Jody Parmann was driving through downtown Detroit, admiring the murals that adorn the walls of city buildings. Why weren’t there more of these in Port Huron, Jody asked herself. Then she did something about it.
Several communities have closed select streets to automobiles, and advocates hope that the pandemic may prompt long-term positive changes in how we use public space for health and fitness.
They call them porch pirates. Opportunists that spot a delivery package on someone’s front porch and then take it, long before the intended recipient ever even sees it. A China Township start-up is fighting back.
Residents have learned many healthy lessons through a program that offers nutrition and physical activity education and encouragement tailored to the needs of clients with cognitive impairments.
Despite the many challenges the pandemic has presented, food organizations have quickly restructured their operations to meet unprecedented demand.
Three Detroit PAL teens tell us how they feel about social distancing, preparing for college during a pandemic, and George Floyd's tragic death.
The Port Huron DDA and City Manager proposed shutting down a stretch of Huron Avenue to traffic, allowing restaurants to expand their outdoor seating and provide a safer experience for downtown pedestrians. "We were ready to go up against MDOT, to put on our boxing gloves and fight for it. But it wasn’t a bridge we had to cross," says Cynthia Cutright of the DDA.
Twelve area minority- and women-owned businesses have received a total of $25,000 in grants, this thanks to the work of the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County and the Community Foundation of St. Clair County. Outreach efforts have proved critical to the process. "In our march toward progress, we left some behind. Now it’s catch-up time," says small business consultant Kanchan Wankhede.
Port Huron businesses are enrolling in the MI Local Biz program, an extension of the state’s placemaking initiative Public Spaces Community Places. The MI Local Biz program was created by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to help Michigan small businesses get back on their feet as the state re-opens.
An afterschool gardening club at three Lansing-area elementary schools helps kids learn how food gets from their own school gardens to their table – and how to improve their community's overall food security.
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