Flint Community Initiative

The Flint Community Initiative (FCI) prepares and invests MSU’s most vital resource -- the time, gifts and talents of students passionate to make a difference – to engage in meaningful work in nonprofit community organizations in Flint while providing our students with a unique opportunity develop skills in hands-on, collaborative community development projects.

Our Mission

The Flint Community Initiative began its internship program during the Summer of 2019. At the core of our mission is the belief that the key to revitalizing distressed areas is to look at neighborhoods and communities not for their deficits but for their assets. Our internship program pairs students and leaders of nonprofit community and civic organizations to engage in collaborative, community-driven projects that help to expand community assets and contribute to a thriving future for Flint residents.

Program Essentials: 

• The program runs for 10 weeks during the summer plus one intensive weekend orientation.
• Faculty and staff work with community partners to place students for a community-based internship project experience.
• Students enrolled in 6+ credits will receive a minimum of $3,000 scholarship to defray living, work, and transportation expenses.
• Housing options are provided as part of the program in the Riverfront Residence Hall.
• Open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students across every major and College.
• Students take a 3 credit project-based skills course (SW 492/ SSC 490 - Flint Community Initiative: Asset-Based Approaches to Community Work), plus 3-6 internship credits (SSC 493).
• Students interested in taking only the skills course (SW 492/SSC 490 - Asset Based Approaches to Community Work) should contact program coordinator, Monica Villarreal, villar42@msu.edu.
• All class sessions and internships will be in-person with potential for hybrid format depending on COVID-19 guidelines and project needs.
• Faculty leaders work with students and their community supervisors to achieve a common goal: the completion of one or more products from a high-impact project that build upon the ways our nonprofit agency partners utilize and leverage existing assets to address social, political, and economic priorities within the community.
• During the internship, students will have opportunities to network and connect with community leaders representing various backgrounds and work experiences.