The Community Foundation for Greater Flint serves the common good in Genesee County by engaging people with philanthropic interests to support the issues they care about. The foundation seeks to respond to current or emerging needs in the local area in conservation and the environment, arts and humanities, education, health and human services, and leadership development.

Educare Flint, operated by Genesee Intermediate School District, is part of the nationwide Educare Learning Network, which offers systematic early education to at-risk children. Educare’s unique two-generational approach offers wrap-around education, job training and other resources that benefit entire families. Educare Flint offers high-quality, full-day and full-year education programs for children, linking students, their families and other residents with community-based services.

The Community Foundation for Greater Flint used New Markets Tax Credit financing to construct a new 36,000 SF early childhood education facility in Flint, MI for Educare Flint. In 2014, toxic levels of lead contaminants entered the water supply after the City of Flint changed the source of its drinking water from Lake Huron to the Flint River, exposing an estimated 10,000 children to drinking water with elevated levels of lead and putting them at risk of serious health problems. A partnership was formed between the C.S. Mott Foundation, the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Flint Community Schools, the University of Michigan-Flint, and the Genesee Intermediate School District to address and mitigate the impact of lead poisoning and trauma suffered by many children in Flint.

Educare Flint opened its doors to children and families in December 2017, less than a year after construction began. The accelerated timeline reflected the urgent need for early childhood education in the community. Since opening, several community resources have partnered with the Head Start program offering services including access to healthy foods, financial planning and credit repair, budgeting, homeowners’ workshops, car seat safety checks, dental hygiene, transition to kindergarten and many more. Educare Flint has formed a group of Parent Ambassadors that work to advocate for the children in the school and in the community by meeting with legislators and becoming the voice of early childhood education.

In 2021, Educare Flint enrolled 220 children, 100 percent of whom are low-income. To date, the facility has created 72 full-time jobs for local community members.