Contributors: Mike Keeler, Sherry Hayden
Mike Keeler began leading the College Cultural Neighborhood Association (CCNA) in 1998 and Sherry Hayden joined in a leadership role. The association dealt with the city’s decision to use Flint River water which led to the water crisis. The CCNA fundraised, worked with other local organizations and planted more than 400 six-foot trees in the areas between the sidewalks and the street in their neighborhood.
In the late 1990s, GM’s divestment and eventual bankruptcy resulted in less tax revenue and the elimination of some city services in Flint. When Flint closed the Pierce Park Golf Course in 2011, the city planner asked the CCNA if they wanted the course, but the group didn't think they had the capacity to manage the land. Then the Flint Emergency Manager closed part of the Parks Department where 100 workers had cared for 70 city parks. The former greens quickly grew into a field, and people started using the park for hiking.
Issues at the park kept demanding Mike’s and Sherry’s time and energy. Blight and crime from the park started to spill into the neighborhood, and the looming invasives made it feel unsafe. By the time of the pandemic, they knew if anything good was going to happen, it was up to them. They started the Pierce Park Nature Preserve, a 501(c)(3)nonprofit, in 2022. Mike and Sherry had both retired, allowing them to work on the park full-time. All of their team is unpaid, but deeply rewarded by creating a real community, a healthy environment and empowerment.
So far, the Pierce Park Nature Preserve has raised about $1.8 million in grant funding to restore the ecology of the 69-acre park. The preserve has great relationships with local environmental agencies, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Ducks Unlimited. Senator John Cherry is a tremendous supporter, championing Pierce Park as a pilot urban wetlands project with the DNR. Pierce Park Nature Preserve also teamed up with Michigan State University and University of Michigan in a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to install wetlands and pollinator meadows.
Dozens of volunteers invested hundreds of hours planting, cleaning the park and two creeks and tending the native pollinator plants. In the summer of 2026 volunteers constructed eight acres of wetlands and 21 acres of native pollinator meadows. A key objective of the restoration efforts is to alleviate flooding in the neighborhood around the park. Volunteers planted 1,250 trees in this urban forest with a stellar survival rate. Three miles of nature trails now weave along two creeks, through wetlands, forest and meadows in the city. The preserve has hosted four years of concerts in August and two years of “Jazz on Wheels,” all free of charge and open to all.
On October 24 fifteen Nepessing Five Rivers Group (N5RG) volunteers planted tree saplings alongside volunteers from the CCNA. The N5RG Executive Committee also voted to donate $2,000 to support trail signage for this local environmental nonprofit organization. Watch Mike and Sherry’s presentation at a meeting of the N5RG starting at 4:15 in the video.https://zoom.us/clips/share/AoWUej7rRd6vuSVv-Ab0YQ
Learn more about Pierce Park Nature Preserve at this link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/329443479169913/.