Families & Community

A Michigan judge has denied the state’s request to shut down an Owosso barbershop whose owner continued cutting hair in spite of Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s executive order. The executive order, issued March 21 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, temporarily closed hair, nail, and tanning salons, along with other businesses deemed non-essential. 

Roman Catholic churches across Michigan will begin offering public Masses to the faithful this week. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, all dioceses in Michigan had temporarily suspended public Masses. As different sectors of the economy begin to re-open, so too are religious services, beginning with very small, weekday and private Masses.

The state of Michigan has set aside $130 million from its federal CARES Act funding to help child care businesses - both those that have remained open to care for the children of essential workers, and those that have been forced to close due to the state's stay at home order.

Religious leaders in southeast Michigan are calling on other faith and political leaders to condemn racist symbols displayed by some demonstrators at protests in Lansing. 

Hundreds of protesters gathered again on Thursday at the state Capitol in violation of social distancing rules to protest Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay at home order. At an April 30 protest at the state Capitol building, some protesters displayed confederate flags, swastikas, and nooses. 

The head of a Metro Detroit non-profit social services agency that’s in charge of distributing federal stimulus funds says the COVID-19 pandemic has left many people struggling to meet basic needs.

The Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency was allotted $11 million in CARES Act funds to distribute to households in Wayne County. $8 million of that is reserved for the city of Detroit.

In addition to cancelling sports, movie premieres, and the Olympics, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused a number of notable events in Michigan to cancel.

Here is a list of major festivals and events that have been forced to cancel or postpone due to the outbreak.

This post was originally published on May 1. It has been updated to include details from the latest stay home order, which Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced on May 7.

On Thursday, Republicans in the state Legislature adopted a measure to rein in Governor Gretchen Whitmer's executive power.

New data from the Michigan League for Public Policy finds fewer Michigan children live in poverty today than a decade ago. However, there’s been a sharp rise in investigations and confirmed cases of child abuse and neglect. Since 2010, the number children in investigated families has increased nearly 72%, and confirmed cases are up by one-third.

A new report suggests restarting Michigan’s economy will face a serious roadblock – a lack of child care.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children estimates that 41% of Michigan’s licensed child care slots will be lost as many providers don’t have the money or staff to reopen.

Over the past several weeks, our collective losses have piled up. Jobs and income. Social connections. Routines. Security.

And people.

Michigan families who are owed child support will start receiving money this week tied to federal pandemic stimulus payments.

“The Office of Child Support wants to make sure parents understand what is happening with stimulus payments to people who owe child support,” said Erin Frisch, director of the state Office of Child Support in a written statement.   

The money is coming from stimulus payments earmarked for non-custodial parents who owe back child support.

The U.S. Census Bureau says it will resume its field operations on June 1 because of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s the day when workers will start going door-to-door to interview people who’ve not yet completed their census form online, by phone or by mail.

Under Governor Gretchen Whitmer's "Stay Home, Stay Safe" executive order, there's at least one thing most Michiganders have in common: We're all, well, at home. 

Food banks are among those essential services exempt from the governor’s stay home order. And many Michiganders agree.

Since the outbreak began, Michiganders are turning more and more to food banks

The Food Bank of Eastern Michigan serves local pantries and other groups providing food and other supplies to people in 22 counties.

CEO Kara Ross says the governor’s order has not altered their operations.

The coronavirus pandemic has upended life for all of us in a matter of days. We want to know: What is your most pressing financial concern right now?

COVID-19 is putting a strain on Michigan’s food banks.

Feeding America-west Michigan serves food pantries and other agencies in 40 Michigan counties.

In a normal month, Feeding America distributes 2.5 million pounds of food and other supplies.  On Tuesday alone, they moved more than 100,000 pounds.

Legislation introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives could make the state the second to ban the practice of declawing cats.

Children in Flint faced a myriad of problems well before the city’s water crisis raised new fears of potential negative health effects from lead tainted drinking water.

The challenges faced by Flint kids and the progress that’s been made since the water crisis was the subject of a conference Friday.

The city of Saline held a second meeting on Sunday about recent racist incidents - but this time, no one showed up to make racist remarks.

That doesn't mean the meeting was easy. Many people who came were deeply distressed about what has happened, and shared painful experiences of their own involving racism.