The reason Kane Symons began organizing community cleanups on Flint’s eastside this summer is simple: he wants to leave the community better than he found it.
“Basically, it was instilled in me at a young age by my grandmother to help out,” Symons said. “Before she passed, it was always, if someone was hungry, she made sure they got a bite to eat. Now I’m just kind of starting a new legacy, not for me, but for the youth.”
Symons founded an informal group called Flint Area Neighborhood Operations to recruit volunteers to help organize a variety of cleanup and neighborhood events. His inspiration was a simple one: he saw things that needed to be done, and wanted to make a positive difference in and around his neighborhood.
“These kids are going to be living on the same land we are living on today (when they’re adults),” he said. “You see them out there playing basketball in the streets when there are parks nearby, but the parks have been neglected.”
Symons has lived in Flint since 2020 and is currently in the fourth ward. He started organizing cleanups earlier this year, beginning with one at Potter Park off of Averill Avenue.
“It’s just about making these streets and sidewalks safer to take our pets on walks, or for kids to be out there biking and walking,” Symons said.
He and his group have since organized several more cleanup events, with the most recent ones at Amos Park on August 30 and another near the former Johnson Elementary School on Flint’s northeast side on August 31. Depending on the needs of the area, volunteers pick up garbage, edge sidewalks, clear brush, mow and weed whip, and do other projects meant to make large spaces near neighborhoods cleaner and safer. They also have given neighbors who want to help but don’t have transportation rides to cleanups, and have allowed people near cleanup sites to throw large items of their own into their dumpsters. Basically, they try their best to help meet the needs of the people living in whatever area they’re working in.
Jordan Eisman, a resident of Flint’s third ward, has also volunteered at and helped organize the cleanups. He started simple, just focusing on the area he lived in, and his involvement grew from there.
“I basically started just kind of working on my block,” Eisman said. “I started cleaning up and then some of the neighbors saw it. They’ve helped me with some equipment. And I’ve been able to kind of start growing. It was a little difficult in the beginning for me to get traction with the city to get moving. But now over the last few years, they provided some dumpsters and stuff that we’ve used to clean up a few lots that were terribly overgrown. If I remember right, they were 360-yard dumpsters. And then now they’ve (the city) just been working with us, which is amazing.”
Symons said their cleanups have had anywhere from 10 to upwards of 30 volunteers. They’ve also had support from a number of organizations, including Keep Genesee County Beautiful, the city of Flint blight team, Angels of Flint Michigan, Lighthouse Spirit of God Church, and area businesses like Vern’s Collision and Glass Inc., Auto Body Complete, Big Gunz Tattoo, and Nate’s Smokes and Vapes. Supporters have helped with providing supplies, water, food, and other needs. Pastor Adam Morris and his family from Lighthouse came and grilled food for the volunteers both days at Amos Park and Johnson Elementary.
In addition to simply cleaning up, the events have also just given a chance for residents to get to know each other and build community.
“The improvement in the area is just amazing,” Eisman said. “I mean, it makes it brighter, cleaner. I feel like people are coming and meeting other people, they’re making friends, and I think it’s a good thing for the community to come out and do their part to also help make it look good.”
Symons also noted that residents have been grateful for the work volunteers have done, particularly in the third ward. That ward was represented by Quincy Murphy, who was known for organizing cleanups and his efforts to fight blight. Murphy died in September of 2024 and his council seat was open until LaShawn Johnson won a special election to fill the vacancy in August of this year, leaving third ward residents without a council rep for nearly a year.
Johnson and fourth ward Councilwoman Judy Priestley have been supportive of the cleanup efforts, and the presence of volunteers has given residents of those wards hope that their areas of the city aren’t being neglected.
“We’re just doing what we can for our neighbors,” Symons said. “A lot of them are surprised we’re out here, but they’re very thankful, it gives people hope that this area still has progress, it’s still gonna go forward. We’re helping get rid of eyesores and making these areas have more street appeal.”
That was a particularly welcome sight near Johnson Elementary. While many of the homes along Western Road and in the surrounding Rollingwood neighborhood area have nicely manicured lawns and the homes are well taken care of, the area around the abandoned school has had rampant illegal dumping, several large trees and branches that have fallen, and overgrown brush butting right up against neighborhood backyards. Volunteers cleaned up an entire fence line bordering several homes and gave those residents a nice, cleared, and clean view from their yard.
The best way to learn about future cleanups and how to get involved is to message Symons on his Facebook page. But beyond volunteering, Symons and Eisman simply encourage people to find small ways they can start contributing in the areas right around their own homes as a starting point.
“If you’re not ready to take a huge step by doing a big cleanup, the best thing you could do is just start small,” Eisman said. “If you know an elderly neighbor that needs help, or is a little less financially stable and you see something overgrown, just help them out. Or if you see some extra trash you can pick up. Just doing little things for yourself and for others around you is the main thing. It’s not gonna take a few of us, it’s gonna take the entire city doing this.”
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter to catch up on all of our headlines every Tuesday.
