Celebrating 20 Years of Serving the Flint Community

Court Street Village Non Profit Housing & Community Development Corp. (CSVNP) is celebrating its 20^th anniversary in 2006. To honor 20 years of service to the community, CSVNP is initiating this newsletter to share with our community and supporters a sampling of our many success stories and services we provide in the downtown Flint area.

CSVNP was organized in 1986 by a group of members of the Court Street United Methodist Church (CSUMC) to provide housing for persons with low or moderate income. CSUMC had considered constructing a new church building on the 12.5 acres but decided to refurbish its present structure instead.  Initial financial support for start up came from CSUMC & St. Joseph Hospital.  In 1989 CSVNP received approval as a 501 c) 3 nonprofit corporation from the Internal Revenue Service. Our goal is to provide quality, affordable housing & promote healthy neighborhoods in the area surrounding downtown Flint.

The most visible signs of our success are the Court Street Village East & West Senior Apartments on Court Street between Lapeer & Avon streets. There you will find 256 senior apartments that are financed through the Michigan State Housing Development Authority with their Low Income Housing Tax Credit program which provides subsidized rents for low and moderate income seniors 55 years of age and older. Across Lapeer Street is Avon Park, the 56unit townhouse complex of affordable apartments for families.  These 1 & 2 bedroom units have attached garages and a play area for children. These apartments are all managed by our subsidiary, Court Street Village Management Company.

CSVNP began a neighborhood support program in 1994 for the four neighborhood associations closest to the downtown area. There are approximately 2400 housing units in these four neighborhoods.  With the assistance of an initial grant from the LISC Americorp program, a neighborhood program director was hired to assist the homeowner associations in the Central Park, Fairfield Village, Grand Traverse and Carriage Town areas. That program has continued to flourish with the generous support of the C. S. Mott Foundation over the last 10 years. The Neighborhood Associations have received awards from the Neighborhood Associations of Michigan and details will be featured in future issues. The Neighborhood Empowerment Program, as it is now called, has been successful in assisting these neighborhood associations in their efforts to create a stronger and more livable neighborhood through such activities as the creation of the cul-de-sac program to reduce traffic and crime; annual neighborhood cleanups; grant writing in support of neighborhood activities; improved street lighting; creation of crime watch programs; development of neighborhood plans; creating a working relationship with the Flint Public Schools to reduce negative activities by students; and in conjunction with Riverside Tabernacle, created a play-scape for area children, and much more. CSVNP has also received and administered more than $840,000.00 in Federal CDBG grants to rehabilitate 22 homes in the 4 neighborhoods over the last 10 years.

In 1995, with generous support from a local foundation, CSVNP moved its operations into a house in the historical district at 727 East St. The building has an attached auditorium ideal for neighborhood meetings and other functions.

Grand Traverse District Neighborhood Plan 

In June 2004 the Grand Traverse District Neighborhood Association (GTDNA) held the first neighborhood convention bringing together homeowners and business owners to discuss what kind of community they wanted to live in and how to move toward that ideal.

In summary, the ideal community was described as:

• Vibrant, engaged, united and stable with residents who are tolerant, respectful, friendly, helpful & neighborly.

• With residents that take pride in their neighborhood.
• Who talk to and trust each other and are wiling to help each other.
• The neighborhood is clean & well maintained.
• All decrepit homes have been demolished and others rehabbed.
• New homes have been modeled on the older styles.
• Residents feel comfortable sitting on their porches at night.
• More “Mom & Pop” shops include a grocery & coffee shop.
• Memorial Park is re-opened with an ice skating rink.

To start, a specific plan was created for each of these key objectives:  Creating relationships; Beautification; Housing; Safety; Economics; Infrastructure.  For example: Creating Relationships specifically recommends:  “Say Hello to all, regardless of a persons ethnic origin. Create opportunities & activities for residents to meet, socialize and eat together. Increase the use of Memorial Park by sponsoring activities at the park.”   Beautification specifically recommends: “Maintain yards and vacant properties. Demolish all old, decrepit homes. Remove litter from the streets & sidewalks.”

Next, the neighborhood association was helped by a group of students from the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan Master Degree program in urban planning who used the opportunity as their final project. The final report will be used as a blueprint for future action.

Another idea that came forth was the creation of a neighborhood Fact Book. The GTDNA Fact book will soon be published and distributed to all residents and business owners. The Fact Book contains a listing of all businesses in the area, articles and pictures about historical homes the area, a map, advertisements from many of the businesses, and a copy of the Neighborhood Plan.

These efforts to help make the GTDNA a stronger, better place to live was generously supported by the Community Foundation of Great Flint, United Methodist District Board, Court Street United Methodist Church, Court Street Village Non Profit Housing & Community Development Corp (CSV), the Genesee Landbank and some of the small business owners in the area. Special thanks for their hard work in organizing the program go to Steve Wall, Neighborhood Program Director, CSV, Doris Sain, President of CSV, Heidi Peterson, current President of the GTDNA and Past GTDNA Presidents Cathy Skellett & Patti Perkins.

Senior Housing Apartments Available 

Court Street Village has apartments available for independent seniors over age 55 (spouse must be age 50+) with I or 2 bedrooms in a convenient location just blocks from the Flint Cultural Center. Rents are affordable to all income levels – low, moderate and market rate. There are a wide variety of floor plans to choose from and the buildings offer a library, beauty shop, laundry facilities and many have balconies. 

Services provided include transportation, milk delivery and a wide variety of social, educational and activity opportunities. Optional on-site assisted living services are available through Helping Hands. Call our Leasing Coordinator, Teresa at  810-239-4970 to make an appointment to visit and learn more about a wonderful, new lifestyle.

Neighborhood News & Recognition 

The Grand Traverse District Neighborhood Association won 2^nd place and $1000.00 for their float entry ”Todd’s Tavern” in the City of Flint Sesquicentennial Parade on Saturday September 22, 2005.  The float depicted Todd’s Tavern, one of the 1^st structures in Flint, and included an 8-foot tall log style replica of the tavern, a wigwam and the Flint River with real water.   John Todd of Pontiac purchased land and built his tavern along the banks of the Flint River in about 1830. Todd’s Tavern is also the location of the first services held in Flint by the Court Street United Methodist Church in the 1850’s.  CONGRATULATION’S!! 

Keep Genesee County Beautiful presented its 2004 Community Beautification “Neighborhood Award” to Grand Traverse District Neighborhood Association as the Genesee County community achieving the most impressive results in cleaning and beautification of Genesee County.  The purpose of the association’s Fall 2004 Corridor Bulb Beautification Project was to engage its citizens to take ownership of beautifying greenways along the neighborhood’s major corridors as a strategy to enhance the neighborhood’s image, continuity and identity as a vital western gateway to the downtown Flint area. As a result, Grand Traverse District Neighborhood Association volunteers contributed 160 volunteer hours during which 5,600 bulbs were planted in 21 locations along eight streets

2005 CDBG Grant

Exterior Code Violation Repairs 

Court Street Village has been awarded a $50,000 CDBG grant for a program called “Broken Windows”, designed to correct building code violations, especially those that can be seen from the street, that are owned by low to moderate income homeowners in our service area within the Carriage Town, Central Park and Fairfield neighborhoods. The Ruth Mott Foundation has generously made a grant of $25,000 for the same purpose to be used in the Grand Traverse neighborhood. The homeowners were selected following a public notice in the Flint Journal last summer. Work should be completed on ten owner occupied homes by the Fall of 2006.

Court Street Village Non Profit Housing Corp.

727 East Street

Flint, MI 48503

Phone: 810-767-0603

Fax: 810-767-0636

www.courtstreetvillage.org

“Providing quality Senior housing

& promoting healthier neighborhoods”

Near downtown &  the Cultural Center.

At Court Street Village we have a compassionate,

caring staff of professionals dedicated to providing

a safe, affordable place to live.

The Reporter is published bi-annually, with

exceptions, by the Court Street Village Non Profit

Housing Corporation, a non-profit 501, c) 3

charitable organization, 727 East St, Flint, MI.

Visit our new WEB site:   www.courtstreetvillage.org