St. Clair County Emergency Relief/Hardship Fund

Alongside the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Fund, the Department of Veterans Affairs keeps an Emergency Financial Relief/Hardship Fund. Its guidelines (revised May 2022) say it is "intended to aid peacetime and wartime veterans and their eligible dependents who are experiencing a temporary, financial hardship that a grant will resolve", given as "funds of last resort", and that a grant may be combined with the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund and the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Fund. The applicant must show the emergent need MVTF Policy #101 defines: an unforeseen circumstance causing a temporary financial emergency that a grant will resolve, with the key test being whether the applicant can manage the obligation after the grant. Who qualifies. Any St. Clair County resident whose character of discharge was honorable or general under honorable conditions from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy or Women's Auxiliary - the fund's peacetime reach is the point of it, since the Trust Fund and the relief fund want wartime service. What it pays. Auto insurance and repairs, auto loans and purchases, food and household supplies, property taxes, rent and mortgage, heating fuel and firewood, medical and dental bills, utilities, child care, home repairs, appliances, adaptive medical equipment and temporary shelter, all paid directly to the provider. Requests up to $500 may be approved by the Marketing/Outreach Coordinator; larger ones are reviewed jointly by the Trust Fund Agent and Director and decided by simple majority vote, a tie approving. There is no limit on the number of requests, "however, unless determined otherwise by the Trust Fund Agent/Director, no more than $2,500 in total will be paid to, or on behalf of, an applicant." In 2026 the department sought a $10,000 Community Foundation grant for the Donation and Contribution fund behind this aid. Apply at 200 Grand River Avenue, Suite 104, Port Huron, 810-989-6945.