In 2022, 43% of Sanilac County households were living either in poverty or within the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold. These households struggle to maintain basic needs. Because poverty and the struggles it causes impact mental health, Sanilac County Community Mental Health (CMH) collaborates with a long list of organizations to host Project Connect. 

“Project Connect is a resource fair designed for community members who are under-resourced such as veterans, low income, living in poverty, at risk of losing their housing, or homeless,” says Kellie Phelps, administrative assistant, Sanilac County CMH.

The fun community event offers health checks, flu shots, employment support, educational opportunities, child/parent resources, senior services information, housing resources, free haircuts, food distribution, veteran support, and service information. The event will have door prizes and free giveaways. For free transportation to the event, call 810-648-9766.

Project Connect will take place at the Sandusky Fairgrounds from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, September 26. Admission is free. Plans for providing community members with transportation to the event are underway.

Kellie Phelps“By bringing together a variety of specialties to one place and providing transportation to the event, Sanilac CMH hopes this will encourage people to come for the support and services they need,” Phelps says. “Participants will also be provided lunch, personal care products, cleaning items, blankets, and food to take with them when they leave.”

Sanilac County CMH is the lead agency in the Sanilac County Community Collaborative. One of this collaborative’s subcommittees, the Sanilac County Prevention Network (SCPN) focuses on three county initiatives: Suicide prevention, homelessness, and Project Connect, which is defined as a provider expo.

Others involved in the SCPN include Aspire Rural Health Systems, Eva’s Place, and the Human Development Commission, the county’s community action agency. In 2023, the SCPN recognized that a fun, full-day community event like Project Connect would be one way to help community residents connect to the resources and services they need.

“We started Project Connect because we see a lot of people living in poverty,” Phelps says. “The purpose is to get all community resources under one roof to help people get what they need.”


Project Connect Flyer

Project Connect brings together 33 organizations, private and public. Some have provided financial backing, while others will share resources at the event. The Sanilac County Health Department will provide free flu shots. McKenzie Health Systems will offer free wellness checks. And the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services will help people sign up for Medicaid and food assistance programs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will consult with community members on affordable housing options.

“Some of these organizations will be providing services on site, while others will have resources and information available,” Phelps says. “There will be stations throughout the venue that will provide resources as well. We have room for more.” 

Phelps hopes Project Connect will not only connect community residents with resources but also with each other and their community. 

“You can hand a person stuff all day long, but if they don’t have the knowledge to succeed, they will not improve their life,” Phelps says. “We want to link the residents with the community.”

Phelps realizes people may not know where to go for help and, even if they do, they may have difficulties trying to visit many different agencies to address many different needs. Project Connect addresses both of these issues. After the event, surveys will be sent out to the participants and vendors to garner their thoughts and feedback to improve future Project Connect events. 

“Last year, there were a lot of positive comments from both,” Phelps says. “While it is always good to hear that type of feedback, success really comes from  participants connecting with the services and resources.”

 The biggest challenge the event faces is funding and volunteers. 

“The only way to solve this is by asking, and we do a lot of asking,” Phelps says. “Fortunately, our partners and the community are very generous. It is a little overwhelming, in a good way!”  

Those who would like to volunteer or contribute to Project Connect can contact Phelps at 810-583-0394 or kphelps@sanilaccmh.org. Community organizations and individuals also can contribute to the event by providing cookies for the lunch or prizes for the raffles. For free transportation to the event, call 810-648-9766.

A Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), Sanilac County CMH offers a wide range of mental and behavioral health services to county residents focusing on wellness, recovery, trauma-informed care, and physical-behavioral health integration as well as services to address complex mental illnesses and the treatment of substance use disorders.

Leslie Cieplechowicz is a writer and photographer who developed her craft by working the streets of Detroit as a paramedic and shooting old, historical buildings she found on her runs. She currently works as an instructor and her book, "Detroit Revealed: A Different View of the Motor City", is on the shelves. 

Photos courtesy Sanilac County Community Mental Health.

The MI Mental Health series highlights the opportunities that Michigan's children, teens, and adults of all ages have to find the mental health help they need, when and where they need it. It is made possible with funding from the Community Mental Health Association of Michigan, Center for Health and Research Transformation, LifeWays, Mental Health Foundation of West Michigan, Northern Lakes CMH Authority, OnPoint, Sanilac County CMH, St. Clair County CMH, Summit Pointe, and Washtenaw County CMH.