The post Beyond the Water appeared first on Finding Flint.

Here, free water is everywhere. Plastic bottles proliferate and seem to breed on their own, but that, of course, is not the case.

This is Flint, Michigan in 2017.

Flint is just 66 miles northwest of Detroit and, at one time, had a population twice its current size of 100,000 residents. In its industrial heyday, the 1970s and, especially, 1980s, Flint used to pump out exemplars of American automotive engineering many times a day at its respected – and enormous – 235-acre General Motors plant, Buick City.

Enlarge

After combining six plants in the city of Flint to take on its foreign competitors, Buick City employed over 77,000 workers. At that time, GM garnered 40 percent of the automobile and truck market, but that share eventually shrank to just 30 percent. GM manufacturing, and the related offshoots, formed the lifeblood of Flint’s economy as well as its civic life.

“Buick City closed just as I was getting ready to graduate from high school,” said Darren Smith. He, dressed in work clothes, and sitting outside the downtown Flint bus station, expressed how the closing was viewed by many in the city.

“It took the heart out of the city.”

It’s a familiar refrain. You might remember the saga through Michael Moore’s 1989 documentary, Roger and Me, but almost 30 years later, the old GM plant is now a wasteland of concrete the size of a small airport.

Smith’s father, brother and cousins worked there at the time of its closing. That too is common; entire families sustained by a plant that is now, decades after its loss, a barren field of concrete. It’s almost a sinkhole, pulling down the neighborhoods that ring it, where the Tropicana Bar across the street stands, like other businesses, and many homes, a crumbled, boarded up temple of a city past.

Enlarge

Everyone in Flint seems to know someone who worked there. Often you will meet retirees from the plant or other operations related to it. When you bring up the water crisis that has dominated the headlines for the past several years, people tend to circle back instead here: To Buick City and what happened when it left. It’s a wound still so raw that people describe the plant as if it’s human: It was the heart of the city. It was its soul. Some blame it for the water crisis literally, for the toxins in the river that tainted the water supply, and for reducing the residents’ social capital to the point where this was allowed to happen here.

And still is happening here. The water crisis further hobbled a city that still had not fully recovered.

Smith’s facial expression and verbal intonations relayed a longing wistfulness, something you see on most of the faces of people you talk to about the plant.  These people had a ready-made plan to work there, immediately after high school, just as previous generations had. Now you find some of them hanging around the bus station, and, within the success stories are people for whom the uncertain path didn’t work out so well.

Buick City, unceremoniously, was closed in 1999, and the heretofore powerful, yet curiously silent and even acquiescent, UAW did nothing to resist it, perhaps to save other jobs before they moved out of the US to places like Mexico. The UAW, who was supposed to protect their workers, let Flint down.

The little city was naturally more than staggered by the event. The city was dealt a near-fatal blow, but it soldiered on. General Motors didn’t move operations entirely, and today there remains a small workforce of around 3,000 according to the GM Media Site as of March, 2017.

Like the little train that could, Flint struggled mightily to rise after this economic disaster which precipitated a civic quandary. How does a city function without its heart? How can we maintain city facilities without this great source of revenue?  Flint staggered forward. Before it found its footing, it found itself hampered by an insidious infection growing within the rank-and-file of its own residents. It was from something it ingested: water. And the contaminant: lead.

Water you can’t drink

Lead is a metal and, in small amounts, can cause irreversible damage to the nervous system and kidneys. In children, it can cause mental and physical developmental problems and, even, death. Children, pregnant mothers and the elderly are, of course, the most vulnerable populations. Medical authorities say that the only safe level of lead is zero for children and adults. Government officials advise people to eat more green leafy vegetables to stop the lead from leaching from their bones to their blood, but many of the stores are crumbling carcasses. “Fresh produce,” says one, long ago closed.

Civic leaders changed the water source without performing due diligence; the water was now poisonous; and its value to humans cannot be overestimated.

The people of Flint all have stories: They bathe in the water even though they don’t trust it and end up with rashes; their legs are swollen from the water; they know someone in a coma or who died from blood lead levels; they get tested or are too afraid to get tested. One man working in a Mexican restaurant says his girlfriend was hospitalized from a rash incurred while repeatedly washing dishes.

“Flint is like Chernobyl,” says resident Anthony Allen.

Enlarge

Visiting Flint, a city with a slight African American majority, is an almost eerie experience. This is because of the extreme amount and level of structural and infrastructural decay evident on so many homes there. Journalism student Ed Makowski noted a somber air throughout the quiet city.

There is not a block in the central part of the city where decay is not evident. On many neighborhood blocks, there are multiple rows of houses without inhabitants or windows. Often you can look through the houses from the sidewalk. For example, in a row of five houses, there may be only one that is inhabited by people, and even this one may contain some degree of decay, usually on its front façade-from a crumbling porch, rotting walls, or large sections of peeling paint.

Sidewalks in the city also provide a testimony of the city’s former glory. They seem to go nowhere, and stop abruptly in the middle of what used to be a proud block often punctuated with boarded up businesses that once represented someone’s dreams. These public walkways besieged by time, neglect and lack of use, instead of relaying the dominance of man, reveal the power of mother nature to subsume all even concrete, bold grass terminating man-made paths.

While driving around the city, you notice a frequent thudding, rattling, vibrating of the vehicle.  This was because, apparently, needed infrastructure repairs had not been done for some time. After a while, you get acclimated to the jarring irritation, but the awareness of it never completely leaves your mind. An annual front-end alignment is an absolute necessity here.

Houses would never have been allowed to stand with this level of dilapidation in Milwaukee. Some commercial buildings are in much worse shape.

“It looks like some areas in Iraq,” said Dave Watters, a journalism student and Iraqi veteran. A team of 15 journalism students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in town to cover the water crisis and its people, struggle to find the right metaphor to describe the landscape.

It looks like a tornado cut through town, one says.

Watters offers up another analogy: It reminds him of a post New Orleans Hurricane Katrina

Treasure, who lives around the corner from the charred wreck of an old home, says her infant has a neck rash and a friend is in a coma. The 26-year-old mother of three lives on a block of worn down homes, empty lots, and yards of brown grass and mud.

Enlarge

Showing the harsh reality, Treasure grabs a clear glass off her kitchen counter and runs the water from her faucet. As it fills, the murky, cloudy water appears. “We have to use bottled water, and it’s very time consuming,” she says. There’s a water filter in an unopened box on her floor that she says is useless, and an education meeting with EPA officials down the street that she doesn’t know is happening.

Points of water distribution abound (they are called water checkpoints), and water bottles are everywhere. The city delivers water bottles to people’s doorstep if they ask. Otherwise, you can drive through a checkpoint, and they will load free water into your car. At one such place on the parking lot of a local sorority, Delta Sigma Pheta, Inc. Flint Alumnae Chapter, was energetically doling out boxes of water to the community. They gave an average of six boxes to a small family. Each box contains four gallon-sized bottles of water. Residents were told to use bottled until the pipes are repaired in 2020.

“No one is reporting the waste of bottled water,” said 64-year-old John Bednarski as his voice rose speaking about the issue. “Stacks sit outside in the sun, and I asked how can that be safe with the plastic bottles but get no answer.”

In a short version of the story, in April 2014, Flint switched its water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River. This is analogous to Milwaukee changing its water supply from Lake Michigan to the Milwaukee River. Protective, responsible anti-corrosive measures were not taken. Soon, the water flowing from faucets changed color. Now, it was a pale orange.  You still can’t drink it.

The new water caused rashes in children and red marks on shoulders per reports.

A hardy resilience

Yet, despite all, there is a stubborn beauty to the place. You see it emanate from the people, if not the landscape, which, outside the quaint downtown anyway, shocks the eyes with its deteriorating housing stock. The closer you get to Buick City, the worse it looks.

Why do they stay, people like Treasure and Smith? A hardy resilience, not unlike a flower pushing through concrete. Necessity (one woman in her 80s, who lives marooned in the sole home on a block of rotting, foreclosed homes, a few blocks from Buick City, says she stays because her home is paid for and now worth “two cents.” Her roof has a blue tarp over the portion that is caving in. All around her stand the rotting edifices that once housed neighbors.)

They stay because of family. Because Flint, despite all of its challenges, is home. They want to make it something. They want to make it better. In some spots, they have. New businesses thrive (like a downtown crepe shop), there’s a buzzing farmer’s market with cooking classes, and attempts to mold Flint into a college town.

This is Flint, 2017, too.

Enlarge

As you walk inside one downtown business, the Mad Hatter, to your right, brass shoeshine footrests dangle below a row of seats. The cavernous walls go straight back and offer a wide selection of assorted colors of fedoras, flat caps, pork pies, and Panamas. But the business has also moved beyond the vintage era with a broad offering of baseball caps and contemporary menswear. Employee Charles Collins toils away shining shoes while owner Ok Hui climbs a rolling staircase with armfuls of shirts and hats.

“You gotta live here to know. They’ll tell you anything on TV. Look outside of here. There isn’t one city truck, or tore up street, or plumber out there working. I haven’t seen one,” said Collins. “The only construction is downtown. Everywhere else – forget about it,” Collins said.

On the other side of Carpenter Road, the Water is Life conference was held in the New Standard Academy Charter School’s McCree Theater. The crowd gathered to talk about activism, and all of the speakers emphasized water as a human right- from the Flint water crisis, to the Dakota access pipeline to oil spills.

Gyasi Ross, an author and public speaker took the stage in the theater.

“If you recognize somebody as being fully human, you’re not going to allow lead to be in their water, because I value you,” said Ross.

The air of Flint Crepe Company is filled with the smell of crepes and the screeches of the espresso machine. If it weren’t for the exposed ceiling and the old timely bicycle hanging on the wall, Flint Crepe Company would look like any other coffee place.

Underneath the bicycle next to the sugar and crème is a stack of papers asking people how likely they are to recommend the restaurant to a friend or colleague and why. The restaurant manager says they listen to every single bit of feedback so they can apply whatever changes they need to make to improve the quality of their service.

“We definitely want every single person to walk out of here excited and sharing that with other people, and that ensures business,” said Flint Crepe Company Manager Brad Burk. “If you can excite people about your business – get them talking about it – people are going to come back.”

When approached to discuss their city, residents pause with expectant hesitation, then sigh before answering any questions about the water crisis. They say they’re fatigued of discussing it, and would rather talk about the positive things going on in the city, or at least other problems the city is facing.

Challenges remain

“If water was our only problem, Flint would be fine,” said one resident. The employment rate is more than double the national average of 5.3%, and Detroit’s 5.4%, at 11.8% per the US Depart of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2017 numbers.

The civic leaders of the city, who were supposed to protect citizens, let Flint down (some criminal charges resulted). President Obama said, “That shouldn’t happen anywhere,” and declared a federal emergency in Flint. During their presidential campaigns both Clinton and Trump espoused concern about the area. Trump has compiled Flint’s critical issues into his $1 trillion-dollar infrastructure plan.

Today, there is not a block in the central part of the city where decay is not noticeably evident.

Enlarge

Collins agreed that it is a haven for vermin. He said he’s leaving next year after his daughter completes high school. He’s not sure where he’s going, but he repeatedly, yet irresolutely, says it.

Flint “Original” Coney Island proudly displays on the front window an excerpt from a USA Today story where Bruce Kraig, co-author of Man Bites Dog: Hot Dog Culture in America, shares 10 of his favorite hot dog places with Flint “Original” Coney Island being one of them.

The restaurant’s current owner, Atanas “Tom” Zelevarovski, 65, said that his grandfather opened the restaurant in 1919. His grandfather saw Coney Island in New York and decided to bring a little slice of it to Flint. Zelevarovski eventually took over after moving to Flint from Macedonia in 1977.

Zelevarovski doesn’t keep records of how many people he serves, but he said that business has gone down by 60 percent since the beginning of the water crisis. He’s coping by selling bottled water and offering discounts, but now after owning the restaurant for 20 years he said that he’d be lucky if he can keep it open for another year.

“My time for doing anything else is over.”

The place has a reverse osmosis system and the water has been tested with zero traces of lead, as evidenced by the certificate from the state of Michigan which many other restaurants have. But despite that, many people still don’t trust the water. People tell Zelevarovski that the certificate doesn’t mean anything.

Zelevarovski refuses to pay the water bill at the restaurant, saying that he “doesn’t want to pay for poison.”

Numerous commercial buildings missing walls and doors revealed stacks of building refuse noticeable from across the street. You could see the sky by looking through the roof.  In some places, mere sections of wall and partial corners were the only thing standing. In one such place, random piles of bricks covered the sidewalk. It looked like the place had been bombed.

Manifold sidewalks in the city provide a testimony of the city’s former glory. There are so many. Sadly, now, they seem to go nowhere, and stop abruptly in the middle of what used to be a proud and populated block. These public walkways besieged by time, neglect and lack of use, instead of relaying the dominance of man, reveal the power of mother nature to subsume all even concrete, bold grass terminating man-made paths.

Flint’s somber silence reflects a city adjusting to the fact that its fading yet glorious manufacturing legacy will most likely never return.

Visible segregation but hope

Flint was once populated by over 100,000 citizens. It had an extensive monied-class as its many expansive mansions and multiple boarded-up entertainment venues attest.  It still retains remnants of the past. There’s even a pipe shop downtown, and there’s a hat store too.

The city is visibly segregated. The neighborhoods in the most disrepair have mostly black faces.

At the cooking-with-beer class at the new Farmer’s Market, the attendees were all white, as were most vendors and customers. Downtown nightclubs, too, revealed largely the same demographic mix.

There is good news, however.

Not all areas in Flint were affected by the water crisis. Repairs are, optimistically, projected to be completed in 2020.  The re-emerging Flint Cultural Center located in the Flint Institute of Arts has a new pictorial exhibit, titled Women of a New Tribe honoring local female African Americans residents who have contributed to the community.

Enlarge

The city is more than its crumbling buildings. Its heart, perhaps was never Buick City at all. Its soul was in its people. People like the waiter who is building a wall at the river with his bare hands to keep the refuse out.

People like the middle-aged African-American couple from Mount Morris  who must put their relationship on hold to take care of their 76-year-old father. Clyde Morris, a merchandise worker, makes a 15-minute trip to Flint, Michigan every other day to bring his father clean bottled water and daily necessities. Noreen Lewis, Clyde’s partner, recently lost her mother due to unrelated health issues but continues to support Clyde in caring for his father. Clyde and Noreen assist in bathing, cooking and cleaning for Clyde’s father.

The driving force for change to the water crisis in Flint is through the people.

“People don’t trust the government. If you don’t trust what’s there then how are you going to step up in their place,” said Terence Muhammad, Advocacy Manager for the Hip Hop Caucus.

“The water was like the icing on the cake,” Lewis said. “Flint had been messed up for so long with the schools closing, businesses being torn down and our neighborhoods being down to one or two houses. We have adapted to being one of the most dangerous cities to live in, so the water crisis was just another thing that we had to adapt to. Flint should’ve been in the national spotlight a long time ago before this water thing came about.”

Honoree, pastor Zsa Zsa Orr said, “greatness is in the making for the city of Flint.” This forward-looking statement embodies the most frequent sentiment espoused by the city’s hardy residents.

Clearly Flint is again transforming itself – this time into an educational hub for Michigan colleges. There are brand new buildings near the downtown area for the University of Michigan-Flint, Central State, and Michigan State. Given its history, the city of Flint is showing itself to be as transforming as the rocky material for which it is named which may be used to make tools, ignite fire, and, poignantly, building material. There is no reason why it should not succeed.

This story was written by Dwayne Lee with reporting from Lee and members of the Media Milwaukee Flint reporting team.

The post Water is Life: Flint Standing—Still appeared first on Finding Flint.

The Carpenter Road Supermarket displays a fresh produce sign, but the building is abandoned and crumbling to the ground. Weeds are growing through the cracks of the cement parking lot that once had freshly painted yellow lines. Today, the ominous sky is about to water them.

The streets that lead off of Carpenter Rd. into residential areas are eerily similar, the houses remain, but most are vacant and boarded up.

Enlarge

On a Saturday morning inside the COFY Center, the EPA hosted its fourth and final education course. They called it citizen’s science. They provided breakfast and a $20 stipend.

Tables of water filters, testing kits and pipes outlined the room. Donald Moses, the COFY Center’s Co-Director, read through a detailed PowerPoint outlining the water cycle. He occasionally shared the podium with other speakers, like EPA employees, an employee of Community Outreach and Resident Education Program (CORE), Shucon Hall, and Dr. Trish Koman from the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Koman biblically described the difference between a hazard and a risk to the handful of, mostly-older, adults in attendance.

“There could be something hazardous, like, the wolf, but it only becomes a risk if it can get to little Shaun the sheep,” said Koman. “What do good shepherds do to prevent the wolf from getting to their sheep?”

One speaker asked, “Who’s had their water tested for lead?” and three people raised their hand.

It’s been 758 days since researchers at Virginia Tech announced that the water in Flint had almost three times more lead (in parts per billion) than needed to be considered hazardous. It’s been thousands of days since residents began complaining about cloudy, brown water coming out of their faucets.

Enlarge

Leatha Deloney showed up to learn ways to keep her family healthy; she has diabetes and lupus, and her granddaughter almost went into septic shock last year.

“It really scared me at the time because I didn’t know what was happening with her,” said Deloney. “All I know is that her eyes went in the back of her head and she started shaking and then a little foam came out of her mouth.”

Her granddaughter seems to be better since moving out of Flint, but Deloney is worried because she still lives here.

Many who live in Flint dismiss these seminars as unhelpful. They’re familiar with water symposiums and organized town hall protests by now. There’s a skepticism and a disconnect between the people in the houses and informational seminars hosted by governmental agencies.

While the EPA’s intentions are to better acquaint the people with the infrastructure of water piping and processes, there were contradictory scenes and responses in neighborhoods.

Enlarge

Peggy Brisbane-Noblit is a long time resident of flint. She lives in Carriage town, the historic district, and her house, which is paid off, was only assessed at $12,000. She is sitting on her porch puffing a cigarette and drinking a glass of wine with her friend, Judy Karpinsky.

“Who is going to buy a house in Flint?” said Karpinsky.

Cases of water are piled on the stairs of Brisbane-Noblit’s home, and inside she has a bag of unused filters. Aside from concerns that they even work, she says they’re standardized, so they don’t fit her fixtures.

“We’re girls, we like the pretty stuff. You’re not thinking- one day I’m going to wake up and my whole city is poisoned,” said Brisbane-Noblit.

On the other side of Carpenter Road, the Water is Life conference was held in the New Standard Academy Charter School’s McCree Theater. The crowd gathered to talk about activism, and all of the speakers emphasized water as a human right- from the Flint water crisis, to the Dakota access pipeline to oil spills.

Gyasi Ross, an author and public speaker took the stage in the theater.

“If you recognize somebody as being fully human, you’re not going to allow lead to be in their water, because I value you,” said Ross.

Enlarge

At the EPA’s education course, Shucon Hall, a CORE employee and Flint resident, said she goes door-to-door to make sure people know how to use their filters, but that doesn’t mean little things, like washing your vegetables, aren’t a process.

“Everything has changed. You have to make sure you’re not consuming any of the water without it being filtered, it’s a lot,” said Hall.

Back on Brisbane-Noblit’s porch, she says her pipes will be replaced in August. They reflect while lighting another cigarette.

“Where it’s very visual and political, of course it’s going to get done there,” said Karpinsky.

But is there a desire to fix the streets behind the COFY center and around Carpenter Road?

For areas with no political gain, “pretty miniscule,” said Karpinsky.

The post Activism and Community Outreach, but the Neighborhoods Are a Different Story appeared first on Finding Flint.

The post The Citizens of Flint Remain Persistent (Video) appeared first on Finding Flint.

As you walk inside the Mad Hatter, to your right, brass shoeshine footrests dangle below a row of seats. The cavernous walls go straight back and offer a wide selection of assorted colors of fedoras, flat caps, pork pies, and Panamas. But the business has also moved beyond the vintage era with a broad offering of baseball caps and contemporary menswear. Employee Charles Collins toils away shining shoes while owner Ok Hui climbs a rolling staircase with armfuls of shirts and hats.

Enlarge

When asked about the water in Flint, Collins looks up from the boot in his hand and is full of opinions. By his open and inviting manner, it’s obvious he’s spent years honing the art of conversing with the stranger in front of him.

“You gotta live here to know. They’ll tell you anything on TV. Look outside of here. There isn’t one city truck, or tore up street, or plumber out there working. I haven’t seen one,” said Collins. “The only construction is downtown. Everywhere else – forget about it,” Collins said.

Enlarge

In three days in Flint, over a weekend, no trucks or employees appeared to be working on underground pipes. But a settlement has since been announced, and by 2020, the State of Michigan has agreed to pay $87 million to replace lead or steel service lines leading to at least 18,000 Flint homes.

Buildings Flint on or near Saginaw Street north of the Mad Hatter. Photos: Ed Makowski

A new Michigan State campus recently opened in downtown Flint, sharing the city with University of Michigan – Flint, and Kettering University (formerly known as the General Motors Institute). Of the new university presence, Collins was equally dismissive, “You can build universities, and education is great, but who’s going to come here if you can’t use the water? My boss and me – we don’t use the water,” Collins said.

Ok Hui said that the new college hasn’t had much impact on her business. “Flint is a college town, but I don’t really see many college kids in my store,” said Hui. “Most of my customers are older men,” Hui said.

Decades ago, Flint was a bustling hub of production. But throughout the 1980’s, General Motors plants, and the businesses that supported the employees, gradually shut down. In the wake of auto plant closings, a Six Flags theme park called Autoworld opened in downtown Flint on July 4, 1984, providing an ironic homage to the city’s ailing industry. By December, Autoworld was only open on weekends and its visitor assembly line closed for good within six months of opening. Today, the downtown area of Flint still seems to be waiting for Flint to “happen” again.

Enlarge

After working in retail for more than 20 years, Ok Hui purchased the Mad Hatter from previous owner Bob Kittel. Kittel still owns the building, and Hui rents the business from him, adding that every day she’s at the store from open to close. Hui was born in South Korea and when asked what brought her to Michigan, Hui offers the most direct answer. “My kid’s father is American,” she says, with a no-nonsense laugh.

When asked about the water in Flint, Hui shook her head side to side. “I don’t drink the water, I’m scared to drink the water. So many people get that rash,” said Hui.

A study of 122 patients with skin problems, published in August 2016 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, found that more than 80 percent of the patients’ issues were possibly related to water exposure in Flint. This was following the city’s switch to water from the Flint River, which was more corrosive than water purchased from Detroit, and came from Lake Huron.

Enlarge

“My sister moved back here from Maryland two years ago and said the water is bad, that she had rashes all over,” said Hui. “I told her she had sensitive skin and don’t blame the water. I didn’t want to hear bad things about the Flint water. But the problems came out about the water and suddenly I said – Oh! That’s why!” Hui said.

Hui said her sister had since moved back east. “Her skin cleared up when she moved back to Maryland,” Hui said.

But Hui said that being comfortable with what she drinks comes at a cost. “So many bottles of water. So much trash,” said Hui.

Enlarge

When asked if Collins plans to stay in Flint, he had one thing in mind. “I’m here because of my daughter. She’s 16, she’s a junior. She’s real smart, on the honor roll, and when she graduates, wherever she goes off to college – I’m gone.”

Dwayne Lee contributed to this story.

The post Mad Hatter Still Donning Despite Flint Lead Water Woes appeared first on Finding Flint.

The post The Flint Water Crisis: Resident and Community Outreach (Video) appeared first on Finding Flint.

Even though the water crisis has affected this couple’s future plans of moving out of Flint for the next two years, it’s not a topic of discussion amongst friends. They’re not alone. Across Flint in March 2017, people like Clyde Morris’s father can’t drink the water or safely bathe in it without risking a rash and struggle to find housing and food.

The driving force for change to the water crisis in Flint is through the people.

“People don’t trust the government. If you don’t trust what’s there then how are you going to step up in their place,” said Terence Muhammad, Advocacy Manager for the Hip Hop Caucus.

“The water was like the icing on the cake,” Lewis said. “Flint had been messed up for so long with the schools closing, businesses being torn down and our neighborhoods being down to one or two houses. We have adapted to being one of the most dangerous cities to live in, so the water crisis was just another thing that we had to adapt to. Flint should’ve been in the national spotlight a long time ago before this water thing came about,” said Noreen Lewis.

However, there are some signs of progress. From 2010-2012, Flint was one of America’s most dangerous cities to live in based on FBI crime statistics of violent crimes per capita. However, according to the Detroit Police Department, the total number of reported violent crimes has dropped by almost 3,500 cases. Recently in 2016, there were 597 offense accounts of violent crimes and 568 accounts reported this year. Despite its decline in violent crime per capita, there is still room for improvement.

It’s not only family members who are reaching out to help the people of Flint, many of whom are elderly people, in the wake of the government’s neglect.

Coalitions like Flint Rising, an advocacy fund, are working with community organizations to ensure that the impacted citizens of Flint are building the organizing infrastructure and leadership necessary for justice for Flint families.

Enlarge

“My mother was advised by her doctor not to stay in Flint because of her chronic spinal pain. She doesn’t currently live in Flint but still has to pay her water bill,” said Susan Whalen, Flint Rising Volunteer.

The water crisis has also affected the poor and destitute citizens of Flint.

“I was approved to find Section 8 housing through BECKA Management by April 8th but I haven’t been able to find housing for the second year now. I get a housing voucher, but it always runs out so I re-apply. I am living in an abandoned house and I use about a case of water every two weeks. No one’s is really helping me find housing. I have to do this on my own,” said James Frye, 57-year-old Flint resident.

Many citizens are simply dismissing the topic from entering everyday conversations with friends and family.

“We got friends that we visit often and the water crisis isn’t even a conversation that we have had. Everybody is just dealing with it day by day,” said Clyde Morris, Mount Morris resident.

Like many Michigan residents outside of Flint, Clyde Morris and Noreen Lewis aren’t directly affected by the water crisis but want to be involved in community events that’ll force government officials to bring a solution.

“The people will come together once they see that the government is really doing something. What can we do without them making a move first,” said Morris.

Some of the citizens of Michigan aren’t motivated to lead a change due to years of political corruption without community representation.

“A lot of times we go to the powers that be to bring change but it never came from the powers that be. Our civil rights never came from the powers that be, it came from the masses and the people,” said Muhammad.

Amidst all the crisis, the couple is worried that the media’s perception of Flint is not accurate or truly a representation of what Flint is like.

“The inner city is the heart of Flint. The media isn’t going to the inner city at all. They are choosing the poorest and most ignorant to push their own motives,” said Clyde.

Legislative change is vital in regaining the trust of Flint citizens.

“To comfortably leave my 76-year-old father in Flint, a new mayor must be elected,” said Clyde.

Coalitions like Flint Rising have identified three needs that Flint residents have that should be addressed by the Michigan Legislature; replacing the damaged service lines using Flint workers, complete reimbursement for water bill payments dating back to April 2014 and health and education services for all children, adults and seniors in the community.

Enlarge

“Flint Rising was created by the residents of Flint without any funding. I joined Flint Rising because people need help right now. Water credits only covered a portion of water bills and citizens still had to pay sewage rates, which were raised at the same time,” said Whalen.

Despite the changes that need to be made executively and locally, Clyde and Noreen are glad that progress has been made in Flint.

“You can get free water almost anywhere in the city. You can get filters and cartridges if you run out,” said Clyde.

Even though bottled water and filters are available for citizens, others feel like they may be a distraction from addressing the longevity of the effects from the water crisis.

“Filters are a bandage; they won’t solve the problem. The state is trying to sweep this under the rug and not really help the community,” said Whalen.

The issue of contaminated water isn’t a new issue and goes beyond Flint.

“People in Georgia, Mississippi and even New Jersey are dealing with water issues. The issue alone is a violation of human rights. The fact that I even buy bottled water in the store back home, I’m dealing with the same issue,” said Muhammad

The water crisis has forced Flint residents and family members to deal with the financial and emotional toll of living with unclean water for at least two more years.

“It’s exhausting to uncap every single bottle of water to cook and wash dishes. We’re tired of dealing with that every day,” said Whalen.

Despite the turmoil, the citizens of Flint are staying strong and persistent.

“Life goes on. People still have to work and send their kids to school, we are all just trying to survive,” said Noreen.

The post The Driving Force for Change appeared first on Finding Flint.

The post Pet Store in Flint Still Deals with Water Crisis (Video) appeared first on Finding Flint.

Underneath the bicycle next to the sugar and crème is a stack of papers asking people how likely they are to recommend the restaurant to a friend or colleague and why. The restaurant manager says they listen to every single bit of feedback so they can apply whatever changes they need to make to improve the quality of their service.

“We definitely want every single person to walk out of here excited and sharing that with other people, and that ensures business,” said Flint Crepe Company Manager Brad Burk. “If you can excite people about your business – get them talking about it – people are going to come back.”

Water is an integral part of keeping people coming back to restaurants, whether it’s using it to cook or simply serving it to customers. But what happens to restaurants when water sources become contaminated with lead, as is the case with the water crisis in Flint, Michigan? It turns out that some of the restaurants in Flint weren’t all that affected. However, others were, and one iconic establishment is about to close its doors.

Even if the water is safe to drink due to filters, restaurants face another vexing problem: people’s perceptions that it isn’t.

All the restaurants the reporter looked at were tested with zero traces of lead. Genesee County Health Department Health Officer Mark Valacak said that restaurants don’t have the same kinds of problems as residences because their water supply is constantly used and doesn’t sit in the pipes as long, meaning it’s less likely to become contaminated. Commercial buildings, where many restaurants are located, have larger feed lines made of plastic or cast iron while residences use smaller feed lines made of lead.

Any drop in business was due not to the water quality, but to customers being distrustful of the water. After ensuring the quality of the water and clearly communicating to customers that it’s safe to drink, the drop turned around and the businesses remained successful.

“Flint in general is doing very well,” said 501 Bar and Grill General Manager Joe Kukla. “All the businesses around here are picking up, and it looks like it’s going to be a pretty promising summer.”

But for one restaurant, clear communication isn’t enough. It’s lucky if it can remain open for another year.

Below are the stories of three different restaurants around downtown Flint and how they coped with the water crisis.

Flint Crepe Company – 555 Saginaw St.

Enlarge

Directly interfacing with customers and applying feedback has been a part of Flint Crepe Company’s business since day one, back when they didn’t even have a brick-and-mortar location. Founders Robb Klaty and Tim Goodrich first tested the waters operating a mobile crepe cart in 2008, wheeling around town from the farmer’s market to the courthouse. After being pleasantly surprised with the response, they opened a storefront on November 11, 2011.

About 16,000 customers are served each year. Burk said that the numbers have been increasing every year since they started. The restaurant may see up to a 10 percent growth this year over 2016 – a bit more than years past.

Being a café serving coffee – which is 99 percent water – it seems like Flint Crepe Company would be hit hard by the water situation. They weren’t. That’s thanks not only to the restaurant’s willingness to take feedback but to the restaurant’s reverse osmosis filter, which they had from the beginning of the restaurant’s opening. It’s an $8,000 system, but they managed to get it for $2,000 from a closed-down Starbucks. They paid for it from the initial investment made by Klaty and his wife Tamra and can pay for new filters every year.

Part of the reason Burk invested in a water filter for the restaurant is because he had severe respiratory and allergy problems growing up. He took antibiotics, medical steroids, nebulizer treatments and more for years just for basic activities. When he became a teenager, one of the strategies his family employed to keep his health up is getting water filters.

He also installed water filters in his house for his wife and newborn. Neither he nor his family have been tested for lead poisoning.

He understands that many people in Flint aren’t as fortunate as he is.

“Deep down, you wish you could rely upon the government or local authorities to have the proper checks and balances – the proper regulations – but inevitably stuff happens and that’s why I take it on myself to have the necessary precautions not just for water but for food or whatever else it is,” Burk said. That self-reliance extends to the restaurant as well as his home.

Enlarge

For Burk, the main thing the water situation affected was the publicity surrounding the business and its water. Burk remembered seeing lots of news reporters roaming Flint. While walking home one day, he counted four reporters interviewing people on the street.

They always have people coming in wondering if they use Flint water. Burk recalled that during the first month the crisis began, people came in just to see what the water tasted like. They just came in, drank it, and then left without buying anything.

“I just thought it was hilarious,” Burk said. “You should bottle that up and sell it.”

The increase in publicity made the restaurant feel busier overall. Burk has no data to show that the publicity led to more growth than what was expected, but for a couple of months the business felt busier to him. Nowadays, that interest has died down for a bit with people questioning the water every so often. While it is tiring to constantly explain to people that it’s safe, he believes that the publicity helped overall and he sees more investors moving money downtown to help entrepreneurs.

The restaurant plans on making renovations and expansions in the near future as they continue to hit max capacity, including more griddles, another espresso machine, and an expansion for their patio.

When done talking, Burk offered the reporter a coffee.

501 Bar and Grill – 500 Saginaw St.

Enlarge

With its exposed brick wall, artsy paintings, and selection of local, craft beers, 501 Bar and Grill wouldn’t be out of place in Milwaukee. The restaurant offers a variety of options for food such as the recently introduced Asian dishes. The waiters offered the reporter glass of water when he came in.

The restaurant opened in 2009 as part of the downtown revitalization project. Luis Fernandez and a couple of other people got the money from several investors and opened the restaurant as 501 Bar and Grill and Wise Guys Pizza. Kukla said that Wise Guys Pizza was discontinued by the previous general manager, who thought it wasn’t worth his time. The restaurant plans on bringing it back in a big way this summer.

The business averages about $1.2 million in sales a year. They serve 200 to 300 people a day with some days going as high as 500 people (so about 72,000 to 108,000 a year).

Kukla said that the restaurant saw a drop in business in the first quarter of last year as the water crisis moved from a local issue to a national one. It wasn’t significant but it was still noticeable. They took a consensus of their customers and found that they didn’t trust their water.

Enlarge

Kukla doesn’t trust the water in his own home in downtown; he still doesn’t drink the water from the tap without a filter, though he does bathe in it. “I can tell you that around Flint there still is a level of distrust,” he said.

They invested in a $3,000 reverse osmosis system in January of last year and placed filters on their faucets. They also had secondary solutions such as selling more beer, especially during festivals where they get most of their sales. Their water was tested about a month and a half ago with zero traces of lead found.

Since installing the filters, their business rebounded, especially as publicity surrounding the water crisis died down. The restaurant is still very busy and successful today.

The waiter wrote “Water is Life – Thank you!” on a customer’s bill.

Flint “Original” Coney Island – 401 W. Court St.

Enlarge

While most of the restaurants in Flint are doing just fine, you get a much different story if you walk about a mile or two from downtown.

Flint “Original” Coney Island proudly displays on the front window an excerpt from a USA Today story where Bruce Kraig, co-author of Man Bites Dog: Hot Dog Culture in America, shares 10 of his favorite hot dog places with Flint “Original” Coney Island being one of them.

The restaurant’s current owner, Atanas “Tom” Zelevarovski, 65, said that his grandfather opened the restaurant in 1919. His grandfather saw Coney Island in New York and decided to bring a little slice of it to Flint. Zelevarovski eventually took over after moving to Flint from Macedonia in 1977.

Zelevarovski doesn’t keep records of how many people he serves, but he said that business has gone down by 60 percent since the beginning of the water crisis. He’s coping by selling bottled water and offering discounts, but now after owning the restaurant for 20 years he said that he’d be lucky if he can keep it open for another year.

The place has a reverse osmosis system and the water has been tested with zero traces of lead, as evidenced by the certificate from the state of Michigan which many other restaurants have. But despite that, many people still don’t trust the water. People tell Zelevarovski that the certificate doesn’t mean anything.

Enlarge

Zelevarovski refuses to pay the water bill at the restaurant, saying that he “doesn’t want to pay for poison.” He wanted to put in a well out back, but the city told him that he could only use well water for the bathroom. He tried to sell the restaurant, but nobody wanted to buy it.

Zelevarovski told The Detroit News that Flint “used to be an auto city; now it’s poison city,” in January of last year. He still believes that. He compared the water situation to that of Russia, which has a high water pollution rate and a water and wastewater utilities asset deterioration rate of 75-85 percent depending on the region according to export.gov. He said that the water back in Macedonia was just fine as it came from the mountains.

Zelevarovski also owns Scotty’s Coney Island in Burton, Michigan just outside of Flint, which he said has no problems.

If Flint “Original” Coney Island closes down, he said that he would simply retire and collect his social security as he can make a living off of it. As for the other workers, he has hope that they can move on to work for other restaurants since they’re young.

“My time for doing anything else is over,” he said.

In the meantime, he’ll try his best to keep the doors open as long as he can.

The post An Appetite for Water: How Flint Restaurants Cope With the Water Crisis appeared first on Finding Flint.

The post An Unknown Future for Flint Children (Video) appeared first on Finding Flint.