“Health to me, is everything.” That’s Senior Program Officer Lydia Starrs’ approach to life and her work with the Community Foundation of Greater Flint. When she first started at the Foundation in 2017, she zeroed in on one area to help manage the Flint water crisis: community building. 

“My role was really to help build the capacity here to be engaged in community conversations around the water crisis response,” she says. In support of both SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being and SDG 6: Clean Water and sanitation, she then transitioned to health grantmaking work, particularly investments in the Flint Kids Fund, a 20-year response to mitigate the long-term impact to children’s health and development needs. 

“This community still feels in crisis,” Lydia says. Today, the strong-knit community is navigating replacing lead service lines and supporting those whose health has been impacted by toxic exposure. Impacted community members, including families, have not received their full settlement funds, and criminal trials are stagnant, she explains.  

Despite these challenges, one way the Foundation is fostering community building and trust is via Flint Lead Free. More than 30 members from public and private organizations can now track, report, and eliminate lead exposure in Flint. “There’s just a natural alignment there between the way that community foundations are trying to solve challenges in their communities, and the way that the SDG’s are trying to solve challenges,” she says.  

“We are always trying to meet the needs and rise to the challenge of the issues that are presented to us, and I think the SDGs are a really good way of having a framework that everyone can see themselves in,” Lydia adds. “Your work, your values, your hobbies, your interests, your expertise is connected to at least one [Global] Goal, if not multiple. … You can look at the targets and see where you’re already aligned, and then find ways to measure your progress as a community.” 

By Dynahlee Padilla-Vasquez, United Nations Foundation