HOUGHTON — Cultural and community nonprofits in six Upper Peninsula counties, including Houghton and Ontonagon, received grant funding from Michigan Humanities, according to a release from that organization.

Michigan Humanities announced $661,085 in emergency Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to 116 Michigan cultural and community organizations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, states a release from . Michigan Humanities Organizations Pandemic Emergency Grants program (MI H.O.P.E.) of up to $10,000 provided general operating support, with an emphasis on maintaining personnel, in 53 counties across Michigan.

The organizations and their counties are:

Chippewa

• Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society $5,000.00

Dickinson

• Dickinson County Library $5,000.00

Gogebic

• Bessemer Public Library $7,500.00

• Ironwood Carnegie Library $5,100.00

Houghton

• Quincy Mine Hoist Association $5,000.00

• Real People Media $6,835.00

Mackinac

• Mackinac Island Public Library $7,500.00

• Michilimackinac Historical Society $10,000.00

• Museum of Ojibwa Culture $10,000.00

Marquette

• Cedar Tree Institute $5,000.00

• Marquette Regional History Center $6,000.00

• Negaunee Public Library $7,400.00

Ontonagon

• Carp Lake Township Library $6,000.00

• Presque Isle

• Presque Isle District Library $2,500.00

Through funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the CARES Act, MI H.O.P.E. Grants were available to museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, and other humanities-focused nonprofits in Michigan and could be used for eligible general operating support expenses impacted by the pandemic, including salaries and fringe benefits, rent and mortgage payments, and utilities.

“Small historical societies play an important role in protecting and preserving the historical record and interpreting the past to the public,” said Cindy Willson, membership director and grant coordinator at Millington-Arbela Historical Society, in the release. “Some will not survive this pandemic, losing precious local artifacts and local culture. However, with the funds provided by the H.O.P.E. grant, we will be able to keep the doors open, paying basic core operating expenses like water, electricity, heat and building insurance.”

Many of these societies, like ours, are tiny, underfunded, and understaffed, said Willson.

A total of 306 applications were received, with a total of $2.5 million in requests, states the release. Applications were open April and May, and reviewed on a weekly basis to ensure grantees received funding within two weeks of application. All payments have been disbursed.

Michigan Humanities works to inspire communities to come together in creative and freely expressed ways to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, and for all people of Michigan to experience and understand the importance of humanities. For more information on available grants and programs, visit michiganhumanities.org.