Mindful Cities

At the invitation of the Foundation for a Mindful Society, Flint is serving as the nation’s flagship Mindful City. This means other communities are looking to us to realize our vision of engaging a critical mass of Flint-area residents - 25% or 30,000 people by 2025 - all learning and practicing the skills of mindful awareness and compassionate leadership to support a healthier, more just and thriving community.

Our Vision

A leadership collaborative with the resources needed to integrate the skills of mindfulness and compassionate leadership into the fabric of our community; impacting the way we do business, support our health, connect with one another and respond to life’s challenges.

Our vision is a community where all children born in Flint and Gensee County have equal opportunities to thrive; eliminating inequities such as the 15-year gap in life expectancy between community members who live in North Flint and those in neighboring suburbs. This vision is co-created alongside diverse community leaders from the health, non-profit, civic, education, and business sectors who ensure this effort is relevant, accessible and complimentary to other critical community efforts.

Goals

  • Healthier and more resilient individuals
  • Higher performing organizations
  • Safer, more equitable and thriving communities

Community Offerings and Programs

The Crim Mindfulness Initiative utilizes many evidence-based programs to build the critical social infrastructure needed to live into our vision and serve five critical sectors: health, civic, education, business, and community (faith, non-profit and neighborhood organizations). Offerings include, but are not limited to:

  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
  • Search Inside Yourself Leadership Program
  • Mindful Civic and Community Leadership
  • Mindfulness-Based Resiliency Training in collaboration with Mindful Badge
  • Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and Resiliency education and presentations
  • Locally designed Community Classes, Workshops and online resources

Why Mindfulness?

Locally and nationally, the foundational skills of mindfulness, emotional intelligence and compassionate leadership are critical supports to overall individual and community health. Genesee County ranks 82 out of 83 Michigan counties in health outcomes and is dealing with the long-term effects of the Flint Water Emergency, Systemic Racism, and COVID-19. Mindfulness is a basic human capacity that everyone can cultivate to support health, humanity and performance. The skills of compassionate leadership are needed to turn towards one another, across perceived differences, with the courage needed to resolve the systemic issues currently leading to disparate health outcomes in our community.

Why Now?

Critical support is needed in the following areas to maintain more than five years of growth momentum, diversify funding sources, and allow for long-term planning for programming:
1. Staff Capacity and Operations Costs
2. Convening and Hosting Conferences
3. Training Costs and Scholarships
4. Evaluation and Support