James Milanowski, Community Investigator 
Heatherlun Uphold, Academic Investigator
The Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions harnesses the collective energy, expertise, and commitments of local stakeholders to create the infrastructure to support sustainable health equity solutions through the Center.
Core Academic Faculty and their community partners bring significant research and practical expertise in health equity efforts, behavioral health interventions and epidemiology, geography and the effects of built environment on health, and physical fitness and healthy eating in economically distressed, minority-majority communities.
The existing Consortium Partners were involved in the design of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions from conception and the Center is a reflection of the Flint community’s deep desire for health equity solutions for their communities. The community’s outstanding commitment is matched by The Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSU CHM) who is playing a central role in addressing the public health challenges facing Flint and other disparate population across the State. MSU CHM is wholly committed to the success of this Center. MSU CHM launched its Division of Public Health in Flint in February, 2014.
The Flint Center for Health Equity (FCHES) is housed in the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine Division of Public Health.
National Institutes of Health
The Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions (FCHES) a National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)-funded Transdisciplinary Collaborative Center (TCC) for Health Disparities Research on Chronic Disease Prevention within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)-defined Region 5, specifically focused on Flint, with broader implications from the work we do across the state, Region 5 and the nation.
Local Partners
Michigan State University (MSU) Co-Lead Consortium Partner The Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (MSU-CHM) is a community-based medical school and division of public health that provides clinical practice, undergraduate and graduate medical education, and research with local hospitals, physicians, other health care providers and community organizations. With a focus on population health from its home base – the College of Human Medicine’s Flint campus allows our faculty and researchers to understand the assets and needs of the community while studying Flint’s most pressing public health issues.
American Muslim Community Services (AMCS) is working to make Genesee County and the city of Flint a thriving and welcoming community. AMCS focuses on community-based efforts including education, increasing healthcare equity, and providing food aid. The goal is to be the voice of cooperation and understanding to make a difference in the community. A core principle of the AMCS is including a strong service component in projects and initiatives to build future leaders by supporting experiential learning through a community service commitment in their education.
City of Flint: Health Advisor from the mayor’s office will provide linkages, support, and expertise and the promotion of the FCHES and in collaborative efforts. The health advisor to the mayor is a position created post-Flint Water Crisis in effort to assist and meet the needs of Flint residents in the recovery process from a public health perspective.
Community Outreach for Families and Youth (COFY) Center is a faith-based 501(c) 3 whose missionis to be a resource for the Flint community, workingtoward obtaining economic prosperity by providingstrategic education and training interventions.
Community-Based Organization Partners (CBOP) Co- Lead Consortium Partner is a community based organization partnership whose overarching goal is to establish “The Community” as a recognized institution in equitable collaborative partnerships. CBOP is an umbrella organization of over 40 community based organizations in Flint/Genesee County, MI. It served as the forerunner of the National Community Based Organization Network (NCBON).
Flint Odyssey House is a non-profit treatment facility providing client-centered substance use and mental health treatment for men, women and families.
Genesee County Health Department coordinates public health and prevention services for Genesee County, which includes Flint.
Genesee County Hispanic Latino Collaborative Centro Informativo La Placita Information Center aims to advocate the Hispanic-Latino populations in Genesee County in the areas of education, cultural awareness, and social needs. A current project is the Hispanic Latino Needs Assessment, which focuses on finding the needs of the Hispanic-Latino community. Although the need for water resources is known, the Hispanic Latino Needs Assessment hopes to learn more about the medical and insurance needs. Strengths of the organization include local and national connections, which help the community with different resources.
Genesee County Land Bank is a non-profit whose mission is to restore value to the Flint community by acquiring, developing, and selling vacant and abandoned properties in cooperation with stakeholders who value responsible land ownership.
Greater Flint Health Coalition is a 501(c) 3 non-profit healthcare coalition where healthcare providers and purchasers, consumers, insurers, and educators meet regularly to discuss and act on community health needs. All 3 area hospitals and city community mental health/substance use services participate.
Hamilton Community Health Network is a Medical Home, offering comprehensive healthcare services including adult and pediatric primary care, dentistry, obstetrics, gynecology, mental health, podiatry, pharmacy and vision services.
Latinos United for Flint was formed on June 6, 2016. It is comprised of several organizations, agencies, non-profits, and faith based institutions who are working together to assist the Hispanic/Latinos, documented and undocumented in Flint during the current water crisis. The goal of this group is to assist in areas of health services, immigration issues, education, nutrition, housing issues, and cultural awareness through language, art, music and dance.
Mayor Sheldon Neeley, City of Flint.
National Center for African American Health Consciousness (NCAAHC) is a non-profit organization that looks at the overall health of the African American community. The NCAAHC focuses at the individual level to impact collective thinking through “Dialogues for Health”. The key elements of the three model frameworks, The Health Belief Model, The Trans theoretical Stages of Change Model, and Community Based Participatory Research are used for processes to assist in raising the level of consciousness and improved behavior that will address and reduce health disparities within the African American community.
Spectacle Productions has a history of grass roots advocacy, mobilization and public platforms. Over the past 25 years, the organization has provided thousands of hours of community meetings, events and activities to Flint and its surround communities. One of its projects, “The Road To Awareness”, was a series of multimedia public service announcements designed to increase knowledge of diabetes among locals and media. Spectacle Production prides in its involvement in Flint Juneteenth Celebration, Public Access Television and WFOV Our Voice radio.
University of Michigan-Flint is a Flint-based university with > 8,000 students. The FCHES consortium will partner with the School of Health Professions and Studies.
Wellness AIDS services is a Flint non-profit that delivers HIV and STD prevention and care, with outreach to hard-to-reach individuals in need of substance use recovery support services (for example, through needle exchange programs).
National Partners
NAACP National Office is a civil rights organization for ethnic minorities in the United States. Our mission is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. The NAACP is committed to eliminating the racial and ethnic inequities that exist within our health care system that undermine communities of color their life opportunities and their ability to contribute fully to the common good.
National Collaborative for Health Equity Founded in 2014, the National Collaborative was established to promote health equity through action, leadership, inclusion, and collaboration. Health equity, in our view, requires creating the conditions that foster the best possible health for all populations, regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or nativity. It requires us to actively measure and improve conditions for health and well-being, including those related to housing, education, income and wealth, and the physical and social environment. And it requires us to correct historic and contemporary injustices and inequities in these dimensions that are often brought about by racism operating at structural, institutional, and interpersonal levels.