The Saginaw Community Foundation (SCF) offers good luck and great success to Mission In The City on their first annual Unity for the Community Golf Outing.
SCF is extremely proud of the work that Rev. Rufus Bradley and New Life Ministries has completed on Saginaw’s east side. In a neglected area of Saginaw, surrounded by empty lots and abandoned houses, Pastor Bradley saw something. It wasn’t overgrown weeds or broken glass, it was potential. Once a vision, and now a reality. A true model for others to follow.
It’s not often when a neighborhood takes matters into their own hands, and that’s exactly what happened with Mission In The City. To take it upon themselves to survey the community to identify the most pressing needs, and when recreation rose to the top of the list, the church went to work.
It was amazing to see how Pastor Bradley and his team utilized existing resources and relationships, established new resources and relationships, and taught themselves how to write grants and secure funds. And, through their hard work and dedication they created a park that features two full-sized basketball courts with bleachers to seat approximately 70 people, a picnic pavilion and a quarter-mile paved walking track. The best part is that the park is staffed by volunteers and open to the public daily from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., provides a clean, safe, family-friendly environment. And, since the park has been open there has been zero discipline or vandalism incidents.
In 2013, the Saginaw Community Foundation was proud to award $30,000 to Mission In The City to provide curriculum driven playground equipment for children ages 2-5. This was a wonderful addition for the younger children in the community to learn while playing.
I applaud Mission In The City for attending to the needs of their community. And, I thank those community partners from the City of Saginaw, Saginaw County, Saginaw Police Department, Health Delivery, and many others for assisting with these efforts and helping a vision become reality.
Reneè S. Johnston
Saginaw Community Foundation
President & CEO