Civic Health with Patrick McNeal

What does civic health look like in action? It starts with neighbors who know each other, trust each other, and show up.

In this episode of Philanthropy Speaks, host Damon Ross talks with Patrick McNeal, Director of the North Flint Neighborhood Action Council and leader of Civic Flint, about grassroots civic engagement in Flint and Genesee County.

Patrick shares how Civic Saturdays brings blue-collar leaders together to build relationships, strengthen neighborhood leadership, and turn small moments, even handing out freeze pops, into lasting community change.

Together, they discuss barriers to civic participation, the importance of resident voice, and why strong communities depend on deep listening and shared ownership.

If you care about community organizing, neighborhood leadership, or active citizenship in Flint, this episode offers practical insight and inspiration.

Visit cfgf.org to get involved. 

Transcript

Patrick: 0:00

What we're learning is, is that we can come together and do great things. Everybody may not be at that table, but as long as everybody is at some table. We all are going to eat and we are all are going to do something good. And that's what I keep hoping right there, that we have some of the things in play right now that we can really begin to make a difference.

Damon: 0:25

Welcome to Philanthropy Speaks. The podcast where community voices from Flint and Genesee County lead the conversation. Each episode, philanthropy speaks through lived stories, local leadership, and the people building a stronger community. I'm your host, Damon Ross from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Let's hear what philanthropy has to say. Today we're talking about civic health. What happens when neighbors know each other, show up for each other, and work together to shape their community? We're joined today by someone helping lead that work on the ground. Patrick McNeil is the director of the North Flint Neighborhood Action Council and a leader behind Civic Flint, an initiative focused on strengthening civic engagement across our community. Patrick has been deeply involved in organizing residents, creating spaces for dialogue through civic Saturdays, and helping bring neighbors together. Patrick, thank you for being here. And welcome to the podcast.

Patrick: 1:21

Thank you, Damon, for having me.

Damon: 1:22

Oh, good. Welcome, welcome. Glad to have you here. To start us off, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you're involved in the community.

Patrick: 1:29

Sure, sure. So, Patrick McNeil, born and raised on the north side of Flint, Michigan. Mm-hmm. Pulaski Street. 4 8 5 0 5 was my zip code, which we know now is the poorest zip code in our community. Went to elementary school, Flint Public Schools, Pearson Elementary, Brian Junior High, and the best high school ever created under God's Green or Flint, Northwestern High School.

Damon: 1:52

The, the opinions expressed on this, this podcast are of the, the guests themselves, not necessarily, Damon Ross or the community. Go ahead, man.

Patrick: 2:01

Just, born and raised in a community that knew how to love. That wish needed to be loved.

Damon: 2:08

Mm-hmm.

Patrick: 2:09

And so you got love in your home, you got love from your neighbors, you got love from your neighborhood. And so, when the opportunity presented itself, for me to come back and serve it. It was with great joy that I took the opportunity. So it's been about 10 years since I've been with the Northland Neighborhood Action Council. The Northland Neighborhood Action Council exists to literally raise up community voice. How do we find, the balance, between. What community desires and what others are trying to put on it. So our goal is to raise up self-efficacy. Mm-hmm. We do it through three simple areas. We do it through community driven capacity building, which is ensuring they have the skills to do what they want to do. We do it through neighborhood and resident wellbeing because we believe that sometimes we talk to people like their widgets and not their humans with issues and things going on, and so our goal is to help them find those things they need to work through. Mm-hmm. Help them through that so that we can have wellbeing, wellbeing reservoirs in our community that could help ourselves and help others. And finally, we do this thing called active citizenship, which actually lines up really well, you know, with what civic health is and this idea of it. And so. You know, they always say some of it is science, some of it is art. And, and I do realize that some of what we're doing, there's science behind it. Mm-hmm. There's, there's the psychology of motivating people and identifying, the issues that they may have, their sociology behind it, which means what are the social networks that people are using to get their basic needs met? The where is trust built at and where is trust had?, It's literally what does collective action look like for somebody who doesn't always participate in the civic health of their community. Mm-hmm. And finally, there's some political science in this, which is we have to talk about power and we have to talk about the institutions who wield it. And I think sometimes community forgets that they have two things, power. And the ability to build the institutions, to utilize it, to bring forth the change that they want to see. Through the change we hope they be.

Damon: 4:34

I appreciate that. I like how you position that too, bringing forth change. And, and also, you know, leaning into the science that's behind it, that leads to action. That implies that there's work that goes along with it, not just rhetoric. There are a couple things that you said I wanna lean into, and I think that those are perfect segues into, our topic today, which is civic health. You mentioned a wellbeing reservoir in our neighborhoods. Mm-hmm. And then you also mentioned active citizenship. I don't think that good civic health can occur without either of those, but to do some level setting, tell us what is civic health? People don't, may not hear that every day. How would you describe it and then to close that out, why is it important locally here in Flint?

Patrick: 5:14

So, so for me this, this idea of civic health wraps around the need. For community to understand what it needs to do to be fully participating in what we call democracy. You know, we, we real, we forget sometime that the word democracy comes from demos. Mm-hmm. Which is the people. Mm-hmm. You know, power to. The people and the people give away it, and they don't really ask for anything in return. And so because of that, what ends up happening is a lot of people just simply quit participating in the process. Mm-hmm. They literally say, you know what? They going to do what they want to do. And they even have a name for'em. It's called them folks down. I, I, I wish I knew who them folks was, but that's who they are, right? Them folks down there going to do what they do, right? And because they do that, they don't create, the opportunities for residents to truly, truly participate and become active in what needs to take place in their community. That's the first part of it. The second part of it is not as pretty, but it's the reality that I have so many things going on in my life. Do I have time to add onto one more? Mm-hmm. So I'm trying to work two jobs to make ends meet. I'm trying to keep my children outta trouble and I'm trying to keep them engaged in some type of potential afterschool activity, sport or something. I'm trying to do that I might be trying to do something as it pertains to my faith, and so I'm trying to spend time there and literally, by the time they get done, where is the time for them to participate? It is just not there. And so active citizenship is finding your space in what you can do. Not trying to do everything but something to better the community in which you live in. Because to be truly honest, without the voice of the people democracy can't work.

Damon: 7:12

Sure.

Patrick: 7:13

It becomes autocracy. It, it, it becomes monarchy. It just doesn't become something of buy-in with the people,

Damon: 7:21

you know, individually. That is a heavy lift, for all of us, right? All of our neighbors, all the residents here. That's a heavy lift. Managing what you have to do on a day-to-day basis to keep your family afloat, right? But to merge those two concepts, right? We talked about demos, democracy, the people, this is something that can be done collectively or as a group. And I believe that's the subtext for Civic Saturday. So, I wanted to, to move into that, and tell us first about Civic Flint. Tell us what Civic Flint is and what inspired that work.

Patrick: 7:54

So, I had been working with a colleague of mine, Sylvester Jones, and he had went through Citizens University, he had went through what they call Civic Seminary. Mm-hmm. And he was saying how it was so powerful and how he thought that it could really help Usher change in, through a methodology called Civic Saturday. And so we started having conversations with the folks at Citizens University and it took over a year. For us to arrive at a place where we could finally grab a cohort of people to take them there. Now, for us, we didn't wanna grab your normal people who get to attend these types of trainings. Mm-hmm. We actually wanted to do something different. We said, how do we go to grass top leaders or people who don't even know that they're leaders? And bring them along, people who we seem to forget about. We didn't have a name for it until we was walking down the street in Seattle. And while we were in Seattle, we realized that we were bringing blue collar black men mm-hmm. To Seattle to understand these concepts and to try to bring this civic identity to Flint again without people. How do you participate in process? And a lot of times these are disaffected people because they don't believe that nothing's going to change. They believe that people going to do what they do, and whatever we do ain't gonna make a difference. Mm-hmm. So they simply don't participate in the processes. They don't sit on the boards that we need to. They don't go and vote for the, the candidate that could even locally, let alone. In the larger realm of presidential and, and national elections. So, so what ends up happening, we, we end up inviting these guys there along with a partner called Community Foundation of Greater Flint. Talk about, talk about about it. And we came together and we went to Seattle and we went up there and had an awesome time and I learned something during the process. Sometimes you have to be able to separate yourself from your life. To what you're trying to do by being in Seattle and having that those days with just us breaking bread together, meeting all day together and then even hanging out with each other after the hours were over. Mm-hmm. It allowed us to develop and to begin the process of developing relationship because a lot of times we want people to do what we want'em to do. But we want the transaction. We don't want the relationship, we don't want the fellowship, we don't want what comes with it. Sure. As people are really trying to figure themselves out and live this life. And for that time, we were able to just put Flint aside for a moment. And really be fully present there. So Civic Saturdays are an opportunity for these men to lead a conversation around something of importance to them. We help them. We, we are backbone. The Northland Neighborhood Action Council Community Foundation. At the end of the day, they decide what they wanna see happen. We help them with the logistical part of it, and then we just watch them work. We understand that we will have conversations around civic health. We will have conversations around wellbeing, but what we're not doing is we're not pushing. An ideal or an ideal on them is helping them to understand how to be a part of the framework and then them bringing others to the table,

Damon: 11:26

and that's really leaning on the trust and the relationships that are built. Right? What you're describing also is the responsibility that's attached to being a civic participant or contributing. To civic health. We, we've got a lot of knowledge base. We've got a deep knowledge base here. We've got a lot of experience here in our city. We've got great ideas and we have some really useful rhetoric or discussions. At some point though. That must turn to action. And I believe that's what's behind Civic Saturday's Civic Flint. So it's a great opportunity to get things done as the residents see fit, driven by what they raise up. It's not the tail wagging the dog, it's not top down, it's grassroots organizations who are leading that charge

Patrick: 12:08

and it is being willing to allow them to make the mistakes they need to, to grow.

Damon: 12:13

Mm-hmm.

Patrick: 12:13

I was always taught that the wall was your, was the best teacher in the world. Because sooner or later you quit trying to run into it'cause it hurt. And so sometimes you may not do it right. That's okay. If you get the lesson, then you can move on and do something else. And so we held our first Civic Saturday, we had over 50 something people there at the cube, at Browndale Homes. Right. We had a chance to really watch these brothers, pull it together and make it go and then watch them develop. Again, the relationship between them, right. They see us. Mm-hmm. But they see each other and that's the part that I love the most. So for me, is really watching how this next civic Saturday come out. I know they're looking at something in March, but hanging out with you guys doing some of the work that you're doing. Yeah, for sure. But, but the idea is, is that they really, I just really wanna watch this happen because very. Not often enough. Do we allow residents to just do their thing without us having some type of reasoning or rationale or wanting them to do it? No, it's, this literally came from the fact that these men were willing to take time off work. Some of them were not even paid while we were there, but they believed in the work enough to lose the pay.

Damon: 13:38

Yeah.

Patrick: 13:38

And then I had a chance to watch brothers who knew other people had lost pay, began to pick up tabs so that they could keep the, the gift cards that they were given to cover some of the costs they was gonna have when they get back home. Right, right. That, to me, began, I just saw, and I was taking all that in.

Damon: 13:56

That was an expression of community

Patrick: 13:58

that, and that's what can happen. Yeah. If we create the environments for it to take place.

Damon: 14:03

That's, that's, that's awesome, man. I really like what was behind that. I like the fact that, you know, something was built. But something was made that we could mobilize, and put into practice. You've got various perspectives that were there in Seattle. Mm-hmm. Everyone has a different experience, but they were all tied together based on the responsibility or a commitment to making a positive change in our city. We talked about Civic Saturdays, and because you have all these different perspectives, there are certain things that are gonna be consistent across any civic Saturday experience, but it may all be rolled out differently. Based, again, on those different perspectives. So tell me a little bit about, civic Saturdays, you know, what are the gatherings like, what, what would it look like?

Patrick: 14:43

So the gathering would be a church service. A church. It would be a church service would be the, the most thing that I could equate it to, because it's literally a place where you're coming in. The energy level is. Up there. Yeah. They wanna make sure that, you know, you're welcome in this place. There's, there's, there's artistic readings, there could be songs that were sung. I seen Damon who really can carry a note carrying notes, in the, but because he was asked, he did it, not because I believe he really wanted to, it's just that, you know, we had to,

Damon: 15:19

he didn't.

Patrick: 15:19

He didn't want, he didn't wanna sing, but we, we sung songs together, right? And then we be, then we had an inspirational or a civic. A civic service where someone gave a a word. And for that time we had a gentleman who drove all the way up here from Atlanta mm-hmm. To give the civic message. Mm-hmm. And then got back in the car and left

Damon: 15:43

back to Atlanta

Patrick: 15:44

because he had to do a funeral the next day.

Damon: 15:46

Yeah. Yeah,

Patrick: 15:47

he literally came because he wanted to be a part of something new.

Damon: 15:51

That was powerful too.

Patrick: 15:52

It really was.'cause he had a chance to say how sometimes if you had a life experiences where you were on one side of the issue and now you get to see it from a whole different perspective. You see the totality of it. And that's what we had a chance to watch. We had a chance to see one of our Civic Saturday leaders get up and present a. Beautiful rap song with an accompanist and you could feel the heartfelt, he could halfway sing because he was crying through mm-hmm. The message he was trying to deliver, saying that there is yet hope in our young people. Mm-hmm. That we shouldn't give up on them. And then we had a conversation around. What does it mean to be a help in your community? And we just had some small table talk about small things that people could do. Guess when Damon, right now, not what you had to wait next week, not what you had to wait till you got some funding to do, but you could literally go check on your neighbor. You could literally go and shovel your neighbor's driveway because you know they're ill. You could do some things like that. You could have conversations with young people in your family, and not so much to talk, but more importantly, to just listen. Mm-hmm. Because we don't listen well, and that's the other thing that I would say that came out of this. There was a big focus on listening. There was a big focus on deep listening. Really listening so I can hear your heart, so I can hear what you are trying to bring to the table. And so we did that and, and, and then we, we, we all had a chance to share out or report out. What we were going to take away and do now, the hope is, is that when you do small bite-sized things, people can make those into larger elements and make something happen. Because once you start developing relationship with your neighbor,'cause we don't know our neighbors anymore. Mm-hmm. We used to know our neighbors, but we don't anymore. So anything you can do to get to know your neighbor makes our community a better place.

Damon: 17:47

That was incredible to see too, because, you know, the exchange that took place, the structure that happened there at Civic Saturday, what was behind it all? You know, we often say things, what's, what's, what's understood, doesn't need to be said. Mm-hmm. But what was behind that all was organizing to take ownership. Of the things that happen in our communities, building relationships with neighbors. Building blocks, building community, connecting and tackling the issues that are affecting us here in the city of Flint. I wanna take this time just to make one quick shameless plug since we're talking about Civic Saturdays on Saturday, February 28th from 11 a to 2:00 PM at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. We will be hosting our connect. The blocks Civic Saturday, this is kind of like a kickoff to our neighborhood. Small grants, grant making period. So again, Saturday, February 28th from 11 to two, we'll have that. It'll be in person. This is the first time we've had connected blocks in person in six years, so I'm expecting a really big turnout. I will make this disclaimer now. Do not come expecting to hear me sing. That's not gonna happen. But it will be a great experience nonetheless. So, back to our discussion. I wanted to, let's land that plane right there. I wanted to, ask you a little bit about, two things that you've been discussing and, and this has been a common thread through everything that you've talked about today. Mm-hmm. Neighborhood leadership and resident voice. We know that that's important. Right. We know how it could be specifically important here in Flint based on the historical traumas that we've had, and just based on, the composition of our city and our community. Mm-hmm. Resident voice and neighborhood leadership. It's important. It drives a lot of what happens here. From your perspective, when people feel more connected to their neighbors, to their community, what happens? What, what's the outcome of that?

Patrick: 19:31

They care. There is this thing, this, this empathetic concern that begins to take over in a community. You care about the neighbor. I think it was, I'm trying to remember who said it, and I think it was the guy who started emotional intelligence, and he says, compassion begins with attention. Mm-hmm. And if you attention not intention, intention, attention. Yeah. Meaning that you. You see somebody for where they are and you, you look what it must be like to be in their shoes. Mm-hmm. When, when you see your neighbor down the street struggling as a single father trying to raise three or four kids, what do you do to help'em? Mm-hmm. What do you do when you see them outside? Do you buy freeze pops? So, I remember growing up, I wouldn't buy my kids ice cream. I would always buy them freeze pops. Yeah. And the reason I did it was because for some odd reason my house was where everybody came and I was never wanting to be one of those people who would give my kid an ice cream while everybody else can't get one. Right. So I would just give out freeze pops'cause everybody could get one. Mm-hmm. You know, you give them out and that's what I'm learning about community.

Damon: 20:37

The red one was the best too, by the way.

Patrick: 20:38

Hey listen, I take'em all right now. Look, look, even in the winter they still good, but it still hit. But the idea is just that, that, that the residents. Begin to give out freeze pops through their intentions, through their actions, through their concerns, which means that now they're caring about this. And when somebody else see you caring about somebody mm-hmm and they care about you, guess what they end up doing? They start caring more about what's happening on their block and with people. And it's easier to have a conversation when you're talking with somebody and not about somebody.

Damon: 21:09

I love that example.

Patrick: 21:10

And there's nobody, and, and here's the other problem, Damon, we've been through this. Nobody else is coming. We, we waited for the calvary, we waited for the infantry, we waited for the seals. And nobody is rap, repelling in the flint. It's up us man. It's up to us to do this. And so by helping residents begin to chart their own course to, to, to begin to be bold in their decision making by giving them the skills and the tools to do so. And like you said, the trust. Mm-hmm. To allow them to make mistakes. But the belief that you going to be there with them come tomorrow is what the Northland Neighborhood Action Council is all about. And just watching what happens when leaders begin to build leaders and you just get to sit back and just nod your head. Mm-hmm. It's not that I'm trying, I, I, I actually don't take pictures. I really don't even do interviews. I only did this interview because of Damon us. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, I would've sent a resident up here because it's more important for people to hear their perspective and their voice than mine. But I understood why I am here today, and so I do this because of just that, but I want to let y'all know that I'm here on behalf of Miss Jeanette and Miss Jerry, and Miss Catherine, and Ms. Green and mm-hmm. And, and, and, and. Miss Bonnie. And Miss Daisy, and, and, and, and, and others, Ms. Ms. Cole and Ms. Vivian who doing this work in community

Damon: 22:33

every day,

Patrick: 22:33

every day, and all I do is have the awesome privilege to be their support system. Mm-hmm. I get to support them. I get to change the language sometimes, so sometimes my job is, I'm just an interpreter. I interpret what sometimes what philanthropy wants. To what resident need is, and if I can help them do those things, and I've done my job and the goal of my job, just so everybody can be clear, is I'm trying to work myself out of one. I know that my last job is gonna be a greeter at at Walmart, and I don't know when I'm gonna get there, but I'm working my way towards greeting at Walmart. I'm not showing

Damon: 23:10

you my receipt, bro. Don't ask me,

Patrick: 23:14

but, but that's it though, right there. So what I see is I see hope when we trust community enough, but I also understand the frustration. Because everything takes time. My my favorite two quotes, my favorite quote is the fierce urgency of now. Mm-hmm. But I'm always conflicted by this thing. The arc of the moral universe bends toward justice. Sure. And I know the word slowly ain't in there. But they need to put slowly in there, but it does bend. Yeah. And we have to sometimes be willing to wait, wait it out and still participate while it's bending.

Damon: 23:51

Sure. Sure. I, I, I want to really stand on that illustration you used. I think that's a great example with the freeze pops because, those such a small gesture can go a long way. Towards building something, that can deliver outputs. You know, when you show that you care, when I know that someone cares, there's a connection that begins to grow from that connection comes that trust, that accountability. That responsibility. I keep leaning on that and I love what you mentioned. No one's coming to save us. The responsibility is upon us to take it ourselves and make it happen. So when that trust is built, when I know that you care, now there's an accountability. Now my actions in the neighborhood matter. Not just to me, but to you as well. Now I'm accountable. I can, I need to answer for what I'm doing to contribute or de or take from my community. Absolutely. Those things are important. That's such a great example. A small gesture can build, can build so much.

Patrick: 24:49

When I used to do, life coaching, one of the things that the person who trained me in it, when I was in seminary, taught me three words. He said, Patrick, the key is support, encouragement, and accountability. You support people in what they're trying to do. You encourage them to do it. And we, there has to be accountability for how accountability, there will never be enough change for people to really see the goals that they're trying to get in their life. And so it's the same model that we carry into community that you want to, you want those things to happen and that's how they do. They happen because we care.

Damon: 25:28

That's strong, you know, encouragement. It's a verb, you know? But there's energy behind that.

Patrick: 25:34

Mm-hmm.

Damon: 25:34

In order to encourage someone, you must be optimistic about what they're capable of. Yes. So using that concept, what, what are you optimistic about? What gives you encouragement? What gives you hope about, just in general, the civic engagement possibilities here in Flint,

Patrick: 25:52

what gives me hope is I get to work every day. For the best people in the world. I work for residents. They're hard charging. They make you get it in, but they the most loving people in the world, right? They will care for you as you care for them. And so the beauty of getting back what I'm giving and multiple folds really matter. Not only they care about me, but they care about my children, my family, and, and just watching that take place. So I'm optimistic that. What I grew up with, what my mother and my grandmother, and my, my cousins and my aunts were teaching us is what we thrive in. We don't have to develop a new system. Mm-hmm. That hospitality that they taught us is what we need to carry into the work.

Damon: 26:39

Sure.

Patrick: 26:40

We carry it into the work and when we give hospitality, we get back. Hospitality. Mm-hmm. And so that's what I try to do, and that's what we are doing as a whole. That we're being hospitable to people who may or may not have our best interests at heart. We understand that this is a long serving thing, so I'm optimistic that the change may not come today. But if we don't start now, it'll never come. Mm-hmm. So it is believing that something better is yet on the way it's believing in young people and, and understanding that sometimes as as my brother Todd Womack will say, we need to grow younger.

Damon: 27:18

Yeah.

Patrick: 27:19

We need to make sure that we're not afraid to give our kids the keys and let'em drive, because sometime they gonna come back with the car dinged up. But that's how you learn to, to part so close. Right? Right. But you gotta trust them with the keys.

Damon: 27:33

You gotta trust in what you've built. Yeah.

Patrick: 27:35

What you put in them, you gotta believe. That's my, my grandmother had this thing that she used to always, she, she used to always say, all Nim Hearn. All nim Hearn. Now, and I know everybody can't understand what that is, but what she was saying was. All of them are hers. Mm-hmm. And what that really meant was it wasn't anything that they could do to be dissuaded from her tribe. She would love on them. She would, she would feed them, she would give them a place to stay. Now she wouldn't let'em do what they wanted to do in her house. Sure. But she provided them the basic necessity of love. And I think sometimes we forget that. And that's what, that's what I'm the strongest, but that's what Civic going to Civic Seminary did for me. Sure. It re restore helped to restore my confidence that love can happen in all different kind of ways. Mm-hmm. And that these brothers show, when you give them the opportunity, they'll do it. And then you begin the, the other thing that I'm excited about is we going to create the next narrative about us. We're no longer gonna let other people create the narrative of who we are. We get to create our own narrative,

Damon: 28:40

right?

Patrick: 28:41

And so, whether it's Civic Saturday, whether it's the nac, whether it's working together in some of these group settings that we have doing the work, just trying to make sure through doing like the faith subcommittees that CFGF is over through is doing TRHT, truth, racial Healing and Transformation through it could be some of the work that Fair and other folks are doing. Mm-hmm. What we're learning is, is that we can come together and do great things. Everybody may not be at that table, but as long as everybody is at some table. We all are going to eat and we are all are going to do something good. And that's what I keep hoping right there, that we have some of the things in play right now that we can really begin to make a difference. And I hope that by us doing it, it encourage others to say this one word that I heard my cousin say, if Patrick can do it, anybody can do it.

Damon: 29:34

I like that example. You know that everything that you mentioned, you know, those, there, there's, there's action behind it. There's structure behind it. It's not empty idealism or rhetoric just for the sake of talking. These are clear examples that you can point to and things that we can grow or expand on. Mm-hmm. You know, I, I wanna ask you one, one final question and, I like to. Keep that energy of positivity going. Being optimistic, keeping in mind, you know, the energy that that's behind Civic Saturday Civic Flint. When you think about the future of civic health, civic participation, community connectivity in the City of Flint, what's one thing within that purview that you, hope continues to grow? Something that we have that we can build on.

Patrick: 30:19

Just the simple idea of relationship building and listening. Mm-hmm. I believe that's the most important thing right now. It has to be more. Than just us doing something together. It has to be where, I don't even agree with a lot of your life or your lifestyle, but we can work together on this, and I'm learning that. Guess what? We can all go have a burger together. We can have a burger regardless of where our, where our views or our values are. If the goal is to have clean water and all the pipes changed in Flint, then let's focus on that and let's not focus on what political acumen I may have right now. If we not liking what's taking place, maybe it's time for you to run for office. Mm-hmm. Maybe you just need the, maybe we need as the supporters just to create, to say, here are the things you're going to need to be a great city council person. You know, think about it right now. We have several people who are not returning to office. Some open seats that are available, Hey, maybe this is the time for them to run for office. It's

Damon: 31:21

a lot of energy around

31:22

here.

Patrick: 31:22

Right? Again, again, I'm not a candidate and I'm not pushing a person. I'm pushing an idea that if you believe you can make a difference and you can go and conduct yourself in a professional manner Sure. To get the city's business done. Mm-hmm. Then maybe this is your day. It, it, it could be, you need to jump on the board, whether you don't like how Land Bank is working, get on the board at Land Bank or, or join, the zoning commission because we don't know how much zoning matters in our community. Or it may be an idea that's just new to you. And if it's the new idea for you, bring it to the table and let's see how we can get around it. Right now we're really thinking about this idea of people drive too fast in our community, so what are some of the things that we can do outside of trying to get more police to slow'em down? Maybe we just need to put up some solar power shine somewhere and just say, Hey, slow down and thank you once you do it. I was, I was on my way to Spring Arbor, and the sign said, the sign said speeding. And then the, the lights came on. But when it saw me slow down, that's what the sign said. Afterwards it said, thank you. Thank you. And maybe that's what people just need to hear that our change or our action, if we change it mm-hmm. Can get us a thank you. Mm-hmm. And then, and then the person in their spirit can feel that they're welcome, that people are concerned because the only reason we don't want you speeding is we don't wanna see somebody get hurt.

Damon: 32:50

I love that example. You know, the information that you shared is the type of information that we hope. To exchange and discuss within these civic Saturdays within Civic Flint, these pathways that provide opportunities to impact outcomes in our neighborhoods. That's the whole point of civic participation and civic health, right?

Patrick: 33:10

Damon? It's about caring. If we care enough. And we recognizing that everybody has lives that are full. I definitely don't, I wanna make sure that I'm clear with that because sometimes people think that you going to browbeat somebody into change, right. Why you didn't vote a why? No, no, no. You would be better off just asking the question. So what are some of the reasons that you don't believe voting works for you? Mm-hmm. And then listen to them and then try to find ways where we can work together. And, the poll may not be the answer for them, but. They might be willing to volunteer as a mentor for some young people.

Damon: 33:47

Sure.

Patrick: 33:47

Guess what that is? That's civic participation. That's

Damon: 33:49

civic participation.

Patrick: 33:50

So it, it, so my thing may not be the voting, but my thing is seeing young people, then maybe you can talk to them about how government impacts, how we do recreational afterschool activities. You know, whether it's outta school time, work that they might be doing where they might be able to get some compensation to do more for young people. Mm-hmm. Then the government. It begins to make more sense to'em because now, oh, I didn't know that that money was coming from the federal government. They don't know nothing about 21st Century.

Damon: 34:20

Right?

Patrick: 34:21

They've never heard of that before. What is 21st Century? They don't understand. What is it a title? Title$1. Mm-hmm. They don't understand that. Mm-hmm. But if you find out that the school is letting them do a sewing class. So that they can teach young people how to soap. And again, you didn't hear me say young women, no. Everybody need to learn how to soap and some of them need to learn how to cook some other than noodles. And so maybe that's what we can do.'cause look, look, ain't them leaving. Somebody gotta cook the dressing, y'all.

Damon: 34:51

We can't lose

Patrick: 34:52

recipe. We can't lose. We can't lose the recipes for the dressing. We can't lose recipes. So there might be opportunities for people to make sure that some of us know how to cook.

Damon: 34:59

You see, this is why. You know this, this entire conversation, I, full disclosure, you know. Patrick and I go back, you know, I've, known Patrick in a personal and professional capacity, you know, since I had, you know, a luxurious curly afro. That's how long ago that was, you know, so having these discussions, it's always good when we can really build, and we're not arguing about the NBA or boxing or NFL, you know, I really enjoy the opportunity to have you. Discuss these topics, make it plain, make it real, and take it from concept to actual action. That's what we're discussing right now. So, I, you know, I just wanted to extend, you know, gratitude. Thanks, for being a part of this. Thanks for the work that you're doing, in the neighborhoods as an organization, as an institution. On an overarching, aspect, and then on a very personal specific aspect, there's a lot of work that goes on that you're a big part of. We appreciate that. Thank you. We appreciate you, your efforts and strengthening civic life in Flint, civic, Flint, civic Saturdays, connect the blocks. All these things remind us that community change, as you said, it starts with connection. Relationships and conversations. So thank you for your contribution to all of that. For listeners who wanna learn more about Civic, Flint and upcoming opportunities to get involved, you can visit cfg.org to stay connected. This has been another episode of Philanthropy Speaks. I'm Damon Ross. That was Patrick McNeil. We'll be back next time with another conversation about the people and the ideas that are strengthening Flint and Genesee County.

Patrick: 36:39

It is crazy, but I just wanted to talk about Dr. Dr.

36:43

Cool.

Patrick: 36:48

Come on, man. I wanted to say so bad, but, but I told you, we, we know how to be, we know how to act, right. We know how to act. Right. But I wanted to say Dr. Dion so bad. I forgot, I forgot what we were in there and we were doing a pre a practice presentation. Yeah. And, and some of them hadn't heard Damon in, in true professional Damon mode.

Damon: 37:08

Right.

Patrick: 37:08

And they sitting up there like, man, Damon is the voice. That's what they just start calling the voice.

Damon: 37:15

Like, man, stop. Alright.