Cleo Kesidis

Washtenaw County is receiving more than $16 million over 18 years through national opioid settlements. The funds aim to strengthen local prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery efforts.  To learn how this money is being used on the ground, the Washtenaw Health Initiative spoke with two organizations that received funding: Dawn Farm and Eastern Michigan … Read more

Washtenaw County is home to a diverse and growing immigrant population. Immigrants contribute significantly to the county’s economic vitality, cultural richness, and community life. However, recent reports from the Washtenaw County Health Department highlight persistent health disparities that disproportionately affect both immigrant communities and maternal and infant health outcomes. Two recent reports released by the … Read more

A Growing Opportunity  Washtenaw County’s older adult population continues to grow at a steady rate. According to 2024 U.S. Census data, adults aged 65 and older now make up 16.7 percent of the county’s population. That number is expected to rise significantly in the coming years, with estimates showing that one in four residents could … Read more

When the WHI shifted its focus to investigating how our community could better integrate health and social services, there was an air of uncertainty lingering from the beginning. Kicking off at the December stakeholders meeting that closed out 2024, discussions among many of our stakeholders tried to predict what federal and state funding for types … Read more

Federal funding cuts are beginning to ripple through communities across the country — and while residents of Washtenaw County have seen these storms before, local leaders say the scale and timing of these cuts could pose challenges unlike any in recent years.  Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) are top of … Read more

The Washtenaw Health Initiative along with our stakeholder organizations have spent recent months tracking the potential impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – the name given to the 2025 Federal Budget Reconciliation Bill. The Act, signed into law by President Trump on July 4, 2025, includes large reductions in spending and key changes … Read more