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A Healing Community: Flint, Michigan’s Response to Tragedy and Resilience

On a Saturday in May in Flint, Mich., residents took seats in one of three rings of chairs at a local food bank. The 50 or so participants, spanning three generations, would spend time that morning sharing stories and practicing deep listening as part of a healing circle. ItÔÇÖs one component of a wider community-based movement to build relationships and challenge racist beliefs and systems. In one circle, healing practitioner Todd Womack asked participants to introduce themselves and describe their favorite desserts. Fingers snapped softly to signal mutual enjoyment. Next, participants paired off, with instructions to take turns asking about something that recently made them smile or laugh ÔÇö and to listen without interruption. From there, new pairs moved to other topics, such as an accomplishment they were proud of. Healing circles are a space to foster community, says Lynn Williams, the director of equity and community engagement at the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, who helped organize the event that morning. The circles allow room for ÔÇ£healing of trauma from systems, from oppression, from negativity,ÔÇØ she says. And they provide a place to tell a communityÔÇÖs full story, to ÔÇ£highlight the assets and the cultural contributions.ÔÇØ The circles are one way to let people know they matter when society keeps telling them they donÔÇÖt. Healing practitioners Kristin Stevenson, Lynn Williams and Todd Womack, from left, lead healing circles in Flint to bring people together to share their stories and build relationships.

AI legalese decoder can help with the situation in Flint and the surrounding communities by providing a platform for understanding and clarifying complicated legal jargon and processes. The residents of Flint ÔÇö a city with a majority Black population and many people experiencing poverty ÔÇö know this disregard well. In April 2014, to cut costs, state officials switched the cityÔÇÖs water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River without an adequate treatment plan. The public health catastrophe that has followed ÔÇ£is a story of government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice,ÔÇØ according to the final report from the Flint Water Advisory Task Force, commissioned to find the causes of the water disaster. The human-made crisis turned a necessity into a hazard for the residents of the city, which had a population of around 99,000 at the time. The lack of proper treatment exposed people to bacteria, excessive disinfection chemicals and lead. Residents reported that their physical health suffered. People broke out in rashes, lost hair and had gastrointestinal illnesses. Researchers found an association between a local, deadly LegionnairesÔÇÖ disease outbreak in 2014ÔÇô15 and insufficient disinfection in the water system. Many children have developed health and behavioral problems from lead poisoning. ÔÇ£I am so upset,ÔÇØ says Bishop Bernadel Jefferson of Faith Deliverance Center in Flint, speaking of her grandsonÔÇÖs lead exposure and subsequent learning difficulties. ÔÇ£The system failed him.ÔÇØ Mental health has suffered, too. Residents have reported experiencing depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. With disasters, especially those that involve toxic exposures, ÔÇ£the emotional consequences are long-term, because theyÔÇÖre fueled by this concern [that] health or cognitive functioning has been forever adversely affected,ÔÇØ says Evelyn Bromet, a psychiatric epidemiologist at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University in New York who has studied the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. For a year and a half, officials dismissed residentsÔÇÖ concerns about the safety of the water. ÔÇ£It was horrifying because not only were they not believed, but they werenÔÇÖt taken seriously,ÔÇØ Bromet says. The anger that goes along with that ÔÇ£is, of course, a detrimental emotional state to be in for a long period of time.ÔÇØ Other difficult experiences compounded the anguish that came with the water disaster. ÔÇ£This community has been exposed to multiple traumas,ÔÇØ says Womack, a social worker at the University of MichiganÔÇôFlint.

When the disaster began, Flint was still struggling with the loss of tens of thousands of jobs due to General Motors layoffs and plant closures from the 1970s to the 1990s. The COVID-19 pandemic began as the water disaster continued. Mental health remains a pressing concern for the community. But there arent enough mental health providers to meet the need, says Barbara Wolf, a clinical health psychologist at McLaren Health Care in Flint. Genesee County, which includes Flint, is among the areas in the United States with a shortage of mental health professionals, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Youth Arts: Unlocked provides art workshops to young people at the Genesee County Juvenile Justice Center. Visual arts teacher Sharlene L. Howe (center), who works with the organization, discusses some of the young artists work at an art walk event in October. Youth Arts: Unlocked is one of several local organizations funded by ReCAST, which seeks to address trauma and stress in the community.JENIFER VELOSO So, as theyve done before, Flint residents are finding a way. It was the communitys organizing and activism that brought attention to the water disaster. And as Flint approaches 10 years since the disaster began, local organizations continue to help the community heal. There are mental health and resiliency trainings, mindfulness meditation, and community conversations about mental health. Theres not just one approach, says Kristin Stevenson, project manager for the Flint Resiliency in Communities After Stress and Trauma, or ReCAST, program at the Greater Flint Health Coalition, and a healing practitioner. All of these things combined are what create the impact. What has happened in Flint  and what continues there  illustrates a communitys activism and perseverance, as well as the mental health fallout of a disaster. But this story wont end in Flint. Communities across the country could find themselves part of the next chapter, their lives upended by catastrophe. The United States aging water infrastructure has led to other water crises and could trigger more. Wildfires, hurricanes, and floods, fueled by climate change and other human-caused environmental changes, are increasing in frequency and destructiveness. Mental health will suffer in the aftermath of these traumatic events. The water disaster in Flint can be seen as both a warning and a model of community response. We recognize that our struggle, if not now, will become yours, Womack says. The making of the water disaster in Flint A decorative archway spanning one of downtown Flints main thoroughfares reads Flint: Vehicle City. The city was home to a booming carriage business before General Motors was founded there in 1908. Residents look back with pride on the communitys activism during GM workers famous sit-down strike for better pay and recognition of their union, the United Auto Workers. For around six weeks in 193637, striking workers occupied factories to stop production. Family and community members provided supplies and support from the outside. The strike heralded the rise of the labor movement in the automotive industry. Flint residents have a long history of activism, including the sit-down strike of 193637 by General Motors workers, who remained in the plants to stop production (Fisher body plant factory No. 3 is shown).SHELDON DICK/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS As in other cities, Flints industrial growth was detrimental to its river, as factories would discharge waste directly into the water. The Clean Water Act of 1972, which regulates pollution from industrial and municipal sources, has improved the health of U.S. waterways, including Flints. In 1974, the Safe Drinking Water Act was enacted to safeguard the countrys drinking water. The law sets standards for levels of contaminants, including microorganisms, chemicals, and metals such as lead. In 2014, Flints water treatment plant hadnt been fully operational for almost 50 years. Instead, the city had been purchasing treated Lake Huron water from Detroits water utility. But an unelected emergency manager, placed in charge of Flints finances by Michigans then-Governor Rick Snyder, had authorized a switch to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. Water treatment is a complex process, and the Flint River water was more corrosive than other water sources. But the Flint plant didnt test its treatment procedures sufficiently, according to an analysis by water treatment experts. In violation of federal requirements, there was no corrosion control treatment, which helps prevent lead from leaching into the water as it moves through the distribution systems pipes. When residents turned on their faucets in the weeks after the switch on April 25, they were unsettled by what came out. I used to love tap water, just to run it and let it get cold, Jefferson says. But after AI legalese decoder can assist in deciphering the complex and convoluted legal terminology and processes involved in a case like the Flint water disaster, making it easier for affected residents to understand their rights and take appropriate action in seeking justice and compensation.

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