Calhoun County, MI

Below is the 2022 Annual Report. Click here to view annual reports from previous years.

In 2020, voters renewed the Calhoun County Senior Millage for an additional ten years. Calhoun County Senior Services administers Senior Millage tax dollars funding 21 programs through 9 trusted, non-profit community organizations. Staff provide certified Medicare counseling, information and referral, program development and plan special events for older adults.

Numbers at a Glance

Number of seniors served with millage-funded programs	Amount spent by Senior Services for county seniors	Number of mini-grants awarded

The 15 mini-grants awarded to community organizations totaled $64,690. Those organizations include:

Albion Community Gardens: Gardening Assistant
Albion Health Care Alliance: Commodity Distrib.
BC Community Foundation: St. Thomas Breakfast
Bedford Township: Coffee & Conversation
City of Albion: Amenities for Holland Park
City of Marshall: Albion-Marshall Connector
EastEnd Studio & Gallery: Heritage Commons Art
Eckford Township: Senior Socials
Forks Senior Center: Building Modifications
Kool Family Center: Pool Table Reconditioning
Lee Township: Tuesday Senior Social
Neighborhoods, Inc: Homelessness in Older Adults
Talons Out Honor Flight: Senior Veterans Trip to DC
Village of Mill Creek: Emergency Generator
Walk the Beat: Summer Concert Series

2022 Accomplishments
Senior Ambassadors

Senior Ambassadors are volunteers who represent cities and townships within Calhoun County and meet once a month to receive training on the variety of programs funded by Senior Millage. Since the creation of this group there has been a noticeable increase of participation in Senior Millage programs.

Ambassadors 7 21 2022 cropped

From left to right: Janet Kolassa, Isabell Nazar, Deb Withee, Donna Rook, Barbara Gladney, Marline Prather, Cheryl Roberts, Evelyn Union, Juanita Solis-Kidder, Sheila Austin, Phil Raleigh.

Not pictured: Pat Raleigh, Helen Starkey, Judy Bush, Sheryl Willerick, Vicki Laupp.

The Joanne Konkle Lifetime Leadership Award

The 2022 Joanne Konkle Lifetime Leadership Award was given to Chuck Asher, retiring chief operations officer for Community Action and Cathie Davids, a long-time Meals on Wheels volunteer for Milestone Senior Services. Chuck has been with Community Action for 12 years and is a retired firefighter. Cathie has been volunteering with Milestone for over a decade.
2022JoanneKonkleAward - Copy (3)

Senior Stratiegic Projects
As a taxing entity, Senior Millage receives revenue from FireKeepers Casino and Personal Property Tax Reimbursement from the State of Michigan. After a yearlong conversation, the Senior Millage Allocation Committee voted to use these revenue streams to fund Senior Strategic Projects. This one-time funding is meant to inspire innovation and better the lives of Calhoun County seniors. Five projects were awarded funding in 2022:

Albion Community Foundation: Age-Friendly Albion
Albion Community Gardens: Hoop House
Guardian Finance & Advocacy Services: Tech. Upgrade/Cyber Security
Milestone Senior Services: Volunteer Recruitment
True Care Living: Garden Activity Center

2022 saw the return of the Calhoun County Senior Fair at a new location, the Kellogg Arena on September 8, hosting 98 vendors and nearly 400 participants.
The first Tekonsha Senior Health & Safety Fair was held on October 6 at the Tekonsha Fire Station with 41 vendors and 147 people attending.

301 free Merry Mile coupons redeemed by seniors to drive through the lights display at the Calhoun County Fairgrounds.
Senior Day at the Calhoun County Fair was well attended with over 690 people enjoying the activities. Hosted by Senior Times; Calhoun County Senior Services is one of the proud sponsors of this event.
The Centenarian Project had over 40 people, 99 years and over, participate in this celebration of aging project. We documented the life story of 18 new centenarians and 13 centenarians attended the July celebration along with their families. BluFish, the company who provided the photography for the portraits, put together an art exhibit of 10 seniors from the project at the Eastend Studio & Gallery in Marshall.