pay off. I saw dreams come true.
Scott Atkinson is a columnist for Flintside. He can be reached at satkinson@flintside.com.
Amy Cuneaz: A career in caring about, for women
MONDAY, MAY 07, 2018
And the winner is … all of Genesee County. Each year when the annual Sybyl Award is announced, it’s an opportunity to recognize individuals giving their time and energy to serve Genesee County. The award was initiated in 2008 in honor of long-time community advocate Sybyl M. Atwood.
Amy Cuneaz, the most recent Sybyl Award winner, was surprised to win the honor. “It was one of the proudest moments of my life,” she says. Cuneaz was nominated by a member of her “Justice League Sisters,” a group of four professional women who have been close for years. While she was the one who took the prize, she says all 15 nominees are winners. “They are really, really cool people.”
Several years ago, Cuneaz met Sybyl Atwood. “She was the kind of person that made you feel like her best friend.” As a community advocate, “Sybyl was Google before there was Google.”
Why was she nominated? After graduating from University of Michigan-Flint in 1992, Cuneaz took her first job with the YWCA in Flint. Her entire career has been spent serving the women of Genesee County through the Y’s Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Services. “I have lived and breathed the YW my whole adult life,” Cuneaz says. “I was just a baby when I started.”
Cuneaz has held most of the positions available with the Domestic Violence Sexual Assault Services program. Starting as a case worker and resident advocate at the Safe House, she ultimately stepped into the role of director after acting as interim director several times. In 2017, she decided it was time to turn over the reins to Rachel Johnson and shift to part time grant work with the YWCA.
Working with women in domestic difficulties has been an education in perseverance for Cuneaz and the YWCA staff. Women return to a dysfunctional situation on average seven times before they are able to disentangle themselves. “Maybe she left and the kids want to sleep in their own beds. Maybe he doesn’t abuse the kids, just her, so she feels guilty,” Cuneaz says. It is often more dangerous for a woman to leave than to stay in an abusive situation. “Women who get out are 75 percent more likely to be killed” after they leave an abusive situation as the abuser seeks to regain control.
Staff at the YWCA are trained to welcome clients and assure them that “confidentiality is of utmost importance,” says Cuneaz. Victims of abuse are not required to report the activity to the police. “They need to know we’re not going to force them to do anything,” she says. “They’re the experts in their own lives.” Staff members offer resources and assistance in getting out safely for clients who are financially dependent, lack work experience, have children, or are unable to pay for legal support to ensure their rights are retained.
Often, family members have tried to help but have run out of resources or energy. “They may have helped before, but now they’re just done,” Cuneaz says. Connections with community resources are critical. “It takes time and planning. The more resources she’s aware of, the more likely she is to put together a plan to leave.” While the Safe House is technically available for 30 days, many clients need more time to gather what they need for independence.
Cuneaz admits the work is difficult and heartbreaking, but she says, “It’s like a light bulb goes off when you understand working with domestic violence victims.” She feels compelled to make a difference and let people know abusive behavior is wrong. “Until you walk in those shoes, you never understand the effort it takes to leave a relationship like that,” she says. All the effort is worth it when Cuneaz sees a client who has taken the leap and is doing great, reestablishing family relationships and achieving success on her own.
The biggest asset for those who work with abuse victims is a non-judgmental attitude. “We define the mission with the leadership team as ‘come as you are,’ and we get it. We fully receive people that way,” Cuneaz says. If a client comes in drunk, the staff members work to sober them up so they can have a conversation. “These women are survivors,” Cuneaz says. “They have lived through horrific things.” Workers tell clients, “You are resourceful. You are a warrior. You have mental resilience and the strength to still be alive.”
As the Grant Coordinator for the program, Cuneaz sees the increased interest in preventing and surviving abusive situations as an opportunity for a shift in funding priorities. “Hopefully, between #metoo and Nassar we can move into a time when violence against women is not acceptable. We need to create a culture where women are not treated as sex objects,” she says.
Sybyl Award nominees are considered based on their ability to “demonstrate leadership through excellence, creativity, and commitment in their lives exemplified in their profession and/or volunteerism, provide valuable service to improve the quality of life for others, encourage a sense of community and nurture community connections, and help others to realize their own potential to make a positive difference in their community.” Cuneaz is the personification of these qualities.
This view of the Flint river will soon look $37 million better
MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2018
Portions of concrete and steel crumpled like flakes of dust, crashing down with the steady early morning rain pelting the surface of the water. As crews began knocking down the Hamilton Dam, the Flint Riverfront Restoration project officially kicked off with creaking, smashing and big splashes.
A few people came out to see the old dam come down and all those in attendance agreed, it was long overdue for the 1920s structure. “Our community has been trying to take out this dam for a very long time,” said Janet Van De Winkle, project director for the Genesee County Parks.
And, this is the beginning. Work is continuing to remove the dam, that long ago was deemed too dangerous for pedestrians to use the bridge portion crossing the Flint River.
"We are working to make the river more accessible to everybody, currently this stretch downtown is difficult and unsafe to access. Connecting people to the river, whether for fishing, to sit and have a picnic, walk along the Flint River Trail or paddle down the river- that's what this project is all about,” Van De Winkle said.
In 2008, the inspectors from the State of Michigan gave the dam the lowest safety rating possible, calling it a high hazard and in critical condition.
The total cost for the project comes in at $37 million and is designed to create green spaces, spur economic development, increase recreational opportunities and, ultimately, improving the river and residents’ quality of life.
The project also transforms a river that has been a point of contention and rife with misunderstanding, especially stemming from the Flint water crisis, which was not caused by the Flint River water itself but was a result of how water was treated and improper monitoring that led to criminal charges being filed against a host of local and state employees.
According to the map and details on the restoration site map, the park will encompass 1.5 miles of the river and include hiking and bike paths as it cuts on a slanted parallel to the revitalized University Corridor area. After the Hamilton and Fabri dams are removed additional work will need to be done to make the river safe and accessible for paddling. Buoys will be placed upstream to warn paddlers until that additional phase of work is complete.
“This is a project that we have been promoting for over a decade. It’s a dam that hasn’t served any real purpose for a really long time, it’ll be safer having come down, and it is a big first step to re-naturalize the city stretch of the river system,” said Rebecca Fedewa, director of the Flint River Watershed Coalition.
Lifelong resident Michael Wilson came down in the early hours to see the start of what he says, “is something good and long overdue for Flint.” Wilson remembers coming down to the riverfront after a show at the old IMA and when Auto World was first constructed.
Wilson doesn’t fish and doesn’t boat, so his interest isn’t really in having better access to the river. Instead, his interest is simply making Flint a better place.
“It is time that we clean it up. It’s time that we can show some pride in this area and take better care of the river,” he says.
Looking around in the mid-morning rain amongst the crash of concrete and twisting metal, Wilson laughs with a kind Midwestern pronouncement. “You know it, I’ve done all my living in Flint. All my family, all my time is here in Flint, so it’d be nice to have it cleaned up along here and give people more reasons to spend more time in the city, maybe change others’ minds about what we still got here.”
Art and Identity dance freely through “Arts and Detention”
MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2018
Shelley Spivack gets right to the point. “It’s all about arts programming for kids who are locked up in Genesee County’s juvenile detention facility.” The cofounder and director of Arts in Detention, which offers instructional workshops in both visual and performing arts for the 10- to 17-year-olds sentenced by to the Genesee Valley Regional Center.
It includes theatre, poetry, and dance as well as “HerStory: Unlocked,” a gender-based program geared towards the very special needs of girls in the juvenile justice system, says Spivack — pronounced SPEE-vack, she politely corrects with a grin.
Now on display at Buckham Gallery, the “Arts in Detention” exhibit is diverse in content and expression. Some focus on cars and Flint history with black and white sketches while others zero in on abstract shapes and thoughts with bright colors and dramatic shapes.
The program was designed by Spivack along with co-founder Steve Hull to address ways for youth to reclaim identity and feelings — “to reinforce a sense of worth in who they are,” said Spivack.
Arts in Detention launched with classes and workshops in 2011 with a 12-week pilot project and has since grown into three ongoing programs three nights a week. “Youth who are detained in Genesee Valley Regional Center can become very quiet voices in a society that finds it easier not to think about them, let alone give them a platform to which to speak,” the program literature notes.
And, it makes an impact, says Steve Kleiner, program director at the detention facility.
“The staff at GVRC sees that the kids are benefitting from these programs and it relaxes them — they see nothing but positive from it. … (Arts in Detention creates) a sense of accomplishment they haven’t had before. No matter where they end up when they leave here, if they have it within them that they can do something well, it gives them a sense that they can do better.”
Spivack knows a lot about the juvenile justice system. She is an attorney by trade, working first as a public defender in Flint in the 1980s. Now, she serves as a referee attorney in Genesee County 7th Circuit family court for juvenile cases. Spivack also is criminal justice and women’s studies lecturer at the University of Michigan-Flint.
While Arts in Detention serves both girls and boys — The boys visual arts workshops is facilitated by local artist Todd Onweller — HerStory: Unlocked directs towards girls because, Spivack says, “girls go into the juvenile justice system for a lot of different reasons than boys.”
“HerStory: Unlocked,” was developed by two lecturers at UM-Flint: Traci Currie, Ph.D., a communications lecturer and spoken word performer, and Emma Davis, a dance instructor and choreographer.
“This issue has been growing over the last 10 years,” Spivack says. “What we’re seeing is more girls getting into trouble for simple assaultive offenses that they were not arrested for in years prior.”
Spivack notes that the program is designed to work with young people who have been through trauma and works to create a sense of resiliency as well as a safe place for them to create and express themselves.
“Basically if you’re in the juvenile justice system, you lose a bit of your identity. You get a number. You get put in the same uniform, shoes and given a number, like everyone else,” Spivack says. Packing up notes with her work cell from the table, Spivack gives another brief even smile as she heads off to court. “The point is that the system can impact and strip away a young person’s identity and with our program we start try and rebuild that sense of self.”
Buckham Alley is open noon to 5:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. The “Arts in Detention” exhibit continues through May 5.
Why Lear chose Flint for new plant and 600 jobs
THURSDAY, APRIL 05, 2018
FLINT, Michigan—Lear Corp. is the first automotive supplier to build a manufacturing facility in the city of Flint in more than 30 years. It is bringing 600 jobs to the city with a second wave of hires expected in a matter of weeks or days.
And, from the very beginning, Lear execs knew Flint would be home to their massive investment.
“There was no question about where we were going to go. We talked about other areas … (but) there really was no option for us other than to go into the city of Flint,” said Jason Scott, Lear's global vice president for the GM seating group.
Lear broke ground in October on its $29 million, 156,000-square-foot facility on the former General Motors commonly known as Buick City. Here they will build seats for the Chevy Silverado, assembled at the Flint Truck plant. The plant remains under construction but the exterior of the building is nearly complete and stretches the entire block from North Street to Industrial Avenue along East Hamilton Avenue.
Lear hired its first 48 people in January, and will hire its next wave in the next few weeks. Ultimately the facility will employ about 600 workers—430 of them new hires and others transferred into Flint from Lear’s Rochester Hills plant.
“We are making a huge investment in the city of Flint. The city of Flint and Genesee County have been nothing but supportive,” Scott said. “It’s more of a partnership that we are starting to form. … We are going to be part of the solution.”
Scott talked about the ongoing investment and Lear’s culture of valuing employees as the keynote speaker for the Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce annual meeting attended by about 400 area business and community leaders.
Chamber CEO Tim Herman called the Lear plant “a major win for our community,” and noted it is among 4,330 new jobs in Genesee County over the last five years.
Lear Corp—which builds seat and electrical components for vehicles—is ranked 151st in the Fortune 500 with 165,000 employees in 257 facilities in 39 countries worldwide. It is larger than other familiar national brands including Marriott, Gap, Visa, Kellogg, and eBay.
The company is built on a culture that has gone through a major transformation since 2011, Scott said, and focuses on a core belief that the company’s success is a direct result of its employees’ commitment, leadership, and talent.
“What differentiates us is our people and the talent of our people,” Scott said.
So, why was Flint destined for its next big investment? “Flint has one of the greatest cultures in the state,” Scott said. “There is so much pride.”
Need evidence? Well, he just looks at the people coming out of Flint—including Ray Scott, Flint native and Powers Catholic High School alum who was named president, CEO, and director of Lear Corp. effective March 1.
GearUp for Success reaches more than 800 Genesee County students
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 04, 2018
FLINT, Michigan—The way things are is not the way things have to be. More than 800 students from throughout Genesee County came together for the annual GearUp for Success summit—an opportunity for them to learn more about how their mindset can both limit them or open new doors.
Hosted by GearUp 2 Lead, a local organization that focuses on promoting growth mindset and empowering young people, the daylong event included a series of speakers, lunch, and inspiration.
Returning this year were Trevor Ragan and Travis Thomas, motivational speakers and promoters of growth mindset whose clientele include the nation’s largest industries as well as professional athletes.
“You cannot control what happens to you, but you always 100 percent control how you respond to that,” said Thomas, son of the Halo Burger founder who focuses his message of growth around learning to improvise and being willing to fail. He builds his approach to life around the simple, but transformative, phrase: “Yes, and …,” as a response to people, events and life.
“Our success in life comes with our ability to work with people and their different perspectives and opinions,” Thomas said. “You don’t get good at it without failing. … Failing is a part of becoming an expert. We need to love failing not because we are trying to fail but because we are trying to be awesome.”
Ragan followed with an approach that looks at animal behavior, science, and human nature built on a premise that “our brain is like a muscle.”
Ultimately, we live our lives with a self-fulfilling cycle that flows from believing we can, to taking the actions necessary so that we can, to growing and achieving our goals.
“I’m not saying you have to learn everything, but I am saying you can learn anything you want,” Ragan said.
The biggest barrier is actually believing that we can—and overcoming fears that prevent us from trying.
“Fear robs us of opportunities to grow and get better. Fear robs us of great learning every day,” Ragan said. “That’s the force that’s making lots of decisions for us.”
And, the thing is, it’s impossible to kill fear, he said. However, it is also possible to learn how to deal with and move beyond our fears so that we can and will accomplish our goals.
The featured keynote speaker was Arel Moodie, author of “Your Starting Point for Student Success” and “The Student Success Action Guide.” He also hosts the career podcast “The Art of Likeability.”
Impact of AmeriCorps program in Flint draws national attention
MONDAY, APRIL 02, 2018
They are a force of 480 workers whose focus is serving the community of Flint—and a unique national model of creating a unified, collective force to respond to a crisis.
Here in Flint, there are 161 AmeriCorps members and 319 Senior Corps volunteers working throughout the community to support blight elimination, community education, K-3 literacy, food security, nutrition, senior care and much more. Their work is so extraordinary that it drew the attention of Chester Spellman, director of AmeriCorps for the Corporation for National and Community Service. He visited Flint to see firsthand how members are impacting the community after crisis and through a persistent hardship.
“There’s really no other model like this in the nation,” Spellman said while touring Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary School in Flint. “Through the Community Foundation and Mott Foundation, (we) provide the funds necessary to grow the year-long service programs that we are seeing in the city of Flint.”
Looking over the nutrition and early education programs housed at Durant-Tuuri-Mott, Spellman pointed to the unique programing in Flint, which is coordinated through the Flint National Service Accelerator.
“What makes this so innovative is that it helps us to exponentially expand our impact,” Spellman said. “That means in a really basic way adding to the number of service members that can be here working in the community. … We know service members can make tremendous difference, but the more bodies on the ground you have, the greater that impact can be.”
As a local partner, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has contributed $3.4 million over the last seven years to maximize the federal dollars. “We invest in AmeriCorps because service is in our DNA at the Mott Foundation,” said Ridgway White, president of the C.S. Mott Foundation.
White said he has seen firsthand the impact of AmeriCorps service members throughout the water crisis and the ongoing recovery. He noted the partnership with the Flint Police Department, working with service members to board up houses and clean up blighted areas.
“You can see the work over time paying off,” White said. “You can see the inspiration that you can provide with hope—not only for the kids who receive these services, but also the services members making key differences in this community that has been through so much.”
Jennifer McArdle serves as the civic engagement manager for those partnerships which allow for AmeriCorps and Senior Corps volunteers to work in many different capacities. Federal investment from the Corporation for National and Community Service is matched with local partners.
The accelerator program started with 25 AmeriCorps in 2014 and is now at almost 200 members, she said.
“The strategy is to scale national service to meet community needs and hire Flint residents into these serve positions which are one-year stipend positions,” McArdle said.
Members receive $5,800 education award at the end of their year of service.
Mott Park mompreneur carves out her own business
FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018
FLINT, Michigan—Mott Park mompreneur Ann Werring is working harder than she has ever worked in her life. “And I enjoy all of it,” she says. With her natural artistic bent, she is supporting her family creating woodworking crafts out of her Flint home. She sells her unique handmade items at vintage markets in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana as well as through her Etsy store, 1HeavenSentDesigns.
Her work includes wall art featuring geometric designs or intricate lettering, vintage cutouts inspired by window arches as well as colorful end tables.
When Werring first moved her family to Flint, she rented a house in Mott Park. “I fell in love with my neighbors,” she says. One of those wonderful neighbors keeps a bucket filled with games, coloring books, and crayons on the porch for children to play with. “She’d make them cookies,” Werring says. She likes how her neighbors watch out for each other. Eventually, she chose to purchase a home in Mott Park because it was more cost effective than renting. Originally born in Oklahoma, Werring moved to Genesee County to be near her parents who returned to Michigan after her father retired from Oklahoma University.
Until last year, her woodworking and furniture upcycling qualified simply as hobby income. As her business increased, she had to get a federal tax ID number, monitor and pay sales tax, and keep track of her work-related expenses. Werring and her father, John Hawley, recently chose a computer program for expense tracking to make tax filing less stressful.
Before starting her own business, Werring worked minimum wage jobs. “I messed up in my early 20s,” she says. “I’m a recovering addict.” Unable to finish college, she had her first child 20 years ago. She found her work options limited by her lack of a college education.
“I had some financial issues,” she says. “My mom had made a table out of a window. I wasn’t using it, so I decided to sell it. Everyone wanted it.” She decided to make items like the table and sell them to earn extra income. At first, she worked with discarded furniture and free wood pallets, crafting them into shabby-chic home décor. Her start-up costs were low, and she did most of the work by hand.
Now that her business has taken off, Werring has invested in tools to make her projects more efficient and is looking at renting work space in her neighborhood. A new computer program, which she has spent the past four months learning to use, allows her to create designs and save them for future use rather than drawing every design by hand at the kitchen table.
Traveling to vintage markets allows Werring to meet other sellers and buyers from different parts of the Midwest, but the Etsy shop has created a whole new market for her designs. A member of Etsy since 2015, Werring started listing more of her items for sale in January. In the first two two months, she sold more than 30 items to buyers from across the country and even as far away as South America. “I found out about Etsy through the online vintage market community,” she says. “I wanted to do a website, and Etsy has a following of its own.” The website allows vendors to list items for a small fee (20 cents per item) and charges a processing fee of 3 to 3.5 percent depending on how the seller chooses to be paid.
Using a site like Etsy allows vendors to post Search Engine Optimization (SEO) words or phrases to help customers locate items they may find interesting. Werring uses phrases like shabby chic, upcycle table, and home décor to draw traffic to her online store. While some vendors pay to have their stores listed higher in search results, Werring doesn’t typically do that. So far, she’s getting plenty of sales without the added cost. “I’ve been so busy,” she says, “I can barely keep up.”
Werring is convinced that others can experience the success she has found. As a recovering addict and mother of four children who range in age from 3 to 20 years old, she says, “I was lost for a while and found my way. If I can do it and find happiness and security for my family, anyone can.”
3 new housing developments, $50 million investment headed to Flint
THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018
Three massive developments are headed for Flint this summer featuring apartments, townhouses, business space, and community centers. They represent more than $50 million worth of investment in Flint and a major shift in how affordable housing can—and should be—an opportunity to rebuild communities.
“We firmly believe that supporting diverse neighborhoods with families and individuals of all income levels and backgrounds makes for a healthy community,” said Katie Bach, communications director for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority.
These developments are about community development with housing options for people of all income levels with an eye toward building a thriving community long-term. These days, affordable housing is viewed as an anchor for economic recovery with a fresh design to entice young community members and industry investment.
Beyond buzzwords, it means a workable, and walkable vision of Flint’s future—following a proven model of success in other communities nationwide.
Here’s a look at the three developments starting in Flint:
At 310 E. Third St. in downtown Flint, the former YWCA building will become a four-story mixed-use building, townhouse, green space and parking. The new building will include 92 units, 48 of which will be considered affordable housing. They include one, two, and three bedroom rentals. The $19.6 million development includes $10.9 million in LIHTC funding, Bach said.
On the northside of Flint, Clark Commons construction is scheduled to begin in June. The six-block development off North Saginaw Street will include 62 units in 11 buildings. The buildings include a variety of building types including a three-story apartment building as well as townhomes and attached single family homes. The $16.9 million development includes $15 million in tax credits awarded by MSHDA. The award was expedited as part of the city’s application for the Choice Neighborhood Initiative Implementation Grant. With designs that were derived with resident input.
On Flint’s far westside near McLaren hospital, the former Coolidge Elementary school is being transformed into Coolidge Park Apartments by Communities First Inc. Construction is beginning this summer to transform the historic school property into 54 apartments, 9,600 square feet of commercial space and more than 9,000 square feet of community space. The development includes one, two and three bedroom apartments, 45 of which will rent with affordable rates and 9 will rent at market rate. Total cost is expected to be $14.7 million, covered in part with $11.8 million in LIH tax credits.
The mixed-income approach is different than public housing programs the city (and the country) has seen in the past says Kevin Schronce, lead planner in the City of Flint’s Planning Office.
“We want to follow HUD’s national plan in not re-creating policies in the ’70s and ’80s where you have concentrations of very low-income housing projects that underserved these same communities to begin with,” Schronce says. “We’ve seen why that doesn’t create a path to success. In fact, we’re still dealing with the effects of those failed policies.”
From MSHDA to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Schronce says the public-private pipeline in rehabbing old spaces and utilizing contemporary design brings balance and long-term investment to the city. It provides housing for new residents and provides much better housing to current residents. “We have the people that want to move into our city, and we are also working to help those people that are already here get access to better transportation and services,” he said. “It’s about bringing these groups together.”
Priority characteristics for affordable housing includes employment centers, reliable transportation options, and vicinity to downtown areas, Bach says. Every two years, MSHDA determines the best way to spend the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding—allowing the program to adapt to changing demands in the types of housing residents want, Bach says.
The current trend is to include mixed-income housing as a basis for long-term growth in struggling communities, including Flint.
“Here in the city, we want housing that is for everyone, not just one demographic that can afford to live downtown,” Schronce said.
Through the Choice Initiative residents of Atherton East are being relocated from the dilapidated low income housing complex built on a flood plain and cut off from the rest of the city. Residents were able to take part in the design process for Clark Commons and work with contractors on the plan. “(The city) has never downplayed that some of these units are for public housing, but what we’ve done from a design standpoint is dial in that these units are the same quality that folks from different incomes want,” Schronce says. “That is what’s been shown to work, across the board.”
A market analysis conducted by MSHDA shows mixed-income housing improves educational outcomes and neighborhood stability by improving the value of the local housing market. “Stabilizing a housing market can spur neighborhood revitalization by bringing in more outside private investment,” it says. The Flint Housing Commission reiterates these findings stating in the South Flint Plan: “That mixed financial redevelopment is the single most important tool currently available to the commission.” It gives residents the opportunity “to choose to live in new, vibrant and sustainable communities with a wide range of family incomes.”
The data agrees, the market analysis shows an overall positive outcome in support of mixed-income housing, from a variable that plagues economically depressed cities: education. The study states that, “socioeconomic status of school’s pupil population is the primary factor related to academic performance,” and that, “life opportunities of low-income pupils improve significantly when they are surrounded by middle-class classmates.”
Schronce says other cities such as Memphis, Chicago, Atlanta and Detroit have implemented this approach over the past decade. “It’s important to catch Flint up with that trend.” Schronce said. “Essentially we have an oversupply of single family homes that younger people, like millenials, don’t want or don’t want the responsibility of owning. They want to be closer to urban centers.”
Affordable housing programs administered by MSHDA include LIHTC, the Tax Exempt Bond program and the HOME program—all of which are subsidized by the Federal government to provide affordable housing and rehabilitate existing affordable housing. “A key element of these programs is that they establish a public-private partnership where MSHDA works with private developers, builders and management companies to create and operate affordable housing for lower income tenants,” Bach says.
For the actual design of the townhomes for the Choice Neighborhoods project, the city of Flint contracted the architect firm of Fusco, Shaffer & Pappas Inc. of Ferndale to design. “The design, architecture and exterior facades were put together in such a way that it blends together with the existing community,” says James Pappas, the president of the firm. “We had a lot of input from residents, which was important for amenities, and storage in the layout of the homes, but we strived to keep the look and feel of the design to what is already there, what you might find in the neighborhood already.” |
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Mon May 21, 2018 4:05 pm |
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