While we’re still enjoying a Pure Michigan winter, communities up North are already preparing for their summer tourism season and their seasonal workers. 

A program on Mackinac Island works to support summer employees to ensure they feel connected to life on the island. 

Mackinac Connect, supported by the Mackinac Island Community Foundation (MICF), is a source for community engagement, networking and an equitable connection to resources. The program began through community dinners for summer employees at a local church. 

“MICF had been granting to the church for years for an employee dinner every Thursday night for those who were in the community who either weren’t provided dinners through their employer or who wanted to meet with other employees on the island. Through those dinners, the community foundation found out that there more supports needed,” Stephanie McGreevy, executive director and CEO of MICF. 

Each summer, a priest would travel to the island and support the employees who attended the dinners through listening to their stories, planning trips around the island and helping employees access basic needs. When the pandemic began, he could no longer travel back to the island. 

“There’s a strong, diverse group of cultures on the island working during the summer, and when COVID-19 hit, we recognized a disservice to the community was happening,” McGreevy said. 

McGreevy shared that she attended CMF’s 47th Annual Conference in the fall of 2019, months before the pandemic unfolded, where she engaged in conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

“After going to the conference, I started to look through the grants and realized we have rarely done anything for this community that takes care of us. I asked myself, ‘what are we doing to help?’” McGreevy said. 

Those conversations around DEI led the community foundation to rethink how they’re supporting summer employees. 

Last summer, MICF began having conversations with previous volunteers of the dinners, employers, the tourism bureau and other local organizations about what they saw were the needs of the employees. This resulted in the creation of Mackinac Connect which is dedicated to inclusiveness on the island and provides equitable access to services. 

One of the first things the program created was a 24-hour warmline for island workers. 

“Mental health support was one of the first steps in all of this, and a big part of that is understanding what the needs are,” McGreevy said. 

According to McGreevy, they found that community engagement and healthier activities were essential to bettering the life of island workers by finding more spaces for them to gather and meet other people outside of their dorms. 

“Our recreation department began having more meetups at the city park, sporting events and community-bonding events that allowed workers to get out of their spaces,” McGreevy.

Through this work, MICF created a resource guide specific to employees, helping them access resources and basic needs like affordable healthcare, transportation, groceries and Michigan 2-1-1. 

“Acknowledging that they have roadblocks to getting basic needs was the first step and then showing them the resources to get to the next steps. A part of DEI for us is lifting all those programs on the mainland to bring to the island so those services can become available or at least a lot closer,” McGreevy said. 

McGreevy shared that the hope is that this work will create a space for summer employees to express their needs.

“We’ve been so isolated because of the pandemic; we need each other now more than ever. Sometimes we want a sympathetic ear to understand better what our stories are,” McGreevy said. 

Want more?

Learn more about Mackinac Connect.