1930s

One of the Foundation’s first signature projects, Mott Camp for Boys was established in 1933 to serve 10- to 14-year-old boys from Flint’s most underserved neighborhoods. Located about 15 miles east of the city at Pero Lake, the camp was an early indicator of C.S. Mott’s lifelong concern with the health, development and well-being of children. The camp operated for 40 years, imparting lessons about the importance of physical fitness, service to others, teamwork and cooperation.

Intrigued by Flint educator Frank J. Manley’s remarks at a local Rotary meeting, C.S. Mott invited him to share his ideas about using school buildings after hours and on weekends as “community centers” offering educational and recreational programs for children, families and neighborhood residents. The Mott Program of Recreation, introduced in six Flint schools, was quickly adopted by all public schools in the city. Together with the Mott Health Achievement Program, Visiting Teachers Program and Mott Camp for Boys, the initiative would shape the development of a school-based model for community education that eventually spread across the U.S. and around the world.

The Flint Community Schools’ Tot Lot program, which operated from 1937 through 2018, provided local youngsters with summer recreation and learning opportunities.

The Mott Health Achievement Program for the Health Guarded Child was instituted in all Flint-area public and parochial schools. Each fall, children were provided immunizations and examined for treatable problems. Each spring, children were re-examined. If health issues had been addressed, the child received a ribbon or medal. The program operated through the end of the 1977-78 school year.

In 1939, a small health clinic that the Mott Foundation funded through the Flint Board of Education moved to Hurley Hospital and officially became known as the Mott Children’s Health Center. Dr. James Olson, who served as director of Flint’s school health program, became its first director. Dr. Arthur L. Tuuri, a pediatrician who treated thousands of Flint children, took over as director in 1948 until his retirement in 1985. In 2021, the center provided dental, medical and mental health services to more than 23,000 children and adolescents.