Friends of Berston Field House

FRIEND OF BERSTON

An Overview

Formed:

Friends of Berston was formed in 2014 to continue offering the programs housed in the histosric Berston Field House when the City of Flint’s budgetary short-falls prevented the city from being able to provide the necessary funding to operate its community centers.

Non-Profit Status Received: October 17, 2014 (31954)

Mission Statement:

Enhancing the impact of Berston through quality education, athletics, The arts and comprehensive social programs.

Brief History of Berston Field House:

Berston was built in 1923 on land donated by members of the Neil J. Berston Sr. Family. Mr. Berston who moved to Flint, Michigan in 1897, had been a member of the Board of Water Commissioners of Flint, a member of the Directorate of the Industrial Savings Bank, and a land developer. He had developed the land surrounding Berston Field House from numerous plots of farmland he had purchased and plotted into lots. Berston Field House served as a community center for residents, and was the first center to become an integrated facility in the era of segregation. It has been granted the status of a State of Michigan Historic Building. Berston Field House continues to be a training center for notable athletes, its latest, Claressa Shields who is the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist in the field of Women’s Boxing.

Friends of Berston Board Members:

Madonna Bennett, Loren Crandell, Tonya Edwards, Louis Hawkins, Jackie Hopkson-Edmonds, Valorie Horton, Ron Hudson, Janice Karcher, Ed Kendall, Alvern Lock