Cleo Kesidis

Washtenaw County is one of just 12 of Michigan’s 83 counties with an Overdose Fatality Review Team.  Formed in 2023, this multidisciplinary team–with representatives from the public health department, medical examiner’s office, criminal legal justice system, substance use disorder treatment community, and more–meets every other month. Each time, they review and discuss overdose fatalities. The … Read more

Loving someone who is struggling with addiction can be an incredibly painful and lonely experience. “Watching someone you love go through addiction is one of the hardest things someone can experience, because there are so many unknowns,” says Wendy Klinski, clinical director of Home of New Vision in Ann Arbor.  “Family and friends live day … Read more

In December, the Washtenaw community voted to award the 2023 Collaborative Health Impact Award to the Behavioral Health Collaborative for Young Black Men & Boys. Funded by the Michigan Health Endowment, the project is a collaboration between Packard Health and the University of Michigan School of Social Work Curtis Center for Health Equity’s Young Black … Read more

The WHI’s Opioid Project partnered with the Washtenaw Recovery Advocacy Project (WRAP), a program of Home of New Vision, to bring the annual Opioid Summit back to an in-person format. Hosted on September 20th at Washtenaw Community College’s Morris Lawrence Building, the summit drew over 80 participants representing dozens of local organizations committed to ending … Read more

We are delighted to announce that CHRT has been awarded a grant from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation to develop and disseminate a report on Non-Emergency Medical Transportation (NEMT). The funding will support a comprehensive review of relevant policies and practices of NEMT. This project evolved from the work the WHI Healthy Aging Collaborative … Read more

On October 18, Washtenaw Health Initiative (WHI) stakeholders selected the inaugural winner of the WHI’s Collaborative Health Impact Award. The award was developed to honor the 10th anniversary of the WHI. It recognizes collaborations with a significant and positive impact on community health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Five health improvement collaborations were nominated: hoteling those … Read more

In the first three months of 2021, the Washtenaw Continuum of Care (CoC) used a new program to help 23 individuals and 13 families avoid homelessness.  The average cost per individual was $73. Just one night in an emergency shelter would have cost about $85. “We’re very excited,” says Andrew Kraemer, CoC data and evaluation … Read more