At the end of September, Tiffany Lemieux-McKissic (CEDAM Manager of Membership and Communications) and Megan Kursik (Coalition Coordinator for the ABPP) traveled to Flint to meet with CEDAM and Asset Building Coalition members.

The first stop was Flint Neighborhood Improvement and Preservation Project (Flint NIPP), where we met with Executive Director Bitha Tucker. Bitha gave us a tour of some of the homes that they have renovated and also took us to Witherbee’s Market. Witherbee’s Market is an amazing new deli/grocery store in downtown Flint that stocks convenience items, fresh produce and local Michigan products. Flint NIPP partnered with other community stakeholders to complete the development of Witherbee’s Market.

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Next we met Jane Richardson and Bill Hammond of Salem Housing CDC at Hoffman’s Deli for lunch (the food was great and the antique store was really cool!). Bill gave us a fantastic tour of Salem Housing’s service area neighborhoods and gave us information about the challenges and bright spots in the city. We also got to see the tremendous amount of work that Salem has done rehabilitating homes and their work in the Max Brandon Park and the KingsWood/Metawanenee Hills Neighborhood.

We then stopped by Court Street Village Nonprofit Housing Corporation and met with Norma Sain and Nicole Rodden-Brown. Nicole took us on a tour of two newly completed ADR homes at 1108 and 1110 S. Grand Traverse. As you can tell from the picture below, the homes are beautiful. Please contact Nicole if you are interested in purchasing one of these homes.

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Last and certainly not least, Megan met with Carlos Cisneros, chair of the Genesee County Tax Assistance and Financial Services Coalition. We discussed the potential for bringing Save to Win and other product access to VITA sites operating in the city of Flint. The potential for the coalition to host an asset building day in late January was also part of the discussion. The asset building day would inform Flint residents of the availability of free tax preparation services and how/why they should save to build financial security. We are pleased to report that both initiatives are moving forward.

Thank you to our Flint members and partners that took time to meet with us. Keep up the great work!