For more than five years stakeholders at various levels and in various sectors have worked with intention to understand the issues and challenges that negatively impact quality of life for residents of Flint and Genesee County. It’s important to note that COVID 19 didn’t stall or derail these efforts, but many would say the events of 2020 and 2021 further exacerbated quality of life factors so efforts to bring about change needed to be ramped up even more.
While groups largely worked independently for many years, there is now a careful and intentional effort to synchronize these endeavors.
Earlier this year, it was decided that tremendous impact could be realized if efforts were coordinated and reports were synthesized. Taskforce 2.0 (a working name of the group), led by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, has been established to provide oversight of this planned action. The coordination and oversight began in March of this year and there is already significant momentum for this critical work.
Your assistance is needed to finalize this important work. The North Flint Neighborhood Action Council, in partnership with Community Roots, has been asked to engage Flint and Genesee County residents in deliberate discussions on the highlights from previous work before further synthesizing recommendations into a community report that will be returned to community stakeholders in the form of a Playbook, with policy recommendations, to eliminate disparities and improve overall quality of life. We hope you understand that while the previous efforts are important, community engagement and community buy-in is the most important.
We are asking you to join us in identifying community residents for this important work. More specifically, we have two specific requests: 1) Identify groups we should speak with about this important work and/or 2) Plan to attend a community engagement session to share your thoughts and/or to see how community members appreciate being engaged.
If you have recommendations about groups we should speak with or if you would like to attend a session that is already planned, contact Patrick McNeal at (810) 219-9515 or via email at director@northflintnac.org.
The report (and Playbook) will be completed by late September or early October 2023.
