The Information Center, We’re More Than You Think
From In-Home Senior Care to Job Help to Student Support, One Local Number for the Help You Need
Around here, people sometimes call us “Downriver’s best kept secret.”
It’s usually meant as a compliment. But honestly? We’d rather not be a secret. Because if you don’t know we exist, you don’t know to call us when you need help. And that’s exactly the moment we’re here for.
Most people in our community know The Information Center for one thing. Maybe a neighbor mentioned us when their dad needed help at home. Maybe a hospital social worker handed off a number. Maybe a friend got food assistance through us years ago. Whatever it was, you probably think of us as “the place that does that one thing.”
Here’s the part most people don’t know: we do a lot more than that one thing.
The Information Center is a community-based nonprofit serving Wayne County and Downriver Michigan, some of our services cover the whole southern peninsula. We’ve been here for decades. And we run several programs under one roof, each designed to meet a different kind of need that real families face.
This blog walks through everything we do, all in one place, so you know exactly when to call us and for what.
One number to remember: 734-282-7171. If you’re not sure which program fits, call anyway. We’ll figure it out together.
What We Do, in a Sentence
We help people.
Older adults. Adults with disabilities. Family caregivers. Students. Job seekers. People in crisis. Families navigating long-term care decisions.
We connect people with the services, support, and information they need to live independently, stay in their homes, and access the help that already exists, but is often hard to find on your own.
That’s what we do. The rest of this blog is the how.
What The Information Center Actually Does
Here’s the full picture, program by program. As you read through, think about who in your life each one might help, because chances are, you know someone who could use one of these.
1. MI Choice Medicaid Waiver
In-home care for older adults and adults with disabilities, instead of a nursing home.
This is our flagship program. The MI Choice Medicaid Waiver helps adults 65+ and adults 18+ with qualifying disabilities get the care they need to stay in their own homes, instead of moving into a nursing facility.
Through MI Choice, eligible Wayne County and Downriver residents can receive home delivered meals, nursing care, community living supports (help with bathing, dressing, errands, housekeeping), home modifications, personal emergency response systems, transportation, respite care for family caregivers, and more.
Who calls us about this: Adult children worried about an aging parent. Spouses caring for a partner with a long-term condition. Seniors who want to stay in their homes but need a little more help to do it.
Read more: Our complete guide to MI Choice explains who qualifies and what’s covered.
2. Community Transition Services (CTS)
Help moving home from a nursing facility.
Not everyone in a nursing facility wants to be there. CTS helps eligible adults living in nursing facilities transition back into the community to their own apartment, an assisted living facility, or another community setting.
We help find housing, cover security deposits and first month’s rent, furnish the new home with basic furniture and supplies, stock the kitchen with food, and connect the person to ongoing in-home services. About half of our CTS clients move on to MI Choice, PACE, Home Help, Home Health Care, Habilitation Supports Waiver, or Dual Insurance Plans
Who calls us about this: Hospital and SNF discharge planners. Family members of someone currently in a nursing facility. People living in nursing facilities who want to come home.
Read more: How Community Transition Services work, step by step.
3. Community Navigation
Free, confidential help connecting you to community resources.
This is our front door, the program a lot of people don’t realize is even available to them.
If you call our number and you’re not sure what you need, or you need help with something we don’t directly provide, our Community Navigators connect you with the right organization. That includes housing assistance, utility help, food, healthcare, employment programs, mental health support, legal aid, and much more.
In 2023 alone, our Community Navigation team handled over 4,000 calls, connected community members to 40,000 meals, and supported hundreds of clients living safely at home. They serve as a critical lifeline for residents across the region.
Who calls us about this: Anyone who’s stuck. People in crisis. Families navigating eviction notices, utility shutoffs, or sudden hardship. Friends and neighbors looking for resources for someone they love.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.
4. Student Assistance Program (SAP)
Free help for WCCCD students balancing school and life.
If you or someone you know is a student at Wayne County Community College District, this program is for you. The Student Assistance Program helps WCCCD students who are dealing with non-academic barriers, the stuff that has nothing to do with grades but everything to do with whether you stay enrolled.
That includes food assistance, housing help, utility bill support, mental health resources, employment connections, transportation help, and childcare challenges.
Who calls about this: WCCCD students who are stretched thin. Faculty and advisors who notice a student is struggling. Family members trying to help a student stay in school.
Dedicated phone line: 1-855-59WCCCD (1-855-599-2223). Free. Confidential. No judgment.
Read more: 5 free resources every WCCCD student should know about.
5. Michigan Works! One Call
Free statewide help finding a job or building skills.
Looking for work? Looking to switch careers? Looking to hire? Michigan Works! One Call connects job seekers and employers with American Job Centers and partner agencies across Michigan.
As a job seeker, you can get help exploring careers, accessing training, building a resume, preparing for interviews, and finding work that fits around the rest of your life. Employers can connect with Business Services specialists to recruit skilled workers.
In 2023, our team assisted 7,000 Michigan Works! One Call users seeking employment and training opportunities.
Who calls about this: Job seekers. Career changers. Recent graduates. Workers who got laid off. Employers who need help recruiting.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM.
6. Person-Centered Options Counseling (MI Options)
Free statewide help understanding your long-term care options.
This is one of our newest programs and an important one. The Information Center is contracted by the State of Michigan to deliver Person-Centered Options Counseling across the entire Lower Peninsula of Michigan.
If you or someone you love is facing a long-term care decision, like trying to figure out home care, assisted living, nursing home options, or how to plan ahead, you can call MI Options for free, unbiased, one-on-one counseling. A trained counselor sits with you (in person or by phone), asks about what you actually need, and walks through your options based on your specific situation. No pressure. No sales pitch. Just clear guidance.
Who calls about this: Anyone in Michigan facing a long-term care decision. Families trying to plan ahead. Discharge planners who want to refer patients for unbiased options counseling.
Statewide phone line: 1-800-803-7174.
7. Community Partner Support
Mending the safety net, alongside the people doing the work.
This one isn’t a public program, it’s how we work with the rest of the community. We partner with hospitals, rehab facilities, nursing homes, churches, clinics, schools, nonprofits, and elected officials across the region.
If you run a nonprofit, a clinic, a church, or any organization that serves the same families we do, we want to be on your speed dial, and we want you on ours. Strong partnerships mean fewer people falling through the cracks.
Who calls us about this: Hospital social workers. Discharge planners. Pastors. Clinic directors. Anyone who wants to mend the safety net alongside us.
How to Know Which Program Fits Your Situation
Honestly? You don’t have to know. That’s our job.
If you call 734-282-7171 and tell us what’s going on, we’ll figure out which program (or which combination of programs) fits your situation. Sometimes it’s clear right away. Sometimes we connect you to one program and follow up with another. And sometimes we point you to an outside organization that’s a better match, and that’s fine too.
But if it helps, here’s a quick at-a-glance guide:
• If you’re caring for an aging parent → Call us about MI Choice.
• If your loved one is in a nursing facility and wants to come home → Call us about CTS.
• If you’re a student at WCCCD → Call 1-855-59WCCCD about the Student Assistance Program.
• If you’re looking for a job → Call us about Michigan Works! One Call.
• If you’re facing a long-term care decision → Call 1-800-803-7174 for MI Options.
• If you’re facing a crisis or you’re not sure where to start → Just call us. 734-282-7171. Our Community Navigation team will help you find the right next step.
Who Answers the Phone?
Real Downriver neighbors. That’s the short answer.
Our team is made up of nurses, social workers, community health workers, transition navigators, options counselors, and intake specialists. The names that come up in our client stories are real people on our team. People who live in this community. People who do this work because they care about the families we serve.
We’re headquartered in Taylor, Michigan, at 20400 Superior Road. We’ve been here for decades. And while we’re modernizing how we communicate, a better website, more social media, easier ways to reach us, the heart of what we do has stayed the same. Real people, picking up the phone, helping other people.
Why We’d Rather Not Be Downriver’s Best Kept Secret
There’s a quiet pride in being well known to the people who already know you. But here’s the problem with being a secret: the people who need us most are usually the ones who haven’t heard of us yet.
The mom worried about her dad after his fall. The student at WCCCD trying to keep the lights on. The hospital social worker scrambling to find a community partner before tomorrow’s discharge. The veteran living in a nursing facility who has no idea there’s a program that could help him get home.
Every one of those people deserves to know we exist. So we’re telling more of our story, in blogs like this one, in social media, in the conversations we have with community partners, because the more people know what we do, the more families we can help.
If this blog is the first time you’ve heard about us, welcome. If you already knew us for one thing and just learned we do six more, even better. Now you know who to call when something else comes up. Or who to recommend when a friend is stuck.
Help Us Stop Being a Secret
If something in this blog made you think of someone in your life, share it with them. Send the link. Screenshot the program list. Save our phone number to your contacts.
And if something in this blog made you think “wait, that’s actually for me” don’t put off the call. We’re here Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM. The call is free. There’s no obligation.
Whatever you’re facing, we’d rather you call us and not need us than need us and not call.