Author

Estelle Slootmaker

Estelle Slootmaker's Latest Articles

Aisha Sanders, owner and creator of Wicksup Candle Co. in Oak Park, explains the candle making process to a Food and Friendship Connections group.
Program brings friendship, needed resources to older adults living with HIV in Detroit and Lansing

Seventy-five Detroit- and Lansing-area residents have benefited from a pilot program called Food and Friendship Connections, which offers meals, transportation, and community for older adults living with HIV.

Mental Health First Aid
Mental Health First Aid helps people experiencing symptoms and crises

Mental Health First Aid prepares people to assist somebody who's experiencing a mental health crisis or beginning to experience signs and symptoms of a mental health challenge.

Breastfeeding education materials at the Black Mothers' Breastfeeding Association in Detroit.
Michigan’s breastfeeding networks educate parents, address disparities, advocate for parent rights

Support networks for breastfeeding parents are helping more little Michiganders get their best start in life.

Upper Peninsula program helps moms with opioid use disorder have healthier pregnancies

The program's goal is to identify and address the social determinant of health needs that create barriers for women with opioid use disorder.

Jenifer Murray, a contracted grant coordinator with Munson Healthcare, works on programs for new parents in her office.
Northern Michigan works to build supportive services for parents in “maternity care deserts”

Many in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula live in areas with a serious lack of resources, facilities, and practitioners for pregnant people, new parents, and infants.

be nice. business training.
be nice. business program boosting mental health in Michigan’s workplaces

The Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan’s be nice. business program brings mental health to the workplace.

Susan Sheppard, COO of Arbor Circle, which recently facilitated a statewide collaboration to better support medically fragile foster children.
Michigan project highlights needs of medically fragile foster children

A recent collaboration is working to address the many challenges faced by medically fragile foster children, who may live with chronic disorders or developmental disabilities.

Third-grade students at Neinas Dual Language Learning Academy in Detroit trying a yummy fruity roll-up tasting.
Detroit Public Schools Community District Farm-to-School initiatives grow through SNAP-Ed

The DPSCD Farm-to-School initiative increases the amounts of locally grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes used in school breakfasts and lunches.

Berrien County Health Officer Guy Miller, Corewell Health South Medical Group and Continued Care Vice President Melinda Gruber, and Region IV Area Agency on Aging CEO Christine Vanlandingham at the Berrien County Health Department.
Here’s how a collaboration in Southwest Michigan helped older adults avoid hospitalization for COVID

Health care providers repackaged existing community services that enabled older adults to stay in their homes if they came down with COVID, or return home more quickly if they were hospitalized.

Tina Swanton, Michigan Health Improvement Alliance (MiHIA) executive director of community impact and strategic partnerships, and MiHIA CEO Heidi Tracy at Hidden Harvest and East Side Soup Kitchen in Saginaw.
Despite agricultural hub, Michigan’s Thumb has high food insecurity. Can collaboration change that?

The Michigan Health Improvement Alliance is taking a new approach to addressing food insecurity in the 14 heavily agricultural counties it serves in central and eastern Michigan.

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