George James

SC4 Presents Art Tribute to Professor Korff

A beloved professor at St. Clair County Community College will be remembered with a memorial art exhibition. David Korff’s work will be featured in “Timelines: Progression of a Vision.” The 44 works include watercolors, drawings, and collages.

The community is invited to check out the exhibit and share their thoughts in a journal which will be presented to the family of Professor Korff.

Korff taught at SC4 for thirty years until his 2011 retirement. He also held leadership positions at Lambton College of Sarnia.

Korff was a founding member of the Port Huron Art Initiative and served on the Art Committee for the Community Foundation of St. Clair County. He also served as a board member on the International Symphony and Port Huron Museum.

The art exhibit will be on display in the SC4 Fine Arts Gallery starting November 15th and ending December 17th. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed November 24-26.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Port Huron Housing Expands with Ordinance Change

If you have been looking for rental housing in the Port Huron area, or St. Clair County as a whole, you know that rentals are few and far between. To address this reality, Port Huron City Council adopted an ordinance change.

The change will allow Port Huron Housing to operate both the Public Housing Program and the Housing Choice Voucher, or Section 8, outside the city and county. The program can now expand into Sanilac, Lapeer, and Macomb counties. It is endorsed by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and the collaborative model is being promoted statewide.

James Dewey, Executive Director of Port Huron, Marysville, St. Clair, and Algonac Housing Commissions, said, “Currently our Housing Choice Voucher program’s approved jurisdiction through HUD is all of St. Clair County and we would like to expand that to Sanilac, Lapeer and Macomb Counties because our clients are not having much luck finding available apartments within St. Clair County.”

Dewey said that the regional approach will also deconcentrate the use of vouchers within the City of Port Huron. A new low-income housing development is in the works in Fort Gratiot Township. 

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Local Entrepreneurs to Get Help from Michigan Women Forward

Women who are looking for help in starting new businesses have an advocate right here in St. Clair County. The Community Foundation of St. Clair County has announced Maggie Toole as the new business development officer with Michigan Women Forward.

Michigan Women Forward is a community development organization in which the Community Foundation of St. Clair County has invested $250,000. The money will go toward supporting and connecting business owners with financial resources.

With her new job, Maggie Toole will be providing technical assistance for loan programs for entrepreneurs in St. Clair County.

Michigan Women Forward has a long list of projects, all with the goal of removing obstacles to success for women entrepreneurs. Toole will be helping to navigate any obstacles and also reaching out to local minority-owned businesses, according to the announcement from the Community Foundation.

Toole, a Port Huron resident, is an SC4 graduate and has experience in the financial and real estate sectors.

More information can be found at miwf.org.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Grants Available for Childcare Providers

There is a shortage of childcare options for working parents statewide. The Child Care Stabilization Grant was launched this week to help keep childcare providers open and able to take care of children while their parents are earning income.

The program will distribute $350 million in grants that equate to $1000 or $500 bonuses for childcare professionals as well as provide funding for improvements to programs and signing bonuses for new workers. The plan could also expand low-cost child care programs.

The grants are available to licensed childcare providers only. The money will be disbursed directly from the employers to their employees.

The plan gets its funding from federal resources. It is expected to support over 8,000 childcare businesses throughout Michigan. According to the plan outline, every eligible provider who applies will receive a grant.

The average cost for childcare is over $9,000 per year for full-time care for one child in Michigan, according to move.org.

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland

Sarnia Revises COVID Guidance to Follow County, Province

The Province of Ontario is lifting capacity limits and physical distancing requirements in those places where proof of vaccination is required. Sarnia is following suit with lifting restrictions in the city arenas.

Mask wearing is still mandatory. Proof of vaccination for anyone over the age of 12 is required for all sports and recreational facilities in Lambton County, by November 30th.

The borders are now open for non-essential travel between Canada and the United States, but there are requirements to follow. Non-essential travelers must be vaccinated with few exceptions.

For Canadians heading back into Canada, even after a brief trip, and anyone else crossing the border, a negative coronavirus molecular test, taken within the last 72 hours is required. A rapid test is not acceptable.

Ontario is planning to lift remaining public health and workplace safety measures by March 2022.

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/provinces#entering

Reporting for WGRT- Jennie McClelland

Read for Life Needs Tutoring Volunteers

Students have had a rough two years and many young learners are in need of some additional help. The Read for Life program is looking for volunteers to help with their tutoring program at the Literacy Academy at Cleveland Elementary.

The program needs help with tutoring first and second graders on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:15-4:15 in the afternoon.

Organizer Mary Depner said that volunteers “work with students starting with where their reading ability is and try to catch them up to grade level so they become successful in school and will graduate.  We hope they will continue their education or a training program so they will break the cycle of poverty in their lives.”

Depner said there is a big celebration when the student can say, “I can read”. It often makes behavior problems go away and the students then become leaders.

Depner shared that illiteracy is closely tied to future incarceration, juvenile delinquency, and poverty. Read for Life has been reaching out to increase literacy and break the cycle of poverty since 2010.

For more information, please call or text Mary Depner at 810-334-4567 or email marydepner@yahoo.com. 

Reporting for WGRT – Jennie McClelland