Creating Safe Spaces for Play
“This is our area,” proclaims Lisia Williams, who volunteers her time each week to ensure that the newly redeveloped Clara Hilborn Park is clean and safe. The Northwestern graduate, and many family members, have lived in the area for over 50 years with a determination to create open, safe atmospheres for Flint children.
I wanted a place for my grandkids to play,” says Lisia. “As a child, I remember some of my best times playing in Wilkins Park.”
In 2018, six new playgrounds were developed in Flint, supported by a $134,000 grant from the Flint Kids Fund and the Bruno Mars Flint Water Crisis Fund. Clara Hilborn Park, located on Martin Luther King Avenue, got an even bigger facelift when the Bruno Mars Fund advised a grant for two new basketball courts and a tennis court.
Lisia is the official park tender at Clara Hilborn Park. A local nonprofit, Keep Genesee County Beautiful, works with local volunteers to help maintain all the newly developed parks — Farnumwood Park, Eldorado Vista Park, Cook Park and Dewey Park.
“It looked creepy before this,” she says. “People came together to rebuild the park and bring it back to life. My biggest goal is to open the fence line. It’s a long walk, but it can be done.”
Her positivity is infectious. She always encourages others to not get discouraged, but rather “showing up as a positive force.” “I just want to see change, a positive impact, and people smiling and having fun. In my childhood, we played. Seeing kids smile and having fun. Children enjoying
their youth, that keeps me motivated.”
Today, her 17 grandchildren are enjoying Clara Hilborn Park. And Lisia continues to stay busy, always planning something. She continues to cut away at the brush and trim the trees, opening up the site line so the park feels open and safe. “I want to show people when you do something, it’s a process. It’s not instant. You win a little, you lose, but you have to stay consistent.”
