For nonprofits in Flint, federal funding cuts pose dire threat

There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding what recent and potential federal funding cuts could mean for communities across the country. For a community like Flint, which has struggled to regain momentum after decades of disinvestment, industrial flight and a shrinking tax base, concern is heightened.

“It’s really about the fear of what is yet to come,” said Jamie Gaskin, CEO of the United Way of Genesee County. “Programs that have been cut at this point are sort of the tip of the iceberg as we understand the new budget process.”

While it’s challenging to project the full scope of the impact that current and future funding cuts could have on Flint residents and local nonprofits, below are examples of charitable efforts that have been — or could be — scaled back or eliminated altogether:

• Flint lost 66 AmeriCorps service members after the agency was forced to make budget cuts.
• A total of 147 young people lost employment when Job Corps was shut down. Of those, 100 needed to find another place to live.
• Proposed funding cuts to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could impact the $2.7 million in funding that comes to Flint and Genesee County each year to support emergency shelters, temporary housing and permanent supportive housing.
• Proposed funding cuts to 21st Century Community Learning Centers could impact nearly $2 million in funding that supports afterschool programming at 13 sites in Genesee County.
• Proposed cuts and changes to requirements for Medicaid could impact more than 100,000 Genesee County residents.
• Proposed cuts to SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, could impact 44,504 households (82,327 residents) in Genesee County.

“Any proposed cuts in federal funding to nonprofits will hit lower-income communities like Flint the hardest,” said Ridgway White, president and CEO of the Flint-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, which granted nearly $83 million in 2024 to organizations doing charitable work in the Flint area. “And it’s just impossible for foundations to close the gaps created by such significant cuts in federal funding for health, social and other critical programs.”

It’s not just about the dollars lost or the jobs eliminated. The cuts will have a ripple effect. Below nonprofit leaders and community advocates discuss what current or proposed funding cuts could mean for Flint.

AmeriCorps

On April 25, the AmeriCorps agency was ordered to terminate more than $400 million in grant funding. Michigan lost over 1,200 AmeriCorps members, leaving local communities without vital support. The Flint community lost a total of 66 service members.

The termination effectively shut down the Flint National Service Accelerator, which was established in 2011. Over the past decade, the Accelerator has helped bring more than 240 AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) members to Flint. The teams have provided tens of thousands of hours of service, which helped local organizations complete projects that would have taken much longer or gone unfinished.

NCCC teams also provided support during crises. For instance, they were among the first on the ground to distribute bottled water and filters during Flint’s water crisis.

A total of 18 full-time AmeriCorps members that had been placed in critical community support positions through the United Way of Genesee County were immediately let go. Some were involved in safety-related work at the Red Cross, blight elimination and community development work at the Land Bank, and programming at InvolvedDad, a nonprofit that aims to empower men to be engaged fathers.

Although a judge recently ruled that funding should be reinstated, it’s not included in the proposed federal budget for 2026.

“We were forced to shut down the program. We don’t know if it can be restarted, given that so many people have been let go at the federal level,” Gaskin said. “Who is around to help restart the program and the initiatives? And it’s eliminated in the upcoming budget, so is it just going to abruptly end again?”

The Crim Fitness Foundation is another nonprofit in Flint that lost AmeriCorps members. Before the announcement, the Crim had 12 AmeriCorps members who helped with neighborhood planning, as well as garden-based nutrition education and afterschool sports programs in Flint schools.

Lauren Holaly-Zembo, CEO of the Crim Fitness Foundation, said that, while they had to eliminate some positions, they were able to quickly make a change and contract with the former AmeriCorps members coordinating Crim Sports programming to keep them through August.

“We were in the middle of sports programming. We can’t do that to the kids,” Holaly-Zembo said. “I’m really proud of how we were able to pivot, but we have to figure out what we will do after August. It’s a huge loss.”

Job Corps

On May 29, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that all contractor-operated Job Corps centers were to cease operations. In Michigan, that impacted centers in Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids.

Job Corps provides free career training and education for low-income youth, ages 16-24. Before the closure, there were 147 participants enrolled at the Flint Job Corps Center. Out of the 147 students, 100 were housed at Job Corps. A total of 15 young people are at risk of becoming homeless.

Claudnyse Holloman, chair of the Flint & Genesee County Continuum of Care in Flint, said several organizations in Flint and Genesee County are working together to find emergency housing for the Job Corps members who didn’t have any place to go.

The Flint & Genesee County Opportunity Youth Coalition is also helping affected youth find new jobs and connect with needed resources.

Proposed cuts to afterschool funding

The president’s 2026 budget plan proposes to cut funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, the only federal funding stream dedicated to afterschool and summer programs. There are 13 programming sites in Genesee County that receive a total of nearly $2 million in 21st CCLC funding. Out of the 13 sites, five are located in Flint.

Afterschool programming at the five sites in Flint is led and operated by the Flint Center for Educational Excellence.

“If funding were to be cut to the 21st CCLC initiative, that could mean 477 Flint students not having access to the same levels of out-of-school-time programming,” said Ja’Nel Jamerson, president and CEO of the Flint Center. “In times like these, we have to look into how we can lean into partnerships by aligning, linking and stacking resources.”

Afterschool programming has a direct benefit for kids, but it also benefits their parents. Cuts to afterschool funding impact the entire family, Jamerson said.

“Very few parents work a schedule that directly aligns with school hours. To serve their families well, parents need partners who provide resources and programming to help their kids continue learning and have a safe place to go. It limits access to workforce opportunities if afterschool programming doesn’t exist,” Jamerson said. “We are continuing to focus on Fint kids first, and that’s our north star. Our partners are doing the same, but it’s a very unclear path forward.”

The 21st CCLC initiative also helps create standards for afterschool programming nationwide, Jamerson said, so it’s not just a cut to funding.

“It’s a shift in the decades-long conversation about what quality looks like in this space, and it’s moving in the wrong direction,” he said.

Proposed cuts to HUD

Under the president’s 2026 budget plan, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would receive a $33.6 billion cut.

A total of $2.7 million in HUD funding comes to Flint and Genesee County each year to support emergency shelters, temporary housing and permanent supportive housing, Holloman said. Funding for organizations such as the Shelter of Flint, My Brothers Keeper, Carriage Town Ministries and the YWCA would be affected.

“If we lost money from HUD, that would impact the coordinated response that we have for people who are homeless or near homeless,” Holloman said.

In February of this year, there were 700 residents utilizing emergency shelter services in Flint.

“Right now, it’s a waiting and hoping game. Emergency housing is critical for Flint. It’s not something you can say, ‘This is going to be cut,’” Holloman said. “We now have to think about how we find short-term solutions until we can find long-term solutions.”

For the Shelter of Flint, a lack of HUD funding in the community would severely impact its programming and services. Federal funding, which supports emergency housing, street outreach and the permanent supportive housing program, makes up roughly 80% of its total funding.

Shelly Hoffman, vice president and COO of the Shelter of Flint, said HUD funding accounts for roughly $650,000 of the organization’s $900,000 annual budget for its emergency shelter. The organization also receives $955,000 a year in HUD funding for its permanent supportive housing program, which helps residents with disabilities who have experienced homelessness or housing insecurities. That funding covers rent for 63 households, case management for 108 households and operating support for two low-income housing developments.  In total, 108 households comprising 221 people, including 85 children, will have their housing impacted, and the equivalent of five full-time employees would be affected, Hoffman said.

“Some of the staff could themselves be housing insecure. It’s also putting people outside of our client base at risk for homelessness,” she said. “It’s going to just keep trickling down. It’s going to impact everyone.”

Proposed cuts to SNAP and Medicaid

The version of the budget bill passed by the House included cuts to both Medicaid and SNAP.

At the end of April 2025, there were 100,941 Genesee County residents enrolled in Medicaid and Healthy Michigan and 44,504 households (with 82,327 residents) enrolled in SNAP benefits.

Nichole Smith-Anderson, vice president of grants and program administration at the Greater Flint Health Coalition, said even though there are real concerns surrounding Medicaid funding, it’s uncertain how requirement changes will impact the community.

“There is so much information coming out all the time. It makes things really difficult to track,” Smith-Anderson said. “It could be widespread and very problematic, but we just don’t know all the specifics yet.”

Another major concern is the increased patient load on free medical clinics in Flint and Genesee County if residents lose Medicaid coverage, she said.

For hospitals that are highly dependent on Medicaid reimbursements, such as Hurley Medical Center in Flint, cuts to Medicaid could be catastrophic.

Double Up Food Bucks, a program that matches SNAP benefits for fresh produce, likely would be impacted by cuts to SNAP benefits. Over 10,000 Flint residents were enrolled in Double Up Food Bucks in 2024.

SNAP-Ed, a program of the USDA and the nutrition education arm of SNAP, is also at risk. This program supports low-income individuals, youth and families to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and live more active lives.

The Crim has been a recipient of SNAP-Ed funds for over a decade and has used the resources to reach thousands of young people and adults in Flint and Genesee County. The Crim typically has eight to 10 employees providing education and resources with the support of SNAP-Ed funding.

“This would be a huge loss,” said Holaly-Zembo. “It’s the main source of nutrition education in Flint Community Schools. Without the funding, we won’t be able to provide the programming.”

Flint Registry at risk

Federal funding cuts and policy changes also could affect an important public health initiative that was launched to help Flint residents recover from the city’s water crisis. The Flint Registry helps participants understand how the Flint water crisis has affected the community and connects residents to services and programs that promote health and wellness. The future of the program remains uncertain due to the federal climate and the restructuring at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since its launch in 2017, over 22,000 people have registered, and over 35,000 referrals have been made to connect residents to services related to lead elimination, child development, health and nutrition. A total of 60 jobs also were created through the Flint Registry.

“No matter what happens to federal funding, the important work of the Flint Registry will continue as a resource for the community in a restructured capacity,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, associate dean for public health and Charles Stewart Mott endowed professor of public health at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.