Staff

Staff

Who We Are

Our staff is made up of Community Health Workers, Public Health Nurses, a Health Educator, a Fatherhood Facilitator, a FIMR Coordinator, and Community Peer Advisors. We are a certified and experienced team of friendly parent coaches available to support and promote the health of expectant moms, expectant dads, and parenting families of children less than two years old


	Jonathan Lawrence, is the Strong Start \| Healthy Start Supervisor. Jonathan participates in the development and administration of the Strong Start \| Healthy Start program including direct supervision of the SSHS staff. Jonathan completed his Bachelor of Social Work degree from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. He is currently working on his Master of Social Work degree at Michigan State University. Jonathan is honored to serve the community and works to improve the health of families in Ingham County.Contact Jonathan: jlawrence2@ingham.org
	Dana Watson, is currently the Strong Start \| Healthy Start Health Educator. Dana develops and presents health education programs to modify current behavior and improve the health of Ingham County residents. She also informs residents of health risk factors and wellness programs and evaluates, organizes, promotes, and implements health risk reduction and wellness programs such as smoking cessation and community wellness promotion. Dana received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Michigan State University. Dana has been with the Ingham County Health Department since 2009.Contact Dana: dwatson@ingham.org

	Tamara Jones serves as a Community Health Worker with the Strong Start \| Healthy Start team. Tamara provides case management services to prenatal and postpartum women through the Healthy Start program. She attends home visits with clients, working with them to promote healthy prenatal care, encouraging families through difficult life obstacles. Tamara is a certified phlebotomist and nursing assistant. She completed her training at Lansing Community College.Contact Tamara: tjones@ingham.org

	Ashley Gonzalez, serves as a community health worker with the Strong Start \| Healthy Start team. Ashley provides case management services to prenatal and postpartum women through the Healthy Start program. She attends home visits with clients, working with them to promote healthy prenatal care, encouraging families during difficult life obstacles. Ashley is a resident of Lansing and is very familiar with the community and resources available. Ashley received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Services in 2014.

Crystal Pirtle Tyler, PhD, MPH, is the Strong Start | Healthy Start Evaluator. Crystal takes an empowerment approach to evaluation and works closely with the Healthy Start team to ensure that evaluation objectives and methods align with project goals. She also supports public health agencies in developing realistic and informative community health improvement strategies. Crystal completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies at Spelman College, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan and a PhD in Perinatal Epidemiology at Michigan State University.

ctyler@mphi.org

Crystal Pirtle Tyler, PhD, MPH, is the Strong Start | Healthy Start Evaluator. Crystal takes an empowerment approach to evaluation and works closely with the Healthy Start team to ensure that evaluation objectives and methods align with project goals. She also supports public health agencies in developing realistic and informative community health improvement strategies. Crystal completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies at Spelman College, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan and a PhD in Perinatal Epidemiology at Michigan State University.

ctyler@mphi.org

Crystal Pirtle Tyler, PhD, MPH, is the Strong Start | Healthy Start Evaluator. Crystal takes an empowerment approach to evaluation and works closely with the Healthy Start team to ensure that evaluation objectives and methods align with project goals. She also supports public health agencies in developing realistic and informative community health improvement strategies. Crystal completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies at Spelman College, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan and a PhD in Perinatal Epidemiology at Michigan State University.

ctyler@mphi.org

Crystal Pirtle Tyler, PhD, MPH, is the Strong Start | Healthy Start Evaluator. Crystal takes an empowerment approach to evaluation and works closely with the Healthy Start team to ensure that evaluation objectives and methods align with project goals. She also supports public health agencies in developing realistic and informative community health improvement strategies. Crystal completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies at Spelman College, a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan and a PhD in Perinatal Epidemiology at Michigan State University.

ctyler@mphi.org

Dana Watson, BA, is currently the Strong Start | Healthy Start Health Educator. Dana develops and presents health education programs to modify current behavior and improve the health of Ingham County residents. She also informs residents of health risk factors and wellness programs and evaluates, organizes, promotes, and implements health risk reduction and wellness programs such as smoking cessation and community wellness promotion. Dana received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Michigan State University. Dana has been with the Ingham County Health Department since 2009.

dwatson@ingham.org

SSHS and ICHD

Strong Start | Healthy Start is housed within the Ingham County Health Department. Through support, education, advocacy and outreach, we work to decrease infant deaths in our community.

The Ingham County Health Department's mission is to carry out the Ingham County Board of Commissioners' responsibilities to protect and promote the health of Ingham County residents. We do this through programs to prevent and control communicable diseases, programs to protect people who live in our area from environmental hazards and by linking county residents to an organized system of health care. The Department also conducts research to document the health status and health problems of the community and works with the community to develop strategies to improve health and well-being. The Health Officer is responsible to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners.

For more information: (517) 887-4322

©2013 Strong Start | Healthy Start | A program of the Ingham County Health Department
Ingham County Health Department | 5303 S. Cedar Street | Lansing, MI 48909-7661

This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant #H49MC24118. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.


	Jonathan Lawrence, is the Strong Start \| Healthy Start Supervisor. Jonathan participates in the development and administration of the Strong Start \| Healthy Start program including direct supervision of the SSHS staff. Jonathan completed his Bachelor of Social Work degree from Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina. He is currently working on his Master of Social Work degree at Michigan State University. Jonathan is honored to serve the community and works to improve the health of families in Ingham County.Contact Jonathan: jlawrence2@ingham.org
	Dana Watson, is currently the Strong Start \| Healthy Start Health Educator. Dana develops and presents health education programs to modify current behavior and improve the health of Ingham County residents. She also informs residents of health risk factors and wellness programs and evaluates, organizes, promotes, and implements health risk reduction and wellness programs such as smoking cessation and community wellness promotion. Dana received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Michigan State University. Dana has been with the Ingham County Health Department since 2009.Contact Dana: dwatson@ingham.org

	Tamara Jones serves as a Community Health Worker with the Strong Start \| Healthy Start team. Tamara provides case management services to prenatal and postpartum women through the Healthy Start program. She attends home visits with clients, working with them to promote healthy prenatal care, encouraging families through difficult life obstacles. Tamara is a certified phlebotomist and nursing assistant. She completed her training at Lansing Community College.Contact Tamara: tjones@ingham.org

	Ashley Gonzalez, serves as a community health worker with the Strong Start \| Healthy Start team. Ashley provides case management services to prenatal and postpartum women through the Healthy Start program. She attends home visits with clients, working with them to promote healthy prenatal care, encouraging families during difficult life obstacles. Ashley is a resident of Lansing and is very familiar with the community and resources available. Ashley received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Services in 2014.