By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Ottawa County voters next Tuesday will consider a proposal to renew and restore the county’s millage for mental health services for the next 10 years.
The proposal will seek to restore the levy that was approved by voters in 2016 to its original 0.3-mill level. It has been rolled back over the years by the Headlee amendment to its current 0.28 mills.
“The mental health millage keeps community in Community Mental Health,” said Dr. Michael Brashears, chief executive officer of Community Mental Health of Ottawa County.
If approved, the levy would generate more than $5.7 million annually to fund mental health services in the county. For a homeowner whose home has a market value of $400,000 and taxable value of $200,000, the levy would cost $60 per year or 16 cents per day.
Supporters of the mental health millage say the funding has helped ensure community members of all ages have access to essential services, including crisis support, outpatient treatment, prevention programs, and support for individuals with serious mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
If approved, Community Mental Health would look to expand services countywide, Director of Community Programs Chelsea Clark said.
“We really want to focus on innovative programming that’s available not just in Grand Haven or Holland, but throughout the county,” Clark said.
Bob Davis, a retired therapist who sits on the CMH board, says he’s heard from residents who would like to see services expanded in the eastern portion of the county.
The mental health millage was first proposed in 2014, after a series of state funding cuts.
“It really threatened critical programming, specifically for folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Clark said. “We had a program called Kandu (Industries) that provided a safe space for those with those delays. Unfortunately, because of the shortfall that we were experiencing, Kandu had to close.”
In March of 2016, Ottawa became the first county in Michigan to pass a millage tied specifically to mental health services, with 59.3 percent of those casting ballots voting yes. Since then, at least four other Michigan counties – Washtenaw (2017), Jackson (2017), Hillsdale (2018) and Genesee (2021) – have passed similar levies to support mental health programming.
In the 10 years since its passage, the millage has generated $50 million of support for mental health services in Ottawa County, providing help to more than 21,850 people. An important thing to know is that those dollars stay within the county, Davis said.
“It doesn’t go to the state and then get redistributed. It keeps it local, within the county,” he said. “We have the ability to activate those funds a lot quicker.”
The millage funding has helped the county to leverage grants to bring in additional funds to support various programs.
“We have a housing program … I think $3,000 (in millage funding) brings in $900,000 for housing assistance,” Clark said.
The City on a Hill Ministry Center in Zeeland receives funding support from the millage to provide mental health services within its health clinic, a free clinic that provides services to uninsured patients, COAHM President Ally Velderman said.
“These funds help make it possible for our neighbors to access counseling services regardless of their ability to pay,” Daniel Bechtel-Unekis, a therapist and behavioral health manager at the clinic, wrote in a recent blog post on COAHM’s website.
The mental health millage also supports community connection programs, such as the Holland Drop-In Center, Clark said.
“Peers run that entire program … It’s a place where they can come and play games, do art, have any sort of education or life skill training,” she said.
Other community connection programs supported by the millage include Pathways to Better Health, a program to help residents navigate the county health system, and social recreation programs offered through organizations like Heritage Homes in Holland and Extended Grace in Grand Haven.
In addition, the millage provides one-time funding support for CMH-funded programs, as well as programs offered through Mosaic Counseling and the Tri-Cities Family YMCA in Grand Haven. It also supports Senior Reach, an outreach program that provides depression screening, behavioral health treatment and case management to older adults, as well as mental health services at the county jail, Clark said.
One of the newer programs receiving millage funding that is starting up soon is through the Community Access Line of the Lakeshore, the 211 information line.
“They are launching a platform where folks can search any sort of mental health resource that they’re looking for in Ottawa County, and be able to find it,” Clark said.
Funding from the millage does not replace Medicaid or state general fund dollars for mental health services, Clark said.
“Medicaid is very strict with what (their funds) can be spent on,” she said. “The millage is very flexible. It’s meant to be able to bridge that gap and be able to cover for services that Medicaid does not.”
Davis emphasized the value of the millage through the ways it connects with people in need with services to meet those needs.
“The bottom line is, when you begin to deal with the issue of isolation and connect people to their community, and you keep the community in Community Mental Health … your rates of crisis go down, your rates of hospitalizations go down, your rates of emergency room visits go down, your rates of jail, of incarceration go down,” he said.
Zeeland Record
Ottawa County voters next Tuesday will consider a proposal to renew and restore the county’s millage for mental health services for the next 10 years.
The proposal will seek to restore the levy that was approved by voters in 2016 to its original 0.3-mill level. It has been rolled back over the years by the Headlee amendment to its current 0.28 mills.
“The mental health millage keeps community in Community Mental Health,” said Dr. Michael Brashears, chief executive officer of Community Mental Health of Ottawa County.
If approved, the levy would generate more than $5.7 million annually to fund mental health services in the county. For a homeowner whose home has a market value of $400,000 and taxable value of $200,000, the levy would cost $60 per year or 16 cents per day.
Supporters of the mental health millage say the funding has helped ensure community members of all ages have access to essential services, including crisis support, outpatient treatment, prevention programs, and support for individuals with serious mental illness, substance use disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities.
If approved, Community Mental Health would look to expand services countywide, Director of Community Programs Chelsea Clark said.
“We really want to focus on innovative programming that’s available not just in Grand Haven or Holland, but throughout the county,” Clark said.
Bob Davis, a retired therapist who sits on the CMH board, says he’s heard from residents who would like to see services expanded in the eastern portion of the county.
The mental health millage was first proposed in 2014, after a series of state funding cuts.
“It really threatened critical programming, specifically for folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities,” Clark said. “We had a program called Kandu (Industries) that provided a safe space for those with those delays. Unfortunately, because of the shortfall that we were experiencing, Kandu had to close.”
In March of 2016, Ottawa became the first county in Michigan to pass a millage tied specifically to mental health services, with 59.3 percent of those casting ballots voting yes. Since then, at least four other Michigan counties – Washtenaw (2017), Jackson (2017), Hillsdale (2018) and Genesee (2021) – have passed similar levies to support mental health programming.
In the 10 years since its passage, the millage has generated $50 million of support for mental health services in Ottawa County, providing help to more than 21,850 people. An important thing to know is that those dollars stay within the county, Davis said.
“It doesn’t go to the state and then get redistributed. It keeps it local, within the county,” he said. “We have the ability to activate those funds a lot quicker.”
The millage funding has helped the county to leverage grants to bring in additional funds to support various programs.
“We have a housing program … I think $3,000 (in millage funding) brings in $900,000 for housing assistance,” Clark said.
The City on a Hill Ministry Center in Zeeland receives funding support from the millage to provide mental health services within its health clinic, a free clinic that provides services to uninsured patients, COAHM President Ally Velderman said.
“These funds help make it possible for our neighbors to access counseling services regardless of their ability to pay,” Daniel Bechtel-Unekis, a therapist and behavioral health manager at the clinic, wrote in a recent blog post on COAHM’s website.
The mental health millage also supports community connection programs, such as the Holland Drop-In Center, Clark said.
“Peers run that entire program … It’s a place where they can come and play games, do art, have any sort of education or life skill training,” she said.
Other community connection programs supported by the millage include Pathways to Better Health, a program to help residents navigate the county health system, and social recreation programs offered through organizations like Heritage Homes in Holland and Extended Grace in Grand Haven.
In addition, the millage provides one-time funding support for CMH-funded programs, as well as programs offered through Mosaic Counseling and the Tri-Cities Family YMCA in Grand Haven. It also supports Senior Reach, an outreach program that provides depression screening, behavioral health treatment and case management to older adults, as well as mental health services at the county jail, Clark said.
One of the newer programs receiving millage funding that is starting up soon is through the Community Access Line of the Lakeshore, the 211 information line.
“They are launching a platform where folks can search any sort of mental health resource that they’re looking for in Ottawa County, and be able to find it,” Clark said.
Funding from the millage does not replace Medicaid or state general fund dollars for mental health services, Clark said.
“Medicaid is very strict with what (their funds) can be spent on,” she said. “The millage is very flexible. It’s meant to be able to bridge that gap and be able to cover for services that Medicaid does not.”
Davis emphasized the value of the millage through the ways it connects with people in need with services to meet those needs.
“The bottom line is, when you begin to deal with the issue of isolation and connect people to their community, and you keep the community in Community Mental Health … your rates of crisis go down, your rates of hospitalizations go down, your rates of emergency room visits go down, your rates of jail, of incarceration go down,” he said.
Driver Escapes Injury in Semi-Train Crash
A 61-year-old truck driver from Hart escaped injury July 22 when his semi-trailer was struck by a train in Zeeland Township.
The crash occurred at 10:21 p.m. at the railroad crossing on 76th Avenue, just north of Chicago Drive.
A preliminary investigation by the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office showed the semi had made a right turn from westbound Chicago Drive to northbound 76th when it became stuck, sitting over the railroad tracks.
At that time, an eastbound train was traveling on the railroad tracks. The driver escaped the cab of his semi before it was struck by the train. He was not injured, Sgt. Alex De Jong of the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The impact of the crash split the semi-trailer in half and rendered the train’s engine inoperable. The crossing was closed for at least seven hours for cleanup. Another engine had to be brought in to get the train moved.
In addition, Ottawa County Haz-Mat responded to the scene for a possible fuel leak from the train engine, De Jong said.
Zeeland Township firefighters assisted the sheriff’s office at the scene.
The crash occurred at 10:21 p.m. at the railroad crossing on 76th Avenue, just north of Chicago Drive.
A preliminary investigation by the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office showed the semi had made a right turn from westbound Chicago Drive to northbound 76th when it became stuck, sitting over the railroad tracks.
At that time, an eastbound train was traveling on the railroad tracks. The driver escaped the cab of his semi before it was struck by the train. He was not injured, Sgt. Alex De Jong of the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The impact of the crash split the semi-trailer in half and rendered the train’s engine inoperable. The crossing was closed for at least seven hours for cleanup. Another engine had to be brought in to get the train moved.
In addition, Ottawa County Haz-Mat responded to the scene for a possible fuel leak from the train engine, De Jong said.
Zeeland Township firefighters assisted the sheriff’s office at the scene.
