What Black Michiganders say their communities need—and policy recommendations to achieve it

Every community in Michigan holds assets and faces challenges. Black-majority places across the state share a unique history as important economic and cultural centers, as well as the unfortunately common past of targeted place-based policy injustices such as redlining, urban renewal, and highway expansion. 

This report builds on the Brookings Center for Community Uplift’s analysis of quality-of-life indicators in Michigan’s Black-majority places, for which we studied 39 cities and towns representing roughly 1 million-plus Black residents. This previous report identified many strengths and disparities between Black-majority places and the rest of Michigan, such as homeownership rates, environmental threats, and employment levels.  

This report integrates past findings with new insights from residents who live in Black-majority communities across the state. Based on feedback derived from interviews with more than 150 community members and local leaders, we codify 13 policy priorities aimed at improving quality of life in Black-majority places. These priorities cluster into four core areas for policymakers, each with a set of multifaceted recommendations: 1) creating opportunities for residents to build wealth; 2) community-centered investment and development; 3) supporting residents from childhood through entry into the workforce; and 4) advancing health equity through expanded access and services. 

In some cases, we recommend expanding or sustaining funding for existing programs that may already aim to address these needs, though their impact has not yet reached Black-majority communities. In fact, during the production of this report, progress was made with some recommendations during the confirmation of the latest state budget. However, other recommendations outline new interventions that have yet to be taken.  

All of Michigan’s major cities are either Black-majority or have a Black-majority neighborhood. Collectively, these municipalities are home to one-fifth of Michigan’s population and over two-thirds of the state’s Black population. The municipalities in our study include Black-majority cities such as Detroit and Flint, and cities that have at least one Black-majority neighborhood, including Grand Rapids and Muskegon. 

These cities and neighborhoods are home to proud Michiganders, and the following recommendations prioritize policy solutions that reflect their experiences and concerns. Michigan leaders who want to ensure that all residents live long and healthy lives should use these recommendations to build better futures for the people in their state. 

Policy recommendations reflect Michiganders’ community feedback 

The following sections lay out four core categories for policy change, 13 policy priorities, and 29 policy recommendations. They reflect feedback from group interviews with over 150 residents and community leaders—including business owners, philanthropists, nonprofit staff and volunteers, civic organization members, local elected officials, city and county workers, and long-term residents—over a period of 11 months. We specifically focus on the Black-majority places in Benton Harbor, Detroit, Flint, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, and Pontiac (all of which were part of the  original quality-of-life assessment).  

During each interview, we asked participants to speak about the assets and challenges within their communities. Participants spoke from personal and professional experience, listed programs they used or offered, and shared stories and data they gathered. Each policy recommendation is derived from a literature review of existing state policies and this community feedback. We highlight that in some policy areas, current programs are not reaching residents in Black-majority areas, and in others, policy interventions are still desperately needed.  

The first section of policy recommendations focuses on solutions for fostering more local businesses and increasing access to livable homes. The second highlights the importance of supporting, protecting, and expanding the abundance of assets already in Black-majority places, such as museums, community centers, art venues, music events, lakes, parks, and more. The third section reflects interview participants’ goals to support children, workers, and justice-involved individuals.¹ The final section focuses on solutions for physical and mental health. 

Creating opportunities for residents in Black-majority communities to build wealth 

The stark differences between Black-majority cities and other communities across Michigan reflect the persistent racial wealth gap between white and Black Americans. This wealth disparity—in which Black households hold only $15 for every $100 white households hold—translates directly into observable differences in quality-of-life indicators. 

Median household income across Michigan is approximately $69,000, but in Black-majority cities, it is roughly $41,000, according to our analysis of quality-of-life indicators in the state. The poverty rate in Michigan’s Black-majority cities is more than twice the overall state level (23% versus 9%), and in Black-majority neighborhoods, it is nearly triple, at 26%. The unemployment rate is also more than double in Black-majority cities and neighborhoods compared to the state overall.  

About half of residents in Black-majority neighborhoods and cities own their homes, compared to roughly 73% of all Michiganders. For renters, the costs are burdensome: 60% of residents in Black-majority places spend more than 30% of their household income on housing costs, compared to 49% for the state overall.  

At the national level, the wealth of Black families is concentrated in two of the four largest sources of equity: business ownership and homeownership, according to the latest data on the racial wealth gap. Yet barriers to equitable business ownership for Black entrepreneurs persist through a lack of access to capital, increased levels of debt, and systemic disparities in credit. Black workers are also more likely to hold lower-paying positions and are less likely to have jobs that contribute to retirement savings. These structural challenges, as well as appraisal bias and the lingering impacts of redlining, also block Black Americans from owning homes.  

Policy recommendations to increase Black business ownership 

• Increase the presence of local financial institutions such as community development financial institutions (CDFIs) and credit unions. CDFIs use U.S. Treasury funds, often in combination with philanthropic and local government dollars, to lend to “economically disadvantaged” communities. Michigan has the ninth-highest amount of CDFI investments, but there are clear gaps in service areas in Black-majority places.² Credit unions are user-owned financial cooperatives that keep investments local. CDFIs and local credit unions in Black-majority neighborhoods are shown to increase business and homeownership for minorities, but interview participants and data reiterate that their presence is lacking in Michigan’s Black-majority neighborhoods. 
• Launch a Michigan state bank. North Dakota’s state bank has partnered with community lenders since 1919 to increase small business lending at lower rates, providing a financial safety net for local banks. Public banks globally control $91 trillion in assets. As California and other states adopt similar models to buffer against federal policy shifts, Michigan could create one with built-in protections for equitable lending to Black communities.  
• Increase property taxes on vacant commercial properties to generate state revenue and fight business vacancies. The hoarding of commercial property by non-community members is widespread, with 1% of owners in the U.S. holding 81% of commercial properties. Interview participants pointed to vacant business corridors as a focus of concern in building their local economies. Increasing taxes for vacant properties could help; in Washington, D.C., for example, vacant property is taxed at $5 for every $100 of the property’s value, while occupied units are taxed at $1.65 for every $100.  

Policy recommendations to increase access to affordable and safe housing 

• Fund state and local land bank programs. Michigan’s land banks serve an important role in increasing homeownership by making vacant land and homes available for residents. In Flint, the Genesee County Land Bank holds roughly 20,000 vacant lots for development and brownfield assessment, with 50% of these properties available for purchase to Flint residents for $1 to $100.³ 
• Expand programs to purchase, renovate, and retrofit the available housing stock for current Michigan residents. The cost of acquiring homes in some Michigan cities may be affordable, but the cost to maintain them is often a barrier for residents. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority invested $2.2 billion to preserve 12,400 homes statewide in 2024, and another $8 million to financially support an estimated 320 first-generation homebuyers. The popularity of this latter program, which could not serve all eligible applicants, points to a continued need to fund and sustain these housing programs into the future.  
• Fund Michigan housing policies, with a focus on Black-majority places. Michigan’s Statewide Housing Plan prioritizes racial justice and renews a commitment to build 115,000 housing units. This is necessary, as Pontiac alone, for example, needs over 3,000 more units. In future funding allocations, Michigan leaders should prioritize Black-majority places to ensure they meet their goal of equity and racial justice as laid out in the plan. 

Community-centered investment and development  

Regarding community and economic development, interview participants regularly mentioned four key assets within their communities that would benefit from further investment: 1) natural resources and space; 2) neighborhood associations and block clubs; 3) community gathering spaces; and 4) public transportation.  

Natural resources and space include, but are not limited to, access to clean water, use of green spaces, and remediating environmental pollution. Living in a Black-majority Michigan city means you are more likely to live near a Superfund site than the average Michigander, and living in a Black-majority neighborhood means you are twice as likely. Black-majority neighborhoods are also nearly five times more likely to be located near a polluted water source.  

Already, a major remediation effort to clean and redevelop brownfields is taking place across Michigan. Brownfields are plots of land that are currently deemed unusable due to industrial pollution. Cleaning these areas is necessary to allow community members access to their land. Additionally, the replacement of lead pipes in Benton Harbor and Flint—cities that suffer from residential lead water poisoning—is underway.  

Despite the pollution, high levels of vacancies mean these cities and neighborhoods also have an abundance of green space, which can reduce the effects of extreme heat, mitigate flood risk, and serve as “third places.” However, we heard from residents that green spaces are often poorly maintained and don’t serve the community; indeed, research shows that neglect of such spaces is associated with higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress for residents. When these lots are developed for community use, such as community gardens or simple landscaped areas, they can increase well-being by reducing crime and encouraging neighborhood socialization. The Genesee County Land Bank’s Clean and Green program, which maintains vacant lots, was shown to reduce assaults and violent crimes around vacant lots by 40%.   

Neighborhood associations and block clubs are a common asset in Michigan’s Black-majority places. Neighborhood associations are often social organizations, sometimes incorporated as nonprofits, that represent community interests and often put on annual events, maintain communal spaces such as parks, and provide resources to residents. They are shown to improve socialization and neighborhood satisfaction. Block clubs operate at an even more local scale, representing residents of certain blocks within a neighborhood. They are usually unincorporated, and often serve as crucial social connectors by putting on events such as block parties and backpack drives. Their presence improves community organization and can reduce crime rates. 

Both types of organization are typically long-established groups working to improve the safety of a neighborhood by increasing social ties between residents and retaining local knowledge that city leaders and developers should rely on. In Detroit, the Department of Neighborhoods coordinates with these groups all over the city to ensure local representation in community development, which also normalizes and increases civic engagement.  

Another abundant asset across Michigan’s Black-majority places is a variety of gathering spaces that serve the diverse communities that live there. These gathering spots are sometimes community centers, such as the Douglass Community Association in Northside Kalamazoo and the Latinx Technology and Community Center in Flint. Some are cultural centers, such as the Mama Akua Community House in Northwest Detroit, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership in Kalamazoo, and the Muskegon Civic Theatre. 

In most cases, these gathering spaces offer community resources and hold historic and cultural significance to residents, often serving as third places to gather outside of home or work. Third places are linked to crime reduction, support residents’ mental well-being, improve social cohesion, and promote economic revitalization for surrounding residents.  

An asset largely missing in Michigan’s Black-majority places is public transportation, which interview participants cited as absent or detrimentally inconsistent. A University of Michigan study found that Black residents in Detroit are more likely to experience transportation insecurity, and a Detroit Regional Chamber report found that over half of job seekers cite access to a car as an employment barrier, indicating they cannot rely on public transit as a substitute. Additionally, according to the latest Census Bureau data, 4.6% of Black Michiganders use public transportation to get to work, compared to only 1% across the state.

This lack of transportation access also impacts health, with one Kalamazoo College study finding that the lack of bus routes and walkability made access to grocery stores, food pantries, and farmers’ markets more difficult for the city’s low-income residents. The overall sentiment from community member feedback regarding investment in buses, bike lanes, and even light rail solutions was that, despite evidence in its favor, solutions never seemed to materialize.

Policy recommendations to maintain the health and accessibility of Michigan’s natural spaces and resources 

• Expand the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps (MCCC). This state-level job program already provides Michigan workers with great opportunities while assisting local environmental projects, and should expand to include brownfield remediation, lead pipe replacement, and green space maintenance. With the recent federal cuts to AmeriCorps and disparities in environmental indicators in Black-majority places, intentional expansion of the MCCC will fill service gaps in the areas of greatest need, support local governments and organizations, and provide jobs. 

Policy recommendations that include and support neighborhood associations and block clubs  

• Engage with neighborhood associations and block clubs during economic development planning. During economic development processes in Black-majority places, consultation ensures that the residents who make up the social capital of these cities are not displaced. For example, efforts to support the business corridor in Detroit’s Livernois-6 Mile community were enacted with the input and support of block clubs, which helped to successfully increase investment in the area without driving out residents. 
• Start a Neighborhood Matching Fund. Projects to build stronger community connections are already occurring in places across Michigan, but these neighborhood associations and block clubs have limited funds. In Seattle, the Neighborhood Matching Fund has successfully supported neighborhood projects since 1988 by providing small funding awards for organizations that execute local projects to “build stronger community connections.” The program in Seattle works retroactively to avoid wasteful spending.  
• Start a Block Club Fund. Small grant funds for community events like block parties acknowledge the importance of these community assets and support their continued presence in Black-majority neighborhoods. In Boston, the city created a Block Party Grants program to support the many social events these community organizations put on. 

Policy recommendations that protect community gathering spaces, both new and historic 

• Start a Third Space Grant program. Funding for physical gathering spaces that serve minority communities is a simple way for Michigan to invest in assets that already exist in its Black-majority cities and neighborhoods. Supporting these institutions financially, especially in tandem with the economic development policies above, could incentivize population growth while guarding against gentrification by retaining these cultural anchors. For example, Washington, D.C.’s Community Grant Program offers funding for organizations that seek to improve quality of life for the city’s diverse populations.   
• Increase funding to public libraries. Public libraries are particularly important community gathering spaces that offer resources beyond books, including support for houseless individuals, early childhood activities, tutoring, and cultural programming. However, these critical institutions are underfunded in Michigan, with financial support not being updated since 1977. Increases could be made by amending the State Aid to Public Libraries Act to at least the inflated equivalent of $2.50 per capita to help keep libraries in communities they serve.   

Policy recommendations to invest in public transportation and walkable communities outside of downtown areas 

• Fund public transportation programs in Black-majority places. Michigan leaders need to invest more in their public transit system, especially in their major cities. State leaders can make targeted investments by initiating pilot programs that increase the number of bus routes to Black-majority neighborhoods and the number of buses on these routes to ensure wait times of less than 30 minutes for more consistent usage. Future legislation should allocate funds for increased bus routes through the Local Bus Operating fund. Similarly, state leaders can support the creation of bike lanes and bike-sharing programs that connect neighborhoods and Black-majority commercial corridors together, not just downtown areas.  

Supporting residents from childhood through the workforce 

Interview participants stressed the importance of education in increasing community members’ quality of life, and amplified the need to take a “two-generation” approach—supporting both children and parents. In many communities, assets supporting children and workers are abundant but underfunded. Across Michigan’s Black-majority places, there is a greater need to support or scale up assets in this realm, including child care, wraparound and trauma-informed services for school-aged children, higher education institutions, workforce development programs, and solutions for re-entry of justice-involved people.  

One local-level example of solutions to support children and parents at the earliest stages of childhood is the Flint Rx Kids program, which provides funds for every pregnant resident of Flint. The program provides $1,500 for the pregnant parent upon birth and $500 each month for the first 12 months of the child’s life. One study comparing participant outcomes to those of similar nonparticipating groups found that Flint Rx Kids participants had more adequate prenatal care and healthier babies. Rather than creating support programs with complex rules and requirements, Flint Rx Kids shows that simply providing funds for new parents in economically disadvantaged places leads to better outcomes for children. The program was so successful that it has now expanded to Kalamazoo, Clare County, and Oakland County (which includes Pontiac).  

Youth programs are abundant in Black-majority cities and neighborhoods throughout Michigan, but they are often underfunded and typically rely on fundraising from the community, which already suffers from income disparities. These locally operated programs include tutoring services, health clinics, sports, English as a Second Language classes, art programs, mentorship programs, and more. These types of programs are shown to prevent crime, improve test scores, and promote intergenerational social connection. In Benton Harbor, local schools have onsite health clinics that offer nutritional assistance, menstrual products, and sex education. In Battle Creek, Threads of Hope works with primary school children to offer after-school and summer programs aimed at building self-esteem through trauma-informed music and art programs. After participating in their programs, kids were 11% less likely to participate in violence, and 96% reported they were likely or very likely to go to college. Additionally, the share of school staff reporting positively about kids’ emotional skills rose 37% after the program.⁴ 

Higher education institutions are also major assets in Black-majority communities. In Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Promise offers full scholarships to public high school graduates in their city to attend community colleges and universities in Michigan, retaining young people in the state by lowering the cost barrier to higher education. Similar programs in Muskegon, Flint, and 22 other places were created after seeing Kalamazoo’s success. Offering higher education financial assistance makes a difference: Over the 20 years of the Kalamazoo Promise, there has been increased college enrollment in higher education from local graduates than graduates from other Michigan cities, but racial disparities persist. Within the city, the rates of bachelor’s degree attainment range from roughly 5% to 22% in Black-majority census tracts, compared to 16% to 77% in other census tracts.  

These higher education institutions—along with nonprofit, philanthropic, and some employers—provide local jobs and are anchor institutions for workforce development, innovation, and community development. In Flint, community members repeatedly cited the Mott Community College Workforce and Economic Development program as an asset that not only provides job training for technical careers, but is also a safe place where students feel invested in and are given the resources to build their lives and support their families. However, with manufacturing jobs leaving the state en masse in previous decade and still today gradually, many community members felt that government leaders were not doing enough to bring new, relevant employers back to their cities—leaving them with a talented but underutilized local workforce.  

Community members also stressed the importance of finding solutions for justice-involved individuals to safely integrate back into work and life. Residents and advocates point to the disproportionate impact that Michigan’s history of mass incarceration has had on Black Michiganders and their broader communities. Nearly 100,000 Michiganders are either in prison, on parole, or on probation, and of those in state prison, more than 50% are Black.  

Interview participants’ main concerns regarding justice-involved individuals were how the current lack of resources for employment and housing leads to recidivism—a common pattern of justice-involved individuals being arrested, detained, charged, convicted, or incarcerated after re-entry, often repeatedly.⁵ Community members were clear: Supporting justice-involved individuals rather than repeating cycles of incarceration is a key part of increasing communal well-being and healing.  

Policy recommendations that support maternal and child care to ensure safe and healthy families 

• Fund evidence-based, local solutions in Black-majority cities and neighborhoods. Programs such as Flint Rx Kids show how small investments in low-income families in Black-majority communities help children and parents increase their quality of life. State leaders can support Black-majority cities to retain and care for their residents by providing funding for Rx Kids to expand to other Black-majority cities.  
• Improve access to the PreK for All program through increased community awareness, application support, and transportation. Michigan’s PreK for All program pays for preschool for any four-year-old, with priority given to low-income students. However, the program is underutilized, especially by low-income students, and current funding is only available for less than 50% of four-year-olds. A main barrier for families is transportation to child care facilities. State leaders should increase funding for this program, with a portion for transportation services in underserved areas.  
• Create more child care facilities in Black-majority neighborhoods and cities. In recent years, Michigan’s Regional Child Care Coalitions were tasked to identify challenges and solutions for gaps in local child care. Their findings echo our interview participants’ concerns: There are not enough places in their communities that take care of children while parents are at work. In Michigan, for every opening slot at a child care center, there are four children under 12 years old waiting. State leaders can expand child care access through business ownership coaching programs and grants for child care business owners in neighborhoods that currently have none or not enough to meet demand.  
• Pay child care workers more. Another barrier to the use of the PreK for All program is a lack of paid child care workers. The number of child care workers in Michigan declined from 2013 to 2023, largely due to low pay. Child care and preschool workers are devalued by an estimated average of $7,068 annually.⁶ Programs such as the Community Foundation for Muskegon County’s Welcome Home Scholarship, which offers $15,000 for new teachers who accept preschool or public school positions within Muskegon, could be replicated at the state level for underserved cities.  

Policy recommendations that support kids where they are through wraparound and trauma-informed services

• Fund wraparound, trauma-informed services in Black-majority neighborhoods. “Trauma-informed service” refers to programs that integrate behavioral care techniques to help people process trauma. After-school and summer programs are shown to improve educational outcomes and self-esteem for enrolled students while also increasing community safety. In historically disadvantaged communities such as Michigan’s Black-majority towns and neighborhoods, lower incomes and property values translate into less funding for public schools to offer extracurricular activities. Maryland offers a solution: Its Public School Opportunities Enhancement Grant Program pays for community programs through public schools and nonprofit organizations to help young people gain positive life skills.

Policy recommendations that support higher education institutions that act as community anchors, especially for jobs and innovation

• Fill gaps left by federal retrenchment, especially for relatively smaller schools. Recent federal cuts and terminations across an array of programs and agencies, including the Department of Education (DOE), are threatening fundamental operational dollars as well as research and workforce programs run by postsecondary institutions in Michigan and nationwide. The current estimated funding loss for Michigan schools is over $400 million just from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and the DOE, with spillover losses of more than $456 million and 2,000 jobs. Of the 15 public universities in the state, roughly half are in Black-majority cities or cities with a Black-majority neighborhood.⁷ An example of a postsecondary institution serving as a community anchor is Grand Valley State University outside Muskegon. In collaboration with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the city, the school runs the Muskegon Innovation Hub, which focuses on supporting local business startups through coaching, connecting entrepreneurs to resources, and providing funding assistance.

Policy recommendations that expand workforce development programs in collaboration with local businesses and postsecondary education institutions

• Create more workforce pipelines. Michigan’s workforce system is already top-ranked among states, with statewide and local programs investing in workers across educational attainment levels. But attention is needed to fill gaps for Black and Latino or Hispanic Michiganders. State leaders can work with community colleges, universities, and local businesses in cities with high unemployment rates by scaling up programs that help workers gain internships, apprenticeships, and job certifications.

Policy recommendations to ensure safe and effective re-entry of justice-impacted individuals to reduce recidivism

• Provide housing vouchers and housing placement programs for justice-involved individuals. A state-funded pilot program in Battle Creek and Ann Arbor is currently in effect to incentivize landlords through direct rental payments for previously incarcerated people. Programs like these need to be scaled up for more cities. Access to housing for justice-involved individuals is proven to reduce crime and recidivism by providing stability during re-entry, which is crucial in helping people find jobs and rebuild healthy community networks. Homelessness and incarceration are linked, and many advocates warn that without housing, the cycle from jails to the street and back again will continue.
• Ensure every justice-involved individual has state-issued identification immediately upon re-entry. Incarcerated people lose access to their personal identification upon re-entry. The state should work with its Department of Corrections and Department of Motor Vehicles to fix this structural barrier that keeps justice-involved people from accessing housing and employment. Recently, a Wayne County pilot program helped 20,000 people obtain IDs during re-entry, but they have a long way to go, with roughly 60% of incarcerated people still without IDs.
• Get rid of conviction exclusions or actively hire justice-involved individuals. Most employers are not “felon-friendly,” and those that are do so because of personal or moral incentives. Many justice-individuals, therefore, cannot find jobs, which leaves them vulnerable to recidivism. MichiganWorks!, a statewide workforce development program, offers insurance coverage for employers who hire justice-involved individuals, but more financial incentives for employers, especially across a wider variety of occupational sectors, are necessary to meet job demands.
• Create workforce programs for justice-involved individuals. Kalamazoo’s KPEP program partners with actors throughout the justice system to keep justice-involved individuals out of jail by offering alternatives via workforce development. Not only does this combat mass incarceration, but it also supports participants with additional services such as housing, cognitive behavioral therapy, substance abuse support, sexual abuse support, and GED preparation. Funding and expanding local-level programs that help justice-involved people find jobs can reduce recidivism and lead to community healing.
• Fund peer mentor programs. Advocates stress the importance of mentoring programs because the re-entry transition is both financially and culturally challenging. Across Michigan, programs such as Nation Outside—which has served over 2,200 participants—pair recently released individuals with justice-involved mentors. These programs offer trauma-informed support and help participants find jobs and housing, but they need financial support to scale up.

Advancing health equity through expanded access and services

Findings from our initial report on Michigan’s quality of life show that Michiganders in Black-majority cities and neighborhoods are living shorter lives than the average Michigander by roughly six years. Interview participants throughout the state reiterated the need for more equitable access to health care to live longer and support both physical and mental health.

Many interview participants described the physical health challenges their communities face from environmental pollution, food deserts, and the general lack of accessible facilities due to location and affordability.⁸ In particular, residents repeatedly cited disparities in Black maternal health, which is supported by reports that Black women in Michigan are 2.2 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. Overall, health care is worse for Black Michiganders, who report lower-quality care on 52% of care measures—ranking Michigan as the 10th-worst state for health care delivery for Black patients in a 2023 study.

In Benton Harbor, the Intercare Community Health Network fills health care access gaps by operating a general, women’s, and student health center, which provides medical, dental, and vision health services.⁹ Additionally, Access Health, a Muskegon nonprofit, works with small businesses across the county to offer cost-effective options for employee health insurance, which fills gaps for low-income residents who do not qualify for Medicaid. In Flint, interview participants highlighted the University of Michigan College of Health Sciences as an asset for offering free physical and occupational therapy for residents every Friday. State support for programs like these will be crucial to help all Michiganders live longer, healthier lives.

In Flint, almost every interview participant highlighted the Flint Farmers’ Market as not only a key community gathering space and business incubator, but also a key player in fighting food insecurity in the city.¹⁰ The Farmers’ Market is strategically located at the central drop-off point for city bus routes and operates year-round, hosting local vendors who offer healthy and fresh options, 25 of whom accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a part of the statewide Double Up Food Bucks program. Additionally, in Muskegon, Trinity Health, a local hospital, hosts an urban farm on an acre of land, offering fresh produce to low-income residents through their Farm Share Assistance program, which accepts SNAP benefit payments and requires participants to pick their own produce.

Lastly, community members frequently noted that mental health and substance abuse services were lacking. Residents saw these services as key to community well-being, but noted that these services were often not covered by insurance, lacking in supply, and culturally seen as secondary to physical health. Community members pointed to the impacts of historical disinvestment and violence on Black communities, which led to intergenerational trauma and manifested in social fracturing, increased violence toward women and children, and substance abuse. Additionally, increases in mental health treatment are linked to reductions in violent crime. Often, support for mental health challenges is offered by nonprofit organizations or grassroots community programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

Policy recommendations to increase access to physical health care services

• Fund Medicaid and SNAP. As of this report, federal changes to Medicaid and SNAP benefits are going to cost Michigan taxpayers due to the added administrative burdens of work-requirement enforcement and back-filling of coverage (the federal government previously covered 76% of Medicaid coverage in the state). These programs are disproportionately used by Black Michiganders: 25% compared to the Black population share of 15%. Roughly a quarter of all Michiganders rely on Medicaid and adjacent services, and the loss of this coverage will mean the access gaps in Black-majority places across the state are likely to grow.
• Increase access to healthy food sources. An essential component of longevity is access to and consumption of fresh and healthy food. In addition to residents of Black-majority places repeatedly complaining about a lack of grocery stores in their neighborhoods, many also spoke about the rising cost of everyday items, which disproportionately impacts low-income residents, especially alongside further limitations to SNAP benefits. Many current programs are made possible through local zoning policy changes. State legislatures should work with city and county officials to support zoning laws for the purpose of increasing access to commercial grocery stores, urban gardens, and farms. For example, earlier this year, Pennsylvania invested $500,000 in supporting new urban farms.

Policy recommendations to expand mental health and addiction services

• Build and fund more mental health and substance abuse care facilities. Most mental health and substance abuse facilities in Michigan are located in the southwest part of the state, in or around Detroit and Ann Arbor. But their presence is lacking in western Black-majority cities. Funding the creation and operation of these facilities, along with existing organizations in Black-majority places, will increase physical access and could help bring down the cost of mental health treatment. Current programs highlighted in our interviews include Every Woman’s Place, which counsels domestic and sexual violence survivors in Muskegon, and Integrated Services of Kalamazoo, a 24-hour behavioral health crisis center with a sliding fee program for uninsured participants.
• Train more Black social workers, therapists, and physicians to work in Black-majority cities. Due to historic and current discrimination in the medical field, there is a disparity in Black health providers and medical distrust throughout Black communities. Using incentives and expanding programs such as the Michigan Behavioral Health Internship Stipend Program would pay new medical school graduates to move to or stay in Michigan’s Black-majority cities. These incentives would help meet the current demand while fighting population declines. Increasing the share of Black providers would also improve workforce equity and build trust with Black patients to increase treatment utilization.

Conclusion

The policy recommendations offered in this report are holistic and interdependent. For example, increasing child care support is crucial for supporting parents and for workforce development, as many parents—particularly women—often must choose between job training, entrepreneurship, and child care responsibilities when proper support for the latter is not available. Similarly, homeownership is a key part of wealth-building, and justice-involved advocates highlight access to housing as a major component in fighting recidivism. Increasing quality of life for Black-majority communities in Michigan—and around the country—requires a multipronged, holistic approach, which this report offers. Michigan policymakers are therefore encouraged to use this report as a policy agenda backed by both data and Michiganders’ own insights.

To live a long and healthy life is a desire that resonates not just with residents of certain Michigan communities, but across the country. State leaders who want to ensure that every Michigander has the opportunity to pursue full, quality lives with both liberty and happiness should prioritize policy solutions that reflect their communities’ needs. The feedback from these Black-majority places reflects the needs of all Michiganders, but specifically highlights disparities in opportunity created through decades of disinvestment. These cities and neighborhoods are home to people who are proud of where they live, many of whom are descendants of people who dared to build better lives, and all of whom are daring to create better futures for themselves and their families.