Sherry Miller is a mental health clinician with the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network. She has a dual role in Highland Park as part of the co-response team and working with the mobile clinic.
“We go out into the community, to schools, to churches, events, wherever we are invited to to bring mental health awareness kind of decrease the stigma. We can do brief therapy right there on the spot, assess individuals’ mood, you know what’s going on with them, and get them connected with services,” she says.
In her role with co-response, she works with the police department as a mental health counselor who aids in mental health emergencies.
“So if there’s a mental health call… they’ll dispatch me through the radio. Either I’ll meet them there, I’ll follow them there and kind of assess the situation and what’s going on with that individual,” she explains.
She says Highland Park residents were instrumental in getting a partnership going between DWIHN and the crisis intervention.
Miller says since her start in late December, there have been about 70 mental health phone calls. In her role, Miller assesses the situation and tries to de-escalate.
She says there are several police officers within the Highland Park Police Department who are also trained to respond to mental health calls.
“It may go a different route, versus somebody being talked to by somebody that’s trained to de-escalate, to train, to calm them down, train, when to petition. I think that makes a difference,” she shares.
Miller says she attends city meetings to connect with community members to understand their needs and, “to bring them information, bring them resources and how to go about getting signed up for services.”
Autism Awareness comes to Highland Parkhttps://wdet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/HP-Autism-Event-2way.mp3
Highland Park hosted it’s first Autism Awareness event last month
Last month, Sherry Miller organized the city’s first Autism Awareness & Acceptance event.
Miller says she speaks with parents who are concerned about getting help for their kids, for things ranging from behavioral issues, receiving special education services at school, to understanding autism.
Miller says more needs to be done to support parents.
“I would think maybe an average type of advocacy event, like special ed advocacy, that can speak for the parents, or that can go to the schools, or that can help them write the letter saying, ‘I want my child tested.’”
People took part in an advocacy walk during the Autism and Awareness event in Highland Park in April.
The event featured an advocacy walk, resource vendors, and presentations. There were also giveaways and music and workshops. Miller noted the importance of the event for “talking to the parents that have the experience, that live through it, talking to the educators that kind of know what to do, what to look for,” she shares.
Miller has also created a resource book for residents.