BERRIEN COUNTY COMMISSION UPDATE

By DEBRA HAIGHT
BCR Correspondent

ST. JOSEPH – Last week’s Berrien County Board of Commissioners meeting featured honors and awards as well as action on spending the first of the funds received from a national opioid settlement.
Honors went to current Miss Michigan Maya Schuhknecht of Buchanan. Maya recently competed in the Miss America pageant and won a preliminary talent award.
She began her pageant run in 2019 when she was First Runnerup to Miss Buchanan, Miss Spirit of Blossomtime and Miss Congeniality in that year’s Miss Blossomtime contest. She won the Miss Michigan crown last June. Academically, she graduated from Michigan State University last spring with a degree in graphic design.
“Whereas, she shares often that you can come from a small town and do big things and urges young women to chase after their dreams, and whereas, she has represented our county and our state well at the national level and it is appropriate to recognize those that make great contributions to their community and have achieved great success.”
The county board resolution concluded with recognition of her success and wishing her well in her future endeavors. “Maya Schuhknecht’s life, actions, and contributions reflect most favorably upon herself, her family, the community of Buchanan, Berrien County, the State of Michigan and the United States of America.”
County Commissioner Teri Freehling talked about how remarkable Maya’s achievement was. “I want to statistically talk about how remarkable it is to have a Miss Michigan from Southwest Michigan,” she said. “You have a greater chance of being in the NFL than you do of being on stage for Miss America. It’s a remarkable feat and something she should be very proud of.”

Two Berrien County Sheriff’s Department deputies received lifesaving and medal of valor honors. The medal of valor has only been given out three or four times previously.
Deputy Nicholas Jewell received a certificate of commendation for his lifesaving efforts in locating a missing elderly Stevensville man February 28. Paul Roy, 81, had been missing since the previous evening and was found eight miles away from his home during a terrible winter storm.
“You located this individual lying in the grass waving for help,” the commendation stated. “You were able to assist him before the arrival of Medic 1 personnel. Your unwavering determination played a crucial role in ensuring a positive outcome for Mr. Roy.”
Deputy Aaron Nannfeldt received the Medal of Valor for his actions last Nov. 13 in Hagar Township when police responded to a domestic violence incident. An armed man was in a shed on the property and opened fire on police. One officer was struck and Nannfeldt engaged the person and was able to protect other officers.
“You acted with astounding heroism at the risk of your own life,” the commendation stated. “You performed your duties in such a manner as to reflect courage and dedication in the highest tradition of the Law Enforcement Profession.”
Last week’s Committee of the Whole and Board of Commissioners meetings featured discussion and action on the disbursement of the county’s opioid settlement funds.
Berrien County Health Officer Guy Miller went through the grant process at the Committee of the Whole meeting. The county is getting $8.6 million over 16 years, including $750,000 annually for the next five years to fund treatment and prevention programs to fight opioid addiction.
The county set up a taskforce to start the process last May of developing requests for proposals. A review committee then met over the last few weeks to evaluate the six proposals received and recommend two for funding. An oversight committee will now take over to make sure the funding is spent properly.
The organizations/programs being funded in this first round of settlement funding are the First Church of God which will be getting $420,112 and Sacred Heart which will be getting $484,286 for the three-year initial funding cycle.
The First Church of God will be getting funding for programs at its Benton Harbor campus. They plan to introduce a male transitional housing program to address a critical need in the community. They plan to offer a holistic approach in addressing the needs of individuals struggling with addiction and other issues.
The Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center is located in the former Berrien General Hospital in Berrien Township. Their proposal includes the creation of a therapist position alongside the deployment of two peer recovery coaches to a partner organization. Their program will also address the importance of transportation in the accessing of treatment services.
The awarding of the grant funds to the two entities didn’t sit well with some in the audience. Former County Commissioner Marletta Seats and other Benton Harbor area officials questioned why Benton Harbor based organizations didn’t get funding and how proposals were evaluated.
“We scored the lowest in the evaluation of proposals even though we have the longest standing program besides the health department and we brought Sacred Heart here,” Seats said of the Abundant Lfe Ministries she helps run. “The Benton Harbor area isn’t really covered with the programs getting funding. Are we determining who lives and who dies by a scoring system?”
“I asked to sit on the taskforce and was denied,” Seats added. “The Benton Harbor area isn’t really covered with these grants. Are we determining what’s covered by a scoring system? Are we determining by a scoring system who lives and who dies? You’re impeding our ability to help more people.”
Duane Seats is on the Benton Harbor City Commission and also questioned the process of distributing the opioid settlement funds. “People who have no history of helping received funding,” he said. “We’re asking you to stop utilizing Benton Harbor statistics if you’re not going to use money to do what’s right for Benton Harbor.”