FLINT, Mich. – On April 25, 2014, a fateful button was pressed that began the Flint water crisis, the signature environmental and public health disaster of our time. Six years later, and during the city’s long-term recovery, Flint is now reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, another public health crisis.
The anniversary of the Flint water crisis allows for the opportunity to reflect on lessons learned and renew our commitment towards recovery.
With striking parallels to the current public health emergency, the lessons from the Flint water crisis reiterate the importance of public health-focused leadership, respect of science and scientists, investments in public health infrastructure, and the need to be prevention-focused. And like most public health disasters, the Flint water crisis included, there is an increased recognition that as much as we are “all in this together,” specific communities disproportionately bear more significant disparities.
Flint has taken these lessons to heart and has been blazing a path forward. Through community-driven collective action, multiple efforts have been working around the clock to ensure Flint residents are getting the help and support they need.
In response, Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital came together under the leadership of Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha in early January 2016 to form the Pediatric Public Health Initiative (PPHI). A science-based and community-participatory effort, the PPHI was created with the primary goal of improving the lives of Flint children and serving as a center of excellence for similarly-impacted communities.
Flint Registry Team
The Flint Registry is one of the projects under PPHI, created to connect those affected by the crisis to health services and programs to mitigate the impact of the Flint water crisis.
Director of the Flint Registry, epidemiologist Dr. Nicole Jones, says the Flint Registry started as just an idea but eventually became a reality thanks to the Flint community coming together.
“We spent a lot of time working within the community just to listen to people, just to hear what it is there needs were and how we could pull off this project in a way that supports their needs,” said Jones.
“Every piece that we have put in place, we tried to reflect the feedback that we received from the community,” said Jones.
Alice Barnett, who oversees the Flint Registry referrals, was one of the first people to join the project. Now, the Flint Registry has a Flint-based staff of nearly 50 dedicated individuals.
When Barnett started, she was drawn to the project because of the potential it had to impact the Flint community positively, in which she lives.
“What made me want to be a part of the planning and building the Flint Registry is I wanted to be part of something positive that was going to promote recovery and resiliency in the Flint community,” she said. “When I was told this was a service registry and we were going to not only administer surveys but use that information to connect people to resources and to share information and to possibly in the future advocate for additional services per survey data, I knew I wanted to be a part of it,” she said.
As of April 20, 2020, over 27,700 participants have pre-enrolled, and 9,900 participants have completed their survey. Over 7,100 referrals to critical public health support services have been made, meaning thousands of people have been connected to services they may not have known they were eligible for without the Flint Registry.
“Like the logo of the Flint Registry, the Sankofa bird, our collective and community-driven work is all about striving towards a brighter tomorrow, while acknowledging the past, most importantly, prioritizing our Flint children and generations of children to come.” @MonaHannaA pic.twitter.com/a1jiAZu66z
— Flint Registry (@FlintRegistry) April 26, 2019
“There’s been a lot of work that has gone into it, a lot of discussions a lot of meetings, a lot of long hours and late nights, but to see where we are now, fully staffed, fully engaging with our participants and being able to send out referrals and get people contacted and connected, it’s truly awesome. We’ve come a long way, and I’ll be honest. It’s been a part of my healing,” Barnett said.
It has been a long six-year journey from the beginning of the water crisis until today, with the added setback and trauma of the current pandemic. However, efforts like the Flint Registry have proven to be a critical part of Flint’s public health infrastructure – not only supporting Flint residents in response to the water crisis, but also during our current public health crisis.
Join the thousands!
To enroll and learn more, visit flintregistry.org, email flintregistry@hc.msu.edu, or call (833) GO-FLINT. The fastest and most common way to enroll is online! Flint Registry staff look forward to hearing from you!
About the Flint Registry
The Flint Registry is supported by a four-year grant #NUE2EH001370 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Environmental Health to Michigan State University College of Human Medicine’s Division of Public Health.