Effort kicks off with more than $7 million for playground upgrades at five elementary schools
Featured photo: Eisenhower elementray playground in Flint, MI on July 1, 2025. (Jenifer Veloso | Mott Foundation)
Flint, Michigan – The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation will grant up to $20 million to improve playgrounds and parks in Flint, and the community will have input into how those dollars will be spent across multiple projects. This is one of a handful of centennial initiatives the Foundation is supporting as it celebrates 100 years of working in partnership with its hometown of Flint and communities around the world.
With a vote this evening by the Flint Board of Education to accept a grant from Mott, just over $7 million of that funding will go to Flint Community Schools to support upgrades and renovations to playgrounds at five elementary schools. The funding will help transform outdoor spaces at the Durant-Tuuri-Mott, Eisenhower, Freeman and Potter elementary schools and the Doyle Ryder Education Center. Updates and renovations are scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer.
“We’re excited to help create spaces where Flint kids can play, learn and grow,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Mott Foundation. “Not only will these playgrounds serve students during the school day, they’ll also be a resource for everybody who lives in those neighborhoods. We’re looking forward to working alongside FCS and the community to create outdoor spaces that truly meet their needs.”
Students, school staff and neighborhood residents will be invited to provide input. The Flint Center for Educational Excellence will work with FCS to gather feedback from the community and develop a co-design process. This collaborative approach, which was modeled at the Brownell-Holmes STEM Campus last year, will help ensure the renovated playgrounds will benefit each school community and the residents who live nearby.
“Our scholars and families deserve high-quality spaces to play and be active,” said FCS Superintendent Kevelin Jones. “We’re committed to working with our school communities and neighbors to design playgrounds that reflect what our children and families want and need. This is about creating spaces that bring people together.”
Community school directors and staff from the Flint Center will work with students and residents to create designs that connect the schools and the neighborhoods.
“When residents, school leaders, students and parents work together, they can create spaces that reflect their shared values and aspirations,” said Ja’Nel Jamerson, president and CEO of the Flint Center. “Through the co-design process, FCS playgrounds will become more than places to play — they’ll grow into vibrant community spaces that inspire pride, strengthen belonging and build shared ownership for generations to come.”
The overarching $20 million effort aims to help strengthen Flint neighborhoods by improving and activating outdoor spaces for children and families. To help ensure that their grantmaking continues to address community priorities, the Foundation plans to launch an online voting site in the spring. It will ask Flint residents to share which parks they would prioritize and what they’d like to see in them.
To stay up to date on the Foundation’s centennial initiatives, visit mott.org/100.
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