WNEM: $5M in federal support secured for Flint Registry

FLINT, Mich. (WNEM) – Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet is celebrating the support she said she secured for Flint residents affected by the water crisis.

Millions of dollars are headed to the Flint Registry under the Health and Human Services budget signed into law this week by President Donald Trump. The Registry is a project that connects people to services and programs promoting better health.

“We owe a generational debt to the residents of Flint,” said McDonald Rivet. “The water crisis was something that has lasting impact. And the programs that actually help serve the people who were poisoned during that, who had really horrible things happen inside their families, inside their homes, inside their bodies, we owe that debt to make sure that we stick with them.”

That is why Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet is glad she was able to secure $5 million in federal funding in the Fiscal Year 2026 federal budget.

“We fought really hard for it, and worked with Republicans and Democrats to make sure that it made it into the budget,” said McDonald Rivet.

The Flint Registry connects people to services and programs to promote health and wellness and helps them understand how the Flint Water Crisis has affected the Flint community.

“This is probably one of the single most important programs for people who were harmed as a result of the water crisis,” said McDonald Rivet.

Even though McDonald Rivet is celebrating this accomplishment, she said there is more to be done for the city.

“Every morning, I get up and fight for the people of Flint and understand that this is not just about my fight,” said McDonald Rivet. “It’s the fight of all of us to make sure that the federal government, and frankly the state government, never forgets what happened here.”

McDonald Rivet said the money for the Flint Registry should arrive in a couple of months.