This mom turned a run-down park into a neighborhood haven!

Shareka and Michael Howard were shocked and heartbroken when they moved and found the neighborhood park strewn with trash and broken equipment. Kids need a safe place to play, Shareka thought...and made it her mission to give them one!

- Bill Holton

Let’s go on the swings first!” 7-year-old Michael Jr. told his 8-year-old sister, Shiann, as they approached Windiate Park with their parents, Michael and Shareka Howard, one day in 2012. The Howards had just moved from North Flint, Michigan, to the southside, where Michael Sr. grew up, and he was looking forward to playing with the kids on the same playground where he’d spent many happy hours.

But arriving at the park, the family was left aghast by what they discovered. 

“Look at that!” Shareka gestured at the childless playground where she couldn’t even see the grass beneath discarded trash and furniture, along with broken glass and needles.

“This is not the same park I played in,” Michael Sr. said sadly, seeing graffiti and broken basketball hoops.

“Kids need a clean, safe place to play outside,” Shareka told Michael. “We need to fix this.”

The big cleanup

The next day, Shareka returned to the park with her mom, Sheila Weston, and her siblings and a box of trash bags. They worked for hours, filling all the bags to the brim, and they barely made a dent.

The following day, there was even fresh garbage, but Shareka and the others refused to give up, and dug back in. “Why are you even trying?” strangers asked.

“Kids need to be able to play outside,” Shareka explained, and eventually many of their new neighbors even offered to help and people stopped dropping off new garbage on the site.