Pledge Status
Active
Pledge Date
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Program Year
2026
Links and Uploads
View Links and UploadsAction Item Report
Community Spotlight
iNaturalist Project promotes Community Science
Residents are invited to share their observations of flora and fauna at Patterson Park by submitting photos to iNaturalist Project: Exploring Patterson Park! This data will help us track the park's biodiversity as we continue to add native plantings.
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Volunteer Work Days at Patterson
Volunteer work days at Patterson park, hosted by the Beautification Commission, will continue in 2026! Join us: April 11, May 9, June 13, July TBA
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Native Plant Sale Fundraiser
The GPP Beautification Commission is excited to partner with Michiganense Natives to host a Native Plant sale on Saturday, 5/30 from 9am - 1pm! A percentage of the proceeds will go toward adding more native plants to our community gardens.
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KMB Mini Grant for Children's Garden
The Patterson Park Garden club created a Children's Garden around the playscape last year, made possible by a grant from KMB, Inc. This year, an additional grant was received with the goal of adding more plantings as well as educational signage.
Action Items Committed for 2026
- Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.
- Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)
- Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
- Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
- Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters , other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
- Engage with Homeowners Associations (HOAs), Community Associations or neighborhood organizations to identify opportunities to plant monarch gardens and revise maintenance and mowing programs.
- Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
- Create a community-driven educational conservation strategy, initiative, or practice that focuses on and benefits local, underserved residents.
- Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
- Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
- Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
- Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants along roadsides, medians, or public rights-of-way.
- Launch or maintain an outdoor education program(s) (e.g., at schools, after-school programs, community centers and groups) that builds awareness and creates habitat by engaging students, educators, and the community in planting native milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Schoolyard Habitats program and Monarch Mission curriculum).
- Earn or maintain recognition for being a wildlife-friendly city by participating in other wildlife and habitat conservation efforts (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program).
- Host or support a monarch neighborhood challenge to engage neighborhoods and homeowners' associations within the community to increase awareness, support community unity around a common mission, and/or create habitat for the monarch butterfly.
- Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health.
- Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar-producing plants in gardens in the community.
- Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitat for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
- Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.
- Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).
- Reduce or eliminate the use of herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals that are harmful to monarchs and pollinators and urban wildlife.
Past Pledge Archive
| Mayor Name | Program Year | Pledge Date | Achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor Michele Hodges | 2026 | 1/22/2026 | View Pledge | |
| Mayor Michele Hodges | 2025 | 1/24/2025 | Leadership Circle | View Pledge |
| Mayor Michele Hodges | 2024 | 2/4/2024 | Leadership Circle | View Pledge |
| Mayor Michele Hodges | 2023 | 3/8/2023 | Leadership Circle | View Pledge |
