United Way Extended Info

This summer the 4th Annual International Regatta for Port Huron Yacht Club was a blast! Despite the lull of wind, racers, members, sponsors and many families and friends of the racers enjoyed a beautiful evening of outdoor grilling, a blues-band and a great view of the colorful boats. As a prelude to the 84th Mackinac Lake Huron Race, we had about 36 boats participate in this year’s race.

A great big Thanks to the Port Huron Yacht Club’s Race Co-Chairs Tyson Connolly and Nick Ward for organizing the event.

A special thanks to the PHYC Women’s Auxillary for putting on a fabulous steak dinner and for donating the proceeds to United Way. We are grateful to for their gift of $500!

Here’s a quick run of the winners:

Earth Voyager

As summertime kicks off the Port Huron Yacht Club is looking forward to hosting the 2008 Lake Huron International Regatta on the weekend of July 4^th and 5^th.

 As the Maritime Capitol of the Great Lakes, Port Huron is herald as the warm-up race for the Sailing season.  The Lake Huron International Regatta has also teamed with the United Way of St. Clair County to make this event an exciting and fun filled weekend for everyone.

 The race will feature two challenging courses for the sailors – The Port Huron 100 course will take sailors along both shores of Lake Huron and as far north as the Southern Lake Huron weather buoy.  The John Blunt Memorial course is a shorter 68 miles but just as challenging.  These courses have a deep historical flavor – having been traditionally sailed by both the Port Huron and Sarnia Yacht Club fleets.

 This effort is led by Tyson Connolly and Nick Ward, both members of the Port Huron Yacht Club and avid, experienced sailors.  Since its inception, both Connolly and Ward wanted to bring both the awareness of this sport and the Club’s support of United Way’s many funded programs that help many residents throughout St. Clair County.  Additionally, many club members are active supporting funded agencies either as volunteer leaders, employers/employees of the agency or serving as board members. 

 “With our communities being smaller than most clubs there’s more intimacy among our members who work, live and play in the Blue Water Area.  So we felt it was a natural fit to partner with United Way not only because of the good work they do but their ability to bring people together for a common cause.”

Both Connolly and Ward feel it is important that the community acts as a team especially in times of economic hardship.

 Community pride has been ingrained on both men growing up in Port Huron. As graduates from Port Huron Northern High School, they continued their involvement in the community supporting various charity races.

 To date the Regatta has approximately 30 boats registered.  Connolly expects that number to exceed 50.  Year after year he sees some interest and momentum building in the event.  Having to juggle other sailing circuits including the big Mackinac Race has been a little demanding on both.

 Gained at the race will include seasoned, professional sailors from all parts of the Great Lakes to include Bayview Yacht club and Sarnia Yacht Club.  This year’s highlight will feature Stars and Stripes, winner of the 1988 America’s Cup and Equation, owned by Bill Alcott. These are two of the most recognizable boats going head-to-head at this year’s event.  Also featured is Earth Voyager, a trimaran with the fastest run to Mackinac at last year’s race. 

The race begins on July 4^th.  The start of the race is mile half north of Blue Water Bridge.  The Port Huron Yacht Club will be open to the public on July 5^th and will include a steak dinner, a blues band and raffles.

You can see it on reality shows like “Trading Spaces” or “Trading Housewives” where participants experience a different perspective from their own place. On June 10^th, The directors from United Way of St. Clair County and United Way of Sarnia Lambton swaped places to do just that.

The goal was to raise the awareness of United Way’s mission to the community and to share and understand the socio-economic and cultural differences or similarities of two countries that United Way serves. Of the 1,300 United Ways in the United States and International United Ways in 93 countries, We are unique having two United Way offices located only a third of a mile apart from the International Border. Two other similar settings include Detroit/Winsor and Ste. St. Marie/Soo St. Marie – All in Michigan.

The objective was to build a collaborative relationship with the United Way’s and their agencies with the intent to develop and exchange best practices.

The swap was also an opportunity to develop creative an innovative ways to further engage communities to participate and support United Way’s mission.

Activities for the day included:

-Meeting with each United Way staff to learn their roles and work environment

-visit with funded agencies and programs and an opportunity to share best practices

-Participate in a United Way Volunteer Committee meeting

-To visit a few companies that support United Way workplace campaigns

-Visit some of United Way’s newest initiatives (i.e. United Way Community Dental Clinic)

-Interview with local media.

the things that I found similar was our United Way operations. Both offices have a staff of six. Both agencies fund 50 programs from 24 agencies. In population, St. Clair County is slightly higher at 167,000 compared to 138,000 in Lambton County. In last year’s campaign effort, St. Clair County raised $1.6 million comparied to $1.8 million in Sarnia Lambton. One of Sarnia’s largest employers, Imperial Oil (Shell Oil) represents over thirty percent of their campaign. Both United Ways conduct similar campaign strategies utilizing volunteer leaders and businesses. The difference in the workforce was the growth of young professionals in manufacturing, engineering and health care. Lambton County residents have a higher trade or college education average than St. Clair County.

On the human and social services side there was quite a contrast. Sarnia Lambton’s elderly and retiree population is on the rise. the services to support this growing population, include the need for transportation, podiatry (foot ailments), and substance abuse, particularly in perscription drugs. This issue also carries over to all age groups which lead to United Way of Sarnia Lambton’s Drug Strategy – One of their key initiatives to reduce harm, Increase safety and awareness and implement programs that require collaboration and lasting impact measures.

In my visits with agencies such as the Ministry Health Centers, Big Sisters and Rebound, I learned that space and capacity were big issues. Agencies were truly maximizing their resources and the staff I met were very friendly, professional and more important, committed to the cause. Sounds familiar, eh?

After seven months of laborious efforts from Bob Koppel and his outstanding subcontracting crew, what was a once a vision nine years ago is now a reality just a few weeks away.

What is amazing about Bob Koppel’s “On-Time On Budget” work ethic is his ability to make grass grow overnight! Last night as I drove by the clinic to check on the progress, there was dirt and no sign. The following morning the entire place was covered with sod. I kid him that he put the pressure on the ground to grow grass fast, but in reality he recommend having this done instead of seeding.  This was not only cost effective and efficient, but aesthetically pleasing. During the last week, the folks at Patterson Medical were installing the dental chairs and other machinery while Michigan Community Dental Clinics Inc. were installing all the computers and T lines working with conjunction with the St. Clair County Department of Health.  Both organizations are key players in the service delivery for low-income residents.

More to come….

United Way of St. Clair County honored the 2007 Campaign by acknowledging the achievements of the employees and volunteers, who collectively raised $1,608,000 for the 2007-2008 Campaign. About 150 people showed up for the Annual Meeting and recognition. Additionally, the United Way installed four new board members:

Tracy Stablein-Brooks - is the Uniserv Director for the Michigan Education Association . Tracy is from St. Clair comes from a family of Educators. Tracy serves the Downriver and Western Public Schools and is an avid Tennis Player. This is Tracy’s first Term.

Joe Dams - Joe works for DTE Energy and is a member of the Utility Workers Local 223. He has been a long-standing volunteer with the Citizens Review Committee and is a strong volunteer for the DTE Energy Campaign and the United Way Charity Golf Classic Sponsored by the Utility Companies in St. Clair County. This is Joe’s first term.

Larry Smith - Larry is Vice President/General Manager of Liggett Communications/RadioFirst (A group of 5 radio stations that serve St. Clair and Sanilac County -WSAQ, WPHM, WBTI, WHLS, WHLX)

Larry has worked his entire career at the radio stations in Port Huron, as a sales person, sports announcer, general sales manager, and became Vice President/General Manager in 2000 when the two local radio groups were sold and merged into Liggett Communications

Resides in Ft. Gratiot Township with his wife Kathy, a manager at Port Huron Hospital and has 4 grown children who live in Florida, Arizona and North Carolina. Larry’s hobbies include boating, golf and is a Red Wings, Icehawks and Tigers fan.

Kevin Totty - Kevin leads the Connections Program and works with the Memphis School District. Kevin, an ordained Minister is active in his church and works closely with at-risk youth. In the past, Kevin has worked with United Way of St. Clair County as a youth coordinator.

We welcome our new board members and look forward to their contribution of their leadership and skills to the United Way!

I am pleased to have Dave Robb who recently joined us at the United Way office as our logistical volunteer. Dave recently retired from DTE Energy with Local 223 and was a long-time member of the Boilermakers Local 169.

Dave sought us out to volunteer for several reasons. Mainly to give back to the community and for health purposes, he also wanted to keep busy and get out of the home. Dave is grateful for what his profession and community has provided for him and he feels far more fortunate than a lot of people who have not been as fortunate.

Dave is a life-long resident of St. Clair County - Growing up in Marine City and living mostly in Port Huron. He has a grown daughter living in nearby Clyde Township.

Dave performs many different tasks at the United Way. He helps organize our Medical Loan Closet and does repair and maintenance on wheel chairs, walkers, etc. You’ll find him answering the phones from time to time.

In his spare time Dave loves to ride his motorcycle. Welcome Dave! Thanks for being with us!

What better way to kickoff the St. Patrick’s Day weekend than a little music, food and lots of shamrock in all forms! This was my first experience in the 5th Annual event. I learned quickly of the “clans” of St. Clair County hailed from Emmett, Yale and of course here in beautiful Port Huron.

Here we have Tom Shorkey, Superintendent of the Port Huron Area School District and Lt. Tim Donnellon of St. Clair County Sherriff enjoying a delicious breakfast buffet prepared by our great staff from the Thomas Edison Inn.

This year Paul Miller in his fuzzy green hat (which he auction a different hat each year) fetched a good price. Here we have United Way Board member Peter Karadjoff, CEO of Mercy Hospital, sharing with Paul great work being done in the community.

Maybe next year we can convince the city to dye the river green like they do in Chicago! I’ll even place a call to the Army Corps of Engineers to give us the secret formula.

We are please to have Amber Adams and Kathleen Viohl at the United Way of St. Clair County Downriver location in Algonac. Amber is a Baker College intern studying Human Resources and lives in Port Huron. She has also done volunteer work at Homeless Shelters and has worked in many capacities in Customer Care. Amber will serve as our community outreach coordinator and will be working with volunteers and community groups.

Kathleen is an Algonac resident and has worked in Human Services for the State of Michigan and has children attending schools in Algonac. Her interest in volunteering for United Way could not have been better timed when the office officially opened on February 18th. Kathleen’s background in case management, finance and her knowledge of the Downriver community will be a tremendous asset to United Way.

Please drop-in and welcome them and give them your thoughts, ideas and talent to help improve communities. The office is located at Seaway Community Bank, 900 Pte. Tremble - just off M29 St. Clair River Road next to KFC McDonald’s.

The best way to fight the winter blues is to take a drive southbound on M29 on Electric Avenue and see the progress of the clinic. After three months, things are looking solid with the new building. The exterior has been completed and the doors are installed.

Much progress has been made inside where the walls are up and painted, the foundation set with the fixtures and utilities. Drop ceilings are almost completed. Installation of doors and frames will be done this week. Bob Koppel and his talented crew truly fit the phrase “Idle hands are the devil’s work” Stay tuned for more…

Team members from EOC and United Way were on hand to answer questions and provide information to approximately 40 people who attended the Homeownership Fair hosted by State Representative Phil Pavolv and E&A Credit Union on January 28th. Other participants included Accel, Mortgage Center, Michigan Mortgage Lenders Assoc., City of Port Huron, MSU Extension, Port Huron Neighborhood Housing Co-op and Stewart, Beauvais & Whipple.

There were a good line up of speakers with topics ranging from How to Prevent Foreclosure to Money Management.  There are options for those who can take advantage of the current volatile real estate market.  Many thanks to State Rep. Phil Pavlov and his staff for organizing an event that strikes a chord on our current economic condition. 

The timing of this event is part and parcel of the Earned Income Tax Credit national awareness day on January 31st. 

Each year, Michigan loses up to $70 million in uncollected Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) money. Neither the state, nor qualifying residents, can afford to let EITC pass them by any longer. As you prepare your tax forms this year, don’t forget that EITC is available to bring valuable income into the pockets of Michigan’s people. 

EITC is a federal income tax credit available to those participating in the workforce and is considered the nation’s largest and most effective federal aid program. Eligibility is based on income level, marital status and number of dependent children and qualified recipients could receive up to $4,500. While there are numerous tax credit options for the wealthy, EITC is the only tax credit available to the nation’s working class citizens.

The money returned to individuals and families through the EITC is critical in helping them meet basic needs and achieve a level of financial stability.

We all need to be cognizant about families who are  low-income and are financially at-risk have options of these programs and services that will enable them to become financially responsible which will ultimately lead to security.  I can’t guarantee that it will happen for everyone if families or individuals who qualify do not take that first step.  For more information about the Earned Income Tax Credit and how you can take advantage of receiving earned income & credit, call 800-552-1183 to see if you qualify for EITC and get connected with the resources you need to get on the road to financial freedom.