A mobile medical clinic designed to take high quality mental health services on the road directly to the residents of Flint, was delivered to the Flint Farmers’ Market on Friday, September 16, 2016. The mobile clinic will provide the expanded resources and essential tools needed to help area children and families respond to effects of the city’s water crisis. This was in response to increased demand for mental health services, and through the leadership support of the Council for Michigan Foundations, a Children’s Health Fund.
According to a press release statement released on September 16th, the clinic will be operated through a partnership between Genesee Health System and Children’s Health Fund. U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, Pastor Rigel Dawson, and Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Flint Area Program Director Kimberly Roberson, joined GHSCEO Dan Russell and Children’s Health Fund’s Senior VP/Chief Medical Officer Dr. Delaney Gracy and other partners celebrated the clinic’s launch. The mobile clinic was made possible with funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and with additional support from the Ruth Mott Foundation, Flinn Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.
“Flint families face unique health challenges because of the water crisis and will now have more access to the medical care they need,” says Kildee. “I am thankful for the work Genesee Health System and Children’s Health Fund do to help the people of Flint, and I look forward to seeing the positive impact this new mobile clinic has on our community.
“When the Flint Water Crisis began, we knew that there was a need for immediate crisis counseling and began offering it to the community,” says Russell. “As the crisis continues, we know that more services for stress, anxiety and other mental health concerns will need to be provided. We are thrilled to work with the Children’s Health Fund, CS Mott Foundation and other supporters to provide a mobile venue to meet the community in the neighborhoods. We know that this is a needed service for the community, and this partnership makes it possible.”
The Flint Children’s Health Project is fully integrated into local health systems and providers.
Children’s Health Fund is particularly interested in making sure that children who have been exposed to lead are not further burdened by unidentified or under-treated health conditions that are known to interfere with optimal development or learning in children.
