Research suggests that when we express gratitude — in different ways, both privately or publicly — we’re taking part in an activity that supports our mental health. By and large, gratitude helps us recognize the “bigger picture” and remind us, even in small ways, why we do the work we do. Gratitude sustains and supports us, even when we are faced with barriers and challenges.
Here at the Flinn Foundation, we are so grateful for the work of our partners to increase and sustain the scope, quality and delivery of mental health services in Michigan. To learn a little more about what our partners feel grateful for, we reached out and asked them. We included a few Flinn board members, too.
Read what they have shared and take a moment to consider what you feel grateful for in 2023. Reach out to your networks and share! It’s a practice that is good for everyone.
Autism Alliance of Michigan (AAoM) has expanded our statewide outreach to connect with more families living with autism. We have provided almost 50% more trainings, educational forums and connections to our navigator service. Our challenge is always limited resources and funding to reach every person and family living with autism in Michigan.
Colleen Allen, President and CEO, Autism Alliance of Michigan
Mariners Inn broke ground on an 84-unit development for permanent supportive housing and recovery housing. The project is called The Anchor. More than anything else, I would like anyone who has the opportunity to view these responses, that without the support of the Flinn Foundation and their belief in us to deliver the type of mental health services necessary to help people recover, Mariners Inn would not be as successful in the delivery of those services.
David Sampson, CEO, Mariners Inn
We are grateful that we have grown in our community. We believe that our contribution is bigger than what or how we are viewed. We are blessed to have had volunteers and families see the value of our work. We are grateful for the opportunity to build a vision that helps. Team Growth — Let’s Goooo! Thank you to our partners and especially our families for assisting us in our work.
Calvin Mann, Emiy (Encourage Me, I’m Young), Inc.
Besides the gratitude I feel for the stability and warmth in my personal life — relative good health, marriage for 53-plus years, grandchildren who bring joy every time we are together — I am thankful for the work of many advocates, including at the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation, to raise public awareness about mental health issues and solutions. Thanks to the efforts of friends at the Foundation and in the mental health community in Michigan I have a new sense of hope that the future for our children and families dealing with trauma and other disorders of the mind will be brighter.
Jack Kresnak, Flinn Foundation Board Trustee
I’m grateful for people who see the value of partnership. And my partners, including Cathy Liesman at Development Centers. Together, we saw the value of partnering and coming together to form MiSide. I’m grateful for donors and stakeholders who also saw the value and supported it. I’m grateful for our staff seeing the value of partnerships and working with their peers to do more. In partnership, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts, and we lived that in 2023.
Sean de Four, President and CEO, MiSide (former President and CEO of Southwest Solutions)
I am grateful that I have this program, and grateful for having the support of the Boys and Girls Clubs to help build this program, especially for kids in Detroit. I’m an advocate for social justice and know how very important being able to have the program is for the kids we support. I’m incredibly grateful for my passionate team and for the wonderful supportive people in my life, including my kids, coworkers and friends.
Tiffany Abrego, Ph.D., LP, Executive Director of Mental Health and Licensed Psychologist, Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan, Associate Professor of Psychology, Wayne State University
The Yunion is grateful to help bring more awareness of the need for more quality mental health services in our local communities. We are especially grateful for the established partnerships to assist in this process. Our partners include, but not limited to, Hope Village Revitalization, health professionals, schools and other faith-based organizations. We have been making strides in utilizing various ways to better communicate the need for mental health services, to help recognize when there’s a need for assistance and providing tools to improve overall self-care.
Sheriese Johnson, Executive Administrator, The Yunion
As Chairman of the Flinn Board and Chief Judge of the Wayne County Probate Court, I have witnessed many people who are committed to addressing the needs of those who suffer with behavioral health issues. I am pleased to note that more people are willing to provide their time for the benefit of others. In fact, as we enter the holiday season, may we continue to work together through collaboration as a dedicated principal to benefit those in need.
The Honorable Freddie G. Burton, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Ethel and James Flinn Foundation. Chief Judge, Wayne County Probate Court
We are extremely grateful to have received support needed not only to provide equitable wages for high-quality clinicians to provide quality care but also to meet families in the underserved populations where they are! It is so vital for us to be able to break that cycle of pain and do the work we are doing! We are so grateful to the organizations and partners alike that support the work we do!
Sakija Rushing, Chief Operating Officer, Journey to Healing, Inc.
In 2023, Dr. Thomas Zelnik brings his tenure as a Flinn Foundation Board Trustee to a close. During the five years he served on the Board, Dr. Zelnik called upon the significant experience gained in his career as a psychiatrist to help guide the Flinn Foundation to emerge as a significant grantmaker dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with mental health conditions.
“We can’t thank Dr. Zelnik enough for his service and for his early involvement in informing Flinn grantmaking even before joining the Flinn Foundation Board. His thoughtful attention to our grantmaking strategies and support of our mission played a critical role in our growth, and we are fortunate to have had his expertise,” says Andrea Cole, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation. “We thank him for his dedication and wish him the very best.”
As he transitions to retirement, the Trustees and staff of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation express their deepest appreciation to Dr. Zelnik for his integrity, generosity and commitment to enacting positive change for mental health care access across Michigan. The impact of his service will have a lasting impact on countless lives.
“Dr. Zelnik has been a wonderful resource for our efforts to address the goals of the Flinn Foundation. He brought to the Flinn Board his medical expertise along with a great deal of compassion and kindness. We were very lucky to have him serve on the Board. As he takes on a new phase of life, I am confident that wherever his travels take him, he will continue his commitment to assist others through sharing his boundless energy and optimism to encourage others,” says the Honorable Freddie G. Burton, Jr., Chief Judge, Wayne County Probate Court and Chairman of the Board, Ethel and James Flinn Foundation.
Knowledgeable support and professional guidance are what families need most when they receive a diagnosis of autism — and many don’t know exactly where to turn. That’s why the Autism Alliance of Michigan developed MiNavigator. It’s a starting point for families that contact AAoM, says President and CEO Colleen Allen.
“We connect families to supports and services, resources and provide professional guidance to address many issues across the lifespan,” Allen says. That means whether a family is looking for help overcoming challenges accessing quality, inclusive education or an adult support need, such as finding appropriate housing or employment opportunities. Families or individuals can reach out to MiNavigator and work with a professional at no cost.
“Having an organization that any person can contact, without cost, to connect with professionals, services and supports, and critical resources brings great comfort and confidence in navigating the complex systems of care that will be needed over the lifespan as a person ages,” Allen explains.
She adds that up to 55% of adults with autism will experience a co-occurring mental health condition. When individuals can access the support of “evidence-based interventions and adequate support, families function more successfully.”
Inevitably, families encounter barriers to services, care and education for their loved ones. As an independent, third-party advocate for families living with autism, AAoM follows a data-driven approach.
“The challenges we learn about from families across the state become our advocacy priorities,” Allen says. “We will continue to help one family at a time while addressing the root causes of what brings them to us in the first place.”
By engaging with multiple stakeholders that span health, behavioral health, educational, vocational rehabilitation, business and political communities, AAoM effectively addresses challenges in the most complex cases and builds relationships through this network of support.
Because AAoM’s professional resources are most effective when there are services and supports for families to access, the organization also works hard to raise awareness of the need for better systems, according to Allen.
“Navigation is only successful if services and support exist in our systems of care,” she says. “When they don’t it’s not only families that are frustrated, but our navigators are as well. It’s why advocacy and system reform efforts are so critical and must exist alongside our transactional, case-by-case efforts.”
As a Flinn grantee, AAoM’s strong partnership with the Flinn Foundation aligns seamlessly with AAoM’s mission.
“We are named an ‘Alliance’ for a reason,” says Allen, adding that AAoM was created to work in collaboration with partners of many different kinds. “Flinn is a long-time partner of ours, recognizing the importance of advocacy, collective impact efforts and community organizing to create real systems change. Flinn’s funding priorities around behavioral health make them a perfectly aligned partner in our work with families struggling emotionally, physically and mentally when individuals and/or their family member is challenged with autism.”
As with many nonprofits, AAoM places funding at the top of the list of what they need more of. Specifically, Allen says, AAoM could do even more with support for advocacy efforts to address families’ significant behavioral health crisis situations, education reform and the direct care worker shortage, affecting much-needed services like day programming, respite and community activities for individuals with autism and their families.
“We are here for hope, help, answers. Today,” says Allen.
Learn more about the Autism Alliance of Michigan. Visit autismallianceofmichigan.org.
Autism Alliance of Michigan has joined with Upbound Staffing and Orlans PC to share a look into the future of employment for people with autism at this year’s virtual Living With Autism Workshop, presented by Flinn partners Henry Ford Health and Metro Parent magazine. Click for $10 off the $25 three-day ticket price.
For Jason Wilson, the two decades since the launch of The Yunion have been just what he expected…sort of.
As founder and CEO of the Detroit-based nonprofit dedicated to providing life-changing programs to youth and families, Wilson knew he could help youth, particularly Black boys and young men, heal by identifying and releasing traumatic experiences, resolving conflict and processing their emotions through The Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy (CATTA), an initiative of The Yunion.
What he didn’t anticipate was how this message would speak to men on an international level.
“A 2016 video of me helping a young boy navigate his emotions after not breaking a board (in a martial arts exercise) went viral,” says Wilson. “What I didn’t know is how that one video would resonate with millions of men across the globe. We had to shut down for two days because our staff was busy answering calls from men sharing their hearts.”
This event set off a wave of attention for Wilson, The Yunion and the CATTA initiative, with invitations from television personality Dr. Oz and podcaster Joe Rogan — even the Obama administration. A popular CATTA initiation exercise was even featured in an award-winning episode of the television series This Is Us.
By creating a safe space for boys, CATTA allows young men to drop their guard, and be transparent and human, Wilson explains. “That extreme suppression of emotions, the emotional incarceration I knew was common for Black men, is something that men all over the world also experience,” he says.
“Boys and men are raised to be hyper-masculine and we are inundated with misleading mantras, like ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ and ‘No pain, no gain.’ If a Detroit Lions player gets hurt, we don’t expect him to go back out until he heals. But when men experience trauma, loss, an unexpected career change, the first thing we say is to stay strong. The subconscious message is that you are feeling weak, that you are not a man,” Wilson explains, adding that men are encouraged by society to suppress their abilities to nurture and be compassionate in favor of fulfilling more toxic expectations — and that is mentally unhealthy because it can lead to rage and high-risk behavior.
And the work is effective. Seventy-eight percent of recruits improve their grade point average by one letter grade without tutoring and 100% of boys who join CATTA as victims of bullying are no longer bullied within the first year in the initiative. When boys are released from toxic societal expectations, says Wilson, they can focus on what is ahead of them. They have permission to heal.
“We begin with an emotional check-in and boys share about their day. Here, they gain the ability to verbally process what they are going through,” Wilson says. “If you don’t teach a boy how to verbally process, that broken boy stays inside of the man that they will become.”
CATTA currently has 800 boys on its waiting list, and with additional support, including volunteers and opportunities for work environment internships, Wilson hopes more kids can put to the test what they learn in the academy. “The gym is the test, but the final exam is life,” he says.
Other initiatives of The Yunion, which is a 2022 Flinn Foundation grantee, include Students With Awareness and Goals (SWAG), a prevention and life skills school-based program, and Keys 2 Life, an evidence-based performing arts program designed to encourage and empower youth through music’s positive impact — a nod to Wilson’s roots in Detroit Hip Hop as a DJ and member of Kaos & Mystro, during which he created a record label called The Yunion.
Learn more about The Yunion. Visit theyunion.org.
Detroit-based Ethel and James Flinn Foundation announced grants awarded for 2023. In all, 51 organizations received $2.8 million in grants from the Flinn Foundation. The goal of the grants is to increase access to mental health treatment to as many individuals in Southeast Michigan as possible. Nine organizations received mini-grants.
“We recognize the hard work our grantee partners are doing to provide treatment and supports for adults, young adults and children here in Michigan,” says Andrea Cole, President and CEO of the Ethel and James Flinn Foundation.
Grantee partners are grouped into five program areas, including evidence-based treatment practices for adults, young people or children; awareness, education and outreach; capacity building; advocacy; and collaborative initiatives.
Grantee partners are listed below.
This Detroit organization was awarded $100,000 to support evidence-based mental health care to survivors of sexual assault and human trafficking.
This Southfield organization was awarded $100,000 to pilot a “bridge the gap” program to connect patients released from the ER to long-term outpatient community partners by providing behavioral health care and case management.
This Detroit organization was awarded $100,000 to support The Metro Detroit Trauma Recovery Initiative (TRI) to provide trauma-informed and evidence-based behavioral health services and resources to survivors of traumatic injuries.
This Southgate organization was awarded $50,000 to train 300 clinical and peer support staff with the Zero Overdose “Overdose Safety Plan,” an evidence-based model that bridges a critical gap in how to help people at risk for overdose.
This Detroit organization was awarded $50,000 to provide CBT and case management support to older adults in Detroit who are experiencing self-neglect and related disorders (e.g., hoarding, depression, etc.).
This Ann Arbor organization was awarded $75,000 to support a Nurse Care Manager (NCM) to work with patients and providers in an Office Based Addiction Treatment model.
This Detroit organization was awarded $100,000 to provide trauma-informed wraparound case management services for individuals and families.
This Ann Arbor organization was awarded $75,000 to support an evidence-based integrative physical health and behavioral health care approach at an Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic in Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor.
This Inkster organization was awarded $62,500 to provide culturally competent behavioral health services to marginalized women, most of whom identify as immigrants, refugees and people of color.
This Farmington Hills organization was awarded $75,000 to offer a range of trauma-informed mental health services through the Mentally Fit Program, which includes 1:1 and group therapy, assessments and academic and tutoring enrichment.
This Pontiac organization was awarded $75,000 to support the Family Resilience Program and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect.
This Detroit organization was awarded $75,000 to implement developmental screening, assessment and mental health treatment models in early childhood settings for children, ages 4-6.
This Detroit organization was awarded $75,000 to support programs to help children with special needs by collaborating with parents in the home to strengthen their parenting skills and ensure the health and safety of these vulnerable children.
This Detroit organization was awarded $75,000 to offer holistic, wraparound services for youth in Wayne County and Detroit who are involved with the juvenile justice system and need behavioral health services.
This Detroit organization was awarded $75,000 to implement a technology-driven Safety Planning Intervention in pediatric primary care at Henry Ford Health to increase self-help behaviors among individuals who are unable to readily engage with mental health services.
This Ferndale organization was awarded $50,000 to provide one-stop-shop, coordinated Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities.
This Detroit organization was awarded $75,000 to provide innovative substance use disorder treatment focusing on vaping/e-cigarette use for adolescents, foster care and transitional youth ages 13-19 through the Oakland County clinic.
This Detroit organization was awarded $75,000 to establish Detroit’s first perinatal and early childhood clinic to provide on-site behavioral health services for young children (birth to 5 years) and families.
This Livonia organization was awarded $75,000 to support the Western Wayne Suicide Prevention Coalition — a program of evidence-based behavioral health services, youth activities and education aimed at zero completed youth suicides.
This Ann Arbor organization was awarded $75,000 to implement the IMPACT Collaborative Care Model in two pediatric clinics to improve access to appropriate behavioral health services for adolescents (ages 12-18).
This Ferndale organization was awarded $50,000 to expand mental health therapy to improve the availability and access to affirming and affordable counseling.
This Detroit organization was awarded $50,000 to improve its capacity to bill for services and funding to expand telehealth opportunities to more survivors.
This Southfield organization was awarded $50,000 to hire a Spanish-speaking therapist for the Latino community in Pontiac.
This Detroit organization was awarded $50,000 to expand mental health support for teens in Cody Rouge, a community on the far west side of Detroit.
This Detroit organization was awarded $50,000 to bring together people in Detroit who are engaged in the mental health landscape to increase awareness, collaboration and build momentum for systemic reinvestment into mental health resources.
This Detroit organization was awarded $50,000 to support a place-based street outreach program to (re)connect individuals with mental health challenges, substance abuse disorder and homelessness in downtown Detroit to services provided by community providers.
This Ypsilanti organization was awarded $50,000 to develop and implement a campus-wide mental health strategic action plan to increase mental health support for EMU students.
This Detroit organization was awarded $50,000 to support the technological integration of PCE behavioral health data management systems as a result of a recent merger.
This Grosse Pointe Farms organization was awarded $25,000 to update branding and curated content to improve and increase access to programs and resources.
This Chelsea organization was awarded $50,000 to train a Huron Valley PACE interdisciplinary team in motivational interviewing, an approach to medical and mental health conversations to improve behavioral health outcomes.
This Dearborn Heights organization was awarded $50,000 to continue clinical training opportunities for direct care staff to improve treatment outcomes for children with complex histories of abuse, neglect and sexual exploitation.
This Lansing organization was awarded $15,000 for general operating support.ACMH provides advocacy support for individual children and their families across Michigan by focusing on activities to enhance the system of services that address the needs of children with serious emotional disorders.
This Southfield organization was awarded $25,000 for general operating support.AAoM is an advocacy organization focused on addressing treatment access and support for individuals and families living with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
This Grosse Pointe Park organization was awarded $15,000 for general operating support. Kevin’s Song is an advocacy organization that brings families, providers, and policymakers together to learn and share evidence-based practices to prevent suicides.
This Lansing organization was awarded $50,000 for general operating support. MHAM is the state’s oldest nonprofit organization concerned with mental illness and is the leading policy and research advocate. MHAM seeks regulatory action from the state government that it deems is in the best interest of adults and youth experiencing or at risk of mental illness.
This Lansing organization was awarded $65,000 for general operating support. Michigan’s Children will bolster the public policy research advocacy capacity of mental health services providers, and youth and families who receive mental health services. It will also lead efforts to seek regulatory action from the state government that it deems is in the best interest of children experiencing or at risk of mental illness.
This Northville organization was awarded $15,000 for general operating support. Located in southeast Michigan, NAMI Metro’s constituent members cover the Foundation’s geographic focus of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County.
This Lansing organization was awarded $50,000 for general operating support. NAMI Michiganand its statewide affiliates advocate at the state level for persons affected by mental illness and serves as a leading proponent of consumer and family involvement in care, treatment and recovery. NAMI Michigan helps to strengthen local affiliates to provide support within their communities.
This Ann Arbor organization was awarded $15,000 for general operating support. Located in southeast Michigan, NAMI Washtenaw County constituent members cover the Foundation’s geographic focus of Washtenaw County.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Southfield organization to provide critical mental health education and suicide prevention services through culturally relevant, holistic and evidence-based community outreach workshops and trainings.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Detroit organization to provide consistent visual messaging on the importance of awareness with children and suicidal ideation.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Plymouth organization to provide individuals the opportunities to further develop their understanding of adolescent suicide and enhance their skills in adolescent suicide prevention.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Lansing organization to advance and disseminate education/guidance regarding behavioral health models of care that center and support breastfeeding families.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Lansing organization to support the ANTI STIGMA campaign for junior and senior high school students.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Pontiac organization to expand on the existing youth effort of the Pontiac Resilience Project to empower youths to conduct peer-to-peer training sessions with Pontiac Middle School students.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Detroit organization to educate Wayne County residents about the importance of self-care and provide a space for people to participate in self-care activities.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Grosse Pointe Farms organization to host a community book club featuring a panel of local therapists and doctors discussing books on mental health.
A $5,000 mini-grant was awarded to this Ypsilanti organization to pilot a peer-to-peer support group for up to 20 students in a local high school to build a support system and learn important skills for maintaining safety and wellness in today’s cyber world.
The Foundation has supported the fund established in 2020 since its inception to address issues of mass incarceration and their impact on Michigan. MJF’s focuses on three goals: 1) To strengthen Michigan’s funding, policies and practices to support the economic mobility and success of people with criminal records; 2) To reduce reliance on confinement and adjudication and 3) To engage communities in shaping justice policies.
This Detroit organization was awarded $90,000 to aid in the launch of Michigan’s contributions to a multi-state co-op designed to share experiences, learn from one another and amplify efforts to improve the response to people experiencing a mental health or substance use-related emergency through a systems approach to developing a continuum of crisis care.
This Detroit organization was awarded $200,000 to continue implementing the Sequential Intercept Model in Wayne County facilitated by the Center for Behavioral Health and Justice aimed at diverting people with behavioral health conditions away from the criminal justice system into community treatment.
As people enter their 60s, 70s and beyond, they can often feel overlooked in their communities – and it can have a major impact on their mental health. In fact, according to the National Institute on Aging, studies show that social isolation and loneliness are linked to higher rates of depression in this age group. The issue is so critical and under-recognized that the U.S. Surgeon General felt compelled to declare loneliness and isolation a national epidemic earlier this year.
This epidemic is perhaps most represented by the older generation – something the folks at the Hannan Center, which is part of the Luella Hannan Memorial Foundation, know well. Combatting isolation and improving the quality of life for senior men and women across the state has been its purpose since 1925.
“Our mission is to preserve the dignity and enhance the quality of life of older adults in Michigan,” says Melissa Draughn, director of social work at the Hannan Center. “All of our programming aims to help older adults age as creatively and independently as possible.”
Programs include mental health counseling, case management and a weekly telephone reassurance program to combat isolation. Those with dementia can attend DayBreak, an adult day center. In addition, the Americorps program, My Neighborhood Connections, provides social work services to help older adults age in place.
Years ago, Draughn says, to focus even more on the mental health of older adults, the Hannan Center applied for a grant from the Flinn Foundation to help establish its mental health counseling program, Active Connections. Active Connections is an eight-week program where a senior works with a social worker to discuss problems that could be negatively affecting their life, set goals for the future and help identify ways to connect to others. The goal is to help improve coping skills and provide emotional support for seniors with depression, anxiety and social isolation.
“There is still a stigma related to mental health and it can be difficult for people to reach out for help,” Draughn says.
The program is free, and seniors can conduct their sessions over the phone for greater convenience and increased access.
Draughn says that while isolation and depression among the senior population has always been an issue, the pandemic has made it more pronounced – even years later.
“It isolated a lot of people, older adults in particular, and it is important not to overlook the effect that has on mental well-being.”
She hopes that the Hannan Center can continue its mission to provide resources, support and companionship to the senior community for another 100 years.
For Carla Pretto, the new executive director of the Association for Children’s Mental Health, the organization’s mission is truly personal.
The statewide family-run organization (and Flinn Foundation grantee), which was founded in 1989 by two moms, focuses on helping Michigan children get access to emotional, behavioral and mental health services and support. The need for those services – particularly for children – is something that Pretto has experienced personally.
In 2017, Pretto was working as an infectious diseases researcher when one of the worst things a parent can imagine happened. Her 13-year-old daughter, Taylor, died by suicide. Taylor had suffered from depression for years, but it was often masked by her desire to please everyone. Like many kids, social and academic pressure compounded her feelings of helplessness.
“Her depression got in the way of her seeing how important she was to everyone who loved her, how needed she was, and how what she was feeling in that moment didn’t have to be her ‘forever,’” Pretto says.
It’s a feeling Pretto understood and experienced herself in the aftermath of her daughter’s death.
“I had those feelings of not wanting to be here, of not being sure I could make it through,” she says. “If I didn’t have my other children, I don’t know that I would have been able to get help and push through. Life had to go on for them.”
And life went on for Pretto too, but with a new calling.
She pivoted from her career as a scientist and enrolled in a registered nurse program. Her goal was to use her experience and knowledge to somehow make a difference in the lives of youth like Taylor.
Early on, she became aware of the ACMH and the work they did to help local families who were struggling with mental health challenges. She’d worked with Jane Shank, the ACMH’s previous executive director, and thought, “that’s my goal job.”
Pretto pivoted from her nursing degree to a position as a psychiatric nurse. She had her eye on completing her Ph.D. while immersing herself in the realities of patient needs. The work was challenging and rewarding. She enjoyed making a difference in small ways, working with families one-on-one. But when she found out that Shank was stepping down as executive director of ACMH, no one was surprised that she jumped at the chance to realize her dream job.
“My co-workers said, ‘we know you weren’t going to stay here. You need to do big things.’”
And that’s exactly what she has planned.
She’s not diving in and reinventing the already laudable work the ACMH and its staff does, she says. She knows that the role they have working with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on statewide training for its Parent Support and Youth Peer Support projects is critical and consuming.
She knows that the ACMH, like everyone working in the mental health space, needs more resources to do more work in a community that’s greatly in need.
“We’re well-funded, but the need is so great. We need to have more staff to do more trainings across the state,” Pretto says.
For now, though, she’s focused on developing ACMH’s key management staff to make sure they feel fully supported in their leadership roles. She says she relies heavily on them and wants to learn what they need to continue to excel in their jobs. That support will mean the ACMH can help more Michigan families.
Already, she has some ideas for the future, though.
She has her sights set on partnering with the MDHHS on creating a crisis toolkit and developing de-escalation techniques that can be taught to families and inform providers of the needs of families that have experienced crisis. That important work will be informed by families with lived experience, she notes. And thanks to her research background, she’s itching to get more data on the population in need of ACMH’s services, such as their social determinants of health. She wants an independent review of the organization’s diversity and how it can best interact with a diverse population of families.
“The issue of mental health affects everyone equally, but the help and services are not available or utilized by everyone equally. That has to change.”
For Pretto, the dream isn’t just to lead the ACMH in its mission.
“I wish this wasn’t my story, that my daughter had not completed suicide,” she says. “But my job now is to help prevent that from being the story of other youth like Taylor, of other families like mine.”
Thanks to a grant from the Flinn Foundation, Samaritas has been able to expand its offerings to include specialized substance use treatment for teens.
Since 1934, Samaritas has been committed to helping at-risk families through some of their toughest challenges and biggest needs. These assists run the gamut – from substance use disorder treatment, behavioral health, foster care and adoption, refugee assistance, affordable living, disability services, senior care and more.
So, it’s no surprise that Samaritas serves more than 13,000 people each year through more than 40 programs at more than 65 locations, making it one of the largest health and human service agencies in the state of Michigan. But even with a full plate, the team at Samaritas realized they needed to do more.
In 2020, Samaritas noticed an overwhelming need for their treatment to be tailored to adolescents. To do so, Samaritas applied for a $75,000 grant from the Flinn Foundation in July 2021 to start an outreach clinic in Oakland County.
“Establishing supports for young people in our community is critical,” says Andrea Cole, Flinn Foundation’s executive director and CEO.
The goals of the clinic include providing a comprehensive, community-based continuum of care for adolescents up to age 21 suffering from a substance use disorder and/or co-occurring mental health illnesses, improving access to evidence-based treatment and holistic care for at-risk adolescents and their families, and increasing mental health provider workforce capacity in southeast Michigan, to name a few.
“Through our work with at-risk families across the spectrum of services we provide, we invest our resources in improving the health and welfare of Michigan’s most vulnerable children to mitigate the devastating cycle of challenges stemming from trauma, illness, inequality and poverty,” says Jennifer Keuten, MSW, LMSW, Samaritas’ clinical manager for Southeast Michigan.
“Flinn Foundation’s support of our project makes this plan feasible and is an innovative approach to expanding workforce capacity to underserved communities,” Keuten says. Our partnership with the Flinn Foundation ensures that more adolescents access treatment quickly, saving lives and building bright futures.”
Each year, the Ethel & James Flinn Foundation provides grants to southeast Michigan organizations who are working to promote mental health awareness and provide mental health services.