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Senior center leaders and church volunteers plead with Flint council to restore lease and funding
Summary
Seniors and community volunteers urged Flint council to bring back a previously tabled lease for a senior center and to restore ARPA support for church-run food pantries, saying the moves would keep local services intact and prevent seniors from losing vital meals and community space.
Public speakers at the Flint City Council meeting pressed elected officials to act to protect neighborhood services, spotlighting a tabled senior-center lease and requests for ARPA support for church food programs.
Percy Nap, introduced himself as president of the House of Brain senior center board, asked councilmembers to “bring this lease back to the floor” and to put forward a new resolution so the facility would not be split up and senior services lost. “I would rather have the lease signed and active rather than split the family up,” he said, urging council members to perform “servant duties” they were elected to carry out (Percy Nap).
Other public speakers tied the lease fight to broader questions about how the city distributes grants. Beverly Bigs Levy and others called on council to reverse what they described as political decisions that had denied funds to Bethl United Methodist Church and St. Mark’s food programs, arguing the churches feed residents every week. “Seniors…are still out there in the snow trying to pass out boxes of food,” one speaker said, adding the city should not force them to beg for help.
Council members responded during the council-response period with mixed messages about process. A councilwoman in the fourth ward said the prior council had voted to table the contract “indefinitely” and that the city administration — not council — negotiates contracts and sets dollar terms; she said a new resolution with a dollar amount would be required to bring the lease back to a vote. Other council members said they supported the senior centers and would press for reconsideration, with one councilmember saying he had tried to use council discretionary funds to help the center in the past.
Separately, council opened debate on a proposed ARPA allocation for Bethl United Methodist Church’s food-access program. Bethl representatives described ongoing weekly food-and-water giveaways they have run since 2016 and asked for the funding to expand services. The council discussion signaled sympathy for the programs but also raised questions about whether ARPA dollars and grant processes have been administered transparently.
What’s next: Council members separated the ARPA allocation for further consideration and asked staff to supply documentation about prior awards and contracts before taking final action.
