City Works with United Way to Provide Water Filters to Vulnerable Residents

The City of Flint and the United Way of Genesee County have combined forces to raise at least $105,000 from private and public sources to purchase water filters for residents in Flint.
The United Way kicked off its effort on Tuesday by committing $25,000 from its general fund. That was followed by a $50,000 donation by the General Motors Foundation and $10,000 from the Making Our Children Smile Foundation.
An additional $20,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds were secured Wednesday by the city of Flint. The Community Foundation of Greater Flint is also working to secure filters for the initiative.Water filters certified by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) will be distributed at the University of Michigan – Flint on Saturday, October 3, 2015 from 10:00am to 5:00pm at the University’s Recreation Center located at 401 Mill Street downtown Flint. Thanks to the generosity of many local agencies a total of 4,000 water filters will be distributed on Saturday. A filter distribution priority list was developed by local partners and health agencies to assist with the distribution. Distribution is prioritized based on resident’s at-risk factors and one per household.
Working with health provider agencies from Flint and Genesee County, the Genesee County Health Department developed a prioritized filter distribution list. This list prioritizes those in the community who are the most vulnerable for lead contamination. “This list will justly drive the filter distribution based on Flint’s most vulnerable population,” stated Mark Valacak, Health Officer of the Genesee County Health Department. Filters will be given first to those who fall into the first four high-risk categories as established by these agencies and as follows:

Priority 1: Pregnant (PG) Formula feeding (FF), and Breastfeeding (BF), Children Special Health Care Services (CSHCS) households in higher risk zip code areas: 48501 to 48507.
Priority 2: PG, BF, CSHCS households who are Flint residents but not within the highest need zip codes.
Priority 3: Low income families in high risk zip code with children 5 and under.
Priority 4: Low income families in (Flint) non high risk zip code.

Go to www.gchd.us or call Genesee County Health Department’s Water Filter hotline, 810.257.3158 for updates.
To qualify for a water filter you must show proof of Flint residency. Residents will need to bring one of the following to the distribution center on Saturday:

 Valid ID
 Utility bill
 WIC Bridge Card
 Proof of children 5 and under in household: immunization record, birth certificate or child must be present