FLINT, Mich. — Deborah Murphy has been vigilant in her fight against blight in her neighborhood, so much so that she keeps the blinds up on one side of her home. The exposed windows give her a clear view of a nearby corner where illegal dumping routinely occurs.
“My son used to cut [the lawn] up there,” Murphy said, pointing toward the corner near the newly-planted trees. “I think they were dumping because they knew whoever’s calling gets it cleaned up.” She recalled how he often called to report illegal dumping.
Murphy, the mother of the late Councilman Quincy Murphy, an outspoken advocate against blight, has stayed on the frontlines of neighborhood cleanup efforts to carry on his legacy.
Now, a new tree-planting initiative is joining her in that fight.
In August 2023, Murphy hosted a neighborhood gathering in her driveway, where a group of residents named the effort the “Industrial Environmental Impact Project,” a nod to its environmental focus and proximity to Industrial Avenue.
At the end off 2022 and beginning of 2023, the Ruth Mott Foundation pulled together a group of local stakeholders to talk about new ways to tackle blight in Flint neighborhoods.
Those early conversations led to the creation of the Non-Structural Blight Work Group, made up of Third Ward residents, the Genesee Conservation District, Genesee County Land Bank Authority, City of Flint, Neighborhood Engagement Hub and Crime Stoppers of Flint and Genesee County.
Neighbors, volunteers and local organizations planted 1,600 native trees across approximately 50 vacant lots in north Flint, part of a three-year campaign led by the Genesee Conservation District. The work took place between April 28 and May 2, 2025, aiming to transform overgrown, trash-strewn spaces into a greener, more resilient landscape.
The lots are located along Pierson Road, Lomita Avenue, Marengo Avenue, Philadelphia Avenue, Baltimore Avenue and Wager Street, between North Street and Industrial Avenue.
“If I see them dumping, I will ride up there and say, ‘What are you doing?’ Or holler up there, or whatever, as fast as I can get up there, because go dump it somewhere else,” she said.
The project is funded by $250,000 from the Consumers Energy Foundation and $15,000 from The Conservation Fund.
“Quincy Murphy, inspired [the project],” said Executive Director of Genesee Conservation District, Angela Warren. “He was a big proponent of addressing non-structural blight in Flint and especially in ward three, where there is a lot of it.”
Murphy owns several lots on the street and keeps them mowed and clean. She also regularly picks up trash around the area. “I’ve been here since 1970, and it wasn’t like this because you still had houses up,” she said. “I love it because it’s quiet. It wasn’t when I first moved here, because we had more houses, but I just don’t like the dumping.”
Non-structural blight includes invasive species, overgrown vegetation and trash. The goal of the project is to address this and to reintroduce natural beauty to parts of the Third Ward that have suffered from neglect.
Today, many of the homes are gone, replaced by unbroken stretches of vacant lots that can invite crime and bring down property values.
Identifying and securing the project sites took time. They spent considerable time using the Flint Property Portal, an online tool with detailed data on 56,000 Flint properties, looking for neighboring lots in a several block area to maximize their impact.
Also working with the Land Bank to adopt the properties, and the seasonal nature of the work took time.
“We landed on these sites because they were the worst of the worst in the city that we could find that were publicly owned,” Warren said.
Five acres of land are being cleared of invasive species like tree of heaven, buckthorn and Japanese knotweed.
Cleanup efforts, including fence removal and mowing, were led by project manager Karri Tomich-Baylis. She said community feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
“Every time I’m out there, someone’s stopping by and asking like or commenting like, Oh, you’re doing really great work,” Tomich-Baylis said. “Removing the invasive species and the dead trees, dead growth, the trash cleanup, has definitely drastically changed the lots.”
The trees—sycamores, oaks, maples, catalpas and flowering redbuds—were chosen with input from the community and an arborist.
“We’re planting all native Michigan trees, which are a bit hardier than most of the other trees that have been planted in the past in the City of Flint,” said Tomich-Baylis. “They are great at absorbing water when there’s a lot of rainfall and additionally, they provide bird habitats.”
The team avoided fruit-bearing trees to reduce maintenance and prevent pest attraction. Trees were planted in straight rows for safety and visibility, with guidance from Crime Stoppers to deter illegal activity.
“If it looks like activity is happening there, that somebody cares about it, that something is growing and it’s not growing over like overgrowth … our hope is obviously that it dissuades [illegal dumping],” said Warren.
To ease residents’ concerns, the trees are being planted away from sidewalks to prevent root damage. Organizers expect the lots to attract birds, squirrels and rabbits—not pests.
While not tied to a formal redevelopment plan, the trees are intended to remain unless future development requires their removal. This year, the Genesee Conservation District will maintain the lots, with long-term care expected to transition to the Land Bank or City of Flint.