The Cheboygan County Disaster Loan Outreach Center moved to a new location as ice-storm recovery in the region continues.
The U.S. Small Business Administration announced the relocation of the outreach center from the Indian River Chamber of Commerce to the Bodman Building in the City of Cheboygan beginning Friday, July 11.
All center operations have been extended until July 26, closing at 2 p.m.
Disaster Loan Outreach Centers perform an important role in recovery by helping business owners and residents apply for disaster loans and providing information about programs that could help, said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the small business administration.
Center staff can answer questions, explain the application process and help individuals complete their application. Walk-ins are accepted, but appointments can be made in advance at appointment.sba.gov.
The severe winter storms occurred March 28-30 and impacted 12 counties: Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Charlevoix, Cheboygan, Crawford, Emmet, Mackinac, Montmorency, Oscoda, Otsego and Presque Isle counties.
Hundreds of thousands of homes lost power and nearly 1 million acres of Michigan Department of Natural Resources-managed lands — including 3,400 miles of state roads, 19 state parks, 54 state forest campgrounds, 162 boating access sites, and 3,290 miles of state-managed trails — were damaged.
In the immediate aftermath, utility workers, first responders and volunteers from around the state traveled to the hard-hit areas to offer aid.
It looked like a tornado had “knocked down everything in its path,” Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians police Capt. Dave Crockett said.
He and Tribal Fire Chief Garrett Fairchild helped out on April 3 by making rounds to hundreds of homes through the Lakes of the North community to check on the welfare of residents living there.
They provided water, made sure people were safe, answered questions about power outages and helped an elderly woman get to the hospital.
After checking on the occupants of a home, they would tie a yellow marker on the mailbox.
The tribe owns land in Antrim County, but Crockett said those areas weren’t hit very hard by the storm.
He said they were just a small part of the response.
“We’re just trying to be good neighbors,” Crockett said. “I believe the tribe wants to be good neighbors and just trying to help our fellow man and woman out.”
There hasn’t been a request for their assistance since that day, but Crockett said, “It’s an open-ended offer anytime (the Antrim County sheriff) needs help for anything and we can help him out, give us a call and we’ll gladly come.”