City of Flint awards ReCAST grants to 15 community partners

FLINT, MI – The City of Flint has awarded a total of $232,000 to15 community organizations providing critical services to support Flint ReCAST, a program funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“These grants allow for much needed work through partnerships in our community that create positive activities for success,” Mayor Sheldon Neeley said. “Many of these amazing programs were already doing great work, and now that work can be expanded to continue to move Flint forward.”

Each of the mini-grants was for a maximum of $25,000 and helps to further the mission of Flint ReCAST (Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma), which is designed to promote resilience in the Flint community by supporting families and mitigating the impact of trauma.

“As a community builder I greatly appreciated the opportunity to create a learning space for more unique experiences,” said Dominique Strong, executive director of the nonprofit organization Uma Strong Marshall Outreach.

For more information on Flint ReCAST, visit flintrecast.org or contact Kristin Stevenson, Program Manager at, [email protected] or (810) 232-2228 x257.

The grantees are:

African Drum & Dance Parent Association: The Life Skills and Cultural Awareness Project is a performing arts program consisting of West African Culture and engagement in life skills, designed to reach underserved Flint neighborhoods with limited access to the arts.

Bangtown Productions: Bangtown Studio On The Go connects youth to their community through music, film, and technology.

Big Brothers Big Sisters: The Empowering Potential Mentoring Program builds and strengthens support systems, facilitates community engagement, reduces stress, and mitigates trauma.

Boys and Girls Club: Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Flint provides virtual learning for students, which is supplemented with high-yield learning activities that focus on academic success, good character, and healthy lifestyles.

Community Support Fund: Super Summer Fun Camp includes basketball, volleyball, football, kickball, baseball, motivational classes, and fine arts for youth ages 6 to 16.

Flint Children’s Museum: The Flint Children’s Museum offers access to enriching play experiences for children to discover and explore their own capacities in the presence of loved ones.

Flint Freedom School: The Flint Freedom Schools Collaborative (FFSC) project fosters academic and creative growth, community engagement, collaboration, positive culture cultivation, parent and family involvement, and intergenerational, servant leadership development through hybrid digital/in-person K-12 youth tutoring and creative learning sessions, as well as high-school intern development.

Flint Institute of Music: Music Therapy for Youth: The Flint Institute of Music employs the evidence-based practice of music therapy by utilizing music and movement, group instrument play, and structured music listening to address the impact of trauma and lead exposure on the behavioral health of Flint youth.

Heart of Worship Dance Studio: The Heart of Worship Dances Studio (HOWDS) project uses dance to mitigate the effects of prolonged confinement and loss of daily activities for the Greater Flint area youth. HOWDS will engage youth in virtual, in-person, and pre-recorded video interaction; and to encourage and promote continued learning.

Motherly Intercession, Inc.: Motherly Intercession allows children creative freedom through various projects and has a system in place to reward appropriate behaviors and actions while teaching life skills.

Sisters Supporting Sisters: Heal the Mind is an 8-week group therapy program devoted to offering innovative therapeutic interventions facilitated by licensed therapists. This program is targeted to women ages 18 and older struggling with grief, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, domestic violence, and self love/self care.

Tapology: Flint S.T.O.N.E. MOVERS: Tapology focuses on engaging youth in Flint Housing Commission neighborhoods and the foster care system, providing an outlet for youth who need it most, during a time when resilience and connection to culture are absolutely critical.

Total Life Prosperity: The six-month Total Wellness workshop and celebration at River Park Apartments helps families understand the importance of self-care, family time, and the world of art/culture.

Uma Strong Marshall Outreach: USMO’s Learning Hub offers educational support services with tutoring, Chromebook rental, mindfulness yoga, and computer literacy assistance for K through 6th grades at the Howard Estates Townhomes community center.

Youth Arts Unlocked: Youth Arts: Unlocked (YAU) builds resilience in Flint’s most disadvantaged and marginalized youth by providing weekly virtual, performing arts, and yoga workshops to incarcerated and justice-involved youth. All workshops are trauma-informed and taught by teams of professional teaching artists who have experience working with at-risk youth.

ReCAST is headed by a 20-member community advisory board convened by the Greater Flint Health Coalition in partnership with the City of Flint. It consists of resident advisors from various sectors of the Flint community. The board chair is Lottie Ferguson, chief resilience officer for the City of Flint, and Kristin Stevenson, program manager for the Greater Flint Health Coalition.

Questions about ReCAST or programming, please contact Kristin Stevenson, Program Manager at [email protected] or (810) 232-2228 x257.

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