Inspired by the national call to make service years a cultural expectation, the Flint National Service Accelerator, housed at the United Way of Genesee County, has led the way to demonstrate what it looks like to scale service years across a community, and has pioneered a variety of new service year approaches in the urban safety corps, community schools, and disaster recovery. Following a 10-fold increase in the number of service years on the ground over the last few years, the Flint Service Year Impact Community has added a focus on post-service year experiences: career pathways from service years that meet local employer needs.
Lead organization:
Flint National Service Accelerator
Focus issues:
- Community education
- Neighborhood revitalization, including blight and crime reduction
- Literacy
- Opioid abuse prevention
- Water crisis recovery: nutrition, health, medical services, and early education
Current number of service years in impact community:
140 year-round plus 30 in summer and 2-5 NCCC teams each year
Current number of service year programs in community:
19 (includes 3 Senior Corps)
Growth goal:
250 total by 2020
How service years have/will help community address local challenges:
“The Accelerator and service years provide resources to the community that otherwise wouldn’t be there. Service year members provide capacity for organizations delivering critical community services, and are the boots on the ground for meeting local need - from education to neighborhood revitalization to health. Service years provide Flint residents an opportunity to give back to the community they love, gain skills and professional development, and find their path forward to continue to be change-makers even after their year of service.”
- Jennifer McArdle, Director of Community Impact, United Way of Genesee County
How working with Service Year Alliance/being a member of the Impact Community Network has been helpful:
“Service Year Alliance has meaningfully connected Flint to a network of other cities seeking to tackle urgent community challenges through service. As one of the communities on the forefront of a bipartisan national service movement, our Service Year Impact Community has been able to shine a spotlight on one of the many positive sides to Flint, when so much of the focus on our city remains negative.”
- Jennifer McArdle, Director of Community Impact, United Way of Genesee County
