Engaging in advocacy - local youth visit Beacon Hill!

January was National Mentoring Month, and young people from the Berkshires had a chance to make their voices heard in support of mentoring far outside the county - on Beacon Hill! Berkshire United Way supported a field trip for youth and adults involved in two of our funded programs, Railroad Street Youth Project’s RSYP Mentoring Program and Berkshire Children and Families’ Pittsfield Community Connection (PCC), to tell their stories about the positive impact of mentoring at the Massachusetts State House. 

Mentoring plays an important role in our work with young people – increasing high school graduation rates, reducing teenage pregnancy, and ensuring young people have the support they need to graduate high school with a college or career plan. We currently invest in four local mentoring programs; last year, those programs connected 281 young people with a caring adult.

Youth Mentoring Day is an annual advocacy day at the State House, sponsored by Mass Mentoring Partnership. A total of 15 mentees met with their respective Representatives, Tricia Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield and Smitty Pignetelli of south county as well as Adam Hinds’ team to advocate for the mentoring line item in the state budget. This funding helps support mentoring programs across the state.  

Deonte, a mentee in the PCC program, told Tricia Farley-Bouvier, “I’ve been with the program for a few years. It really helped me because in the beginning, I was not on the best path, I wasn’t hanging out with the best crowd. But PCC and my mentors helped me with school and applying to college. I just found out I got accepted – I’m not sure where I’m going yet. But I’m really happy to be on that path now.”

So why mentor? Research confirms that quality mentoring relationships have powerful positive effects on young people. Ultimately, mentoring connects a young person to personal growth and development, and social and economic opportunity. Yet one in three young people will grow up without this critical asset (source: mentoring.org).

To view a list of mentor opportunities in the Berkshires, visit this link and simply type in your zip code to view programs in your area.  You may also reach out to me to learn more about mentoring opportunities at ktoomey@berkshireunitedway.org ; 413-442-6948 x 15. I hope to hear from you!

Kat Toomey

Coordinator of Positive Youth Development

Your Gift Makes a Difference

Donors to Berkshire United Way often ask the question, “Where does my donation actually go?”

When you support Berkshire United Way you help more than 15,000 people from Clarksburg to Sheffield and everyplace in between. One gift funds multiple strategies that build a stronger community.  Your donation is combined with those from over 5,000 donors to support 35 programs with 27 partners, and countywide coalitions that bring the community together to solve problems that no single program, organization or sector can do alone. 

Here is just a small sample of what your gift makes possible:

      Over 6,000 home visits are made each year by Child Care of the Berkshires and Community Health Programs.

300 young people will be mentored by caring adults for an average of 14 months at the Railroad Street Youth Project, Dalton CRA, Pittsfield Community Connection and Barrington Stage Company.

Over 1,000 Berkshire residents will get help from MA 211 this year -- free information and referrals for quality child care options and vouchers, community shelter, assistance with utility payments, and food pantries.

To learn more about the impact of your gift to Berkshire United Way, please visit us at berkshireunitedway.org. 

Thank you for making Berkshire County a dynamic, engaged community with opportunities for all.  Together, we can make a difference!

Duffy Judge

Development Manager

Mentoring Matters

In November, I had the privilege of attending Mass Mentoring Partnership’s Decade in Western Massachusetts, an event celebrating the people and partners who have worked to create empowering youth-adult relationships throughout this region.  

As part of the celebratory program, two mentors were recognized for having outstanding relationships with their mentees, and making an incredible impact on their lives. As I listened to their stories, I was struck by how important it is for every young person to have a caring adult in their life, yet there are young people here in our own back yard who need, perhaps even seek, a mentor in their life.

Whether mentoring pairs meet daily or once a week, there’s something to be gained by the positive relationships that evolve. In fact, young people who are mentored often go on to be become mentors and role models themselves, contributing not only to their success, but to the success of future generations.

Mentoring plays an important role in Berkshire United Way’s positive youth development work and we were among twenty Difference Makers recognized by Mass Mentoring for supporting mentoring activities across the region.

Trevon, a participant in the Pittsfield Community Connection Mentoring Program, poses with his mentor, Dana. 

Dana, a mentor in the Pittsfield Community Connection program at Berkshire Children and Families, one of the mentoring programs supported by Berkshire United Way, could easily have been one of the two mentors honored by Mass Mentoring.  She and her mentee, Trevon, talk a bit about their relationship below.

What would you say to someone who was thinking about joining a mentoring program?

Trevon: “I would say, just do it. I enjoy having that extra support around in my life, and to help me with questions. What I like about Dana is she’s soft-spoken (sometimes) and it’s good to have her in my corner, and I know she’s there with me for a long time.”

What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming a mentor?

Dana: “I would tell them it’s just a lot of fun, and it gets you out of your own box and bubble and doing things that I wouldn’t be doing because I’ve already done them, but now I get to relive them again.

It can be a little intimidating because you may feel like you need to be a ‘finished’ person or a ‘perfect’ person and you need to have tons of resources and it’s not true, we’re all flawed people and it’s definitely been paying off for me and now I have a friend for life.”

January is National Mentoring Month.  To learn more about how you can make a difference by mentoring, please contact me at ktoomey@berkshireunitedway.org or 413.442.6948 x15.

Kat Toomey 

Coordinator of Positive Youth Development.

Real stories from real people

Do you ever find yourself looking for inspiration in a world that sometimes seems filled with doom and gloom?  If so, I encourage you to check out Berkshire United Way’s social media campaign, Humans of the Berkshires. Featured on both Facebook and Instagram, Humans of the Berkshires is comprised of inspiring, real life stories from young people right here in our community.

Inspired by the famous “Humans of New York,” Humans of the Berkshires is a community of celebration and support for the aspirations, challenges, and achievements of the young people in our community. Data collected from our students indicates that they do not feel recognized for their positive community engagement, leadership, and goals. Humans of the Berkshires was founded specifically to counteract these perceptions and to nurture an environment that celebrates our amazing youth.

To date, Berkshire United Way has interviewed over 150 young people and featured their stories on Humans of the Berkshires.  I’d like to take this opportunity to share a couple of those stories with you.

Carlos Pascual-Polanco from the Pittsfield Community Connection (PCC) program says, “I want to open my own landscaping business, that’s my main thing. In the future, I see myself having my own car and business. I’ve been a volunteer at the soup kitchen, like cooking and serving food there on the last Saturday of every month, that was cool. My mentor at PCC, Mark takes me out to new places, places I’ve never been before, places I’ve never seen. We went to the mountain in Pittsfield State Forest and went hiking in the field with the flowers, and it was cool. I also used to work at the farmer’s market downtown with some people from PCC and my friends, we had to get there early to set up and then later take the tents down, it was fun. I would say PCC has helped me with job skills, and we have dinners together. It has helped me out a lot. ”

Mary Howe from the Roots Rising program says, "As cliche as it might sound, just try new things, get involved with your community, and meet new people. For instance, I wasn’t too sure about Roots Rising, but when I got here and met everyone I was really happy. I met a bunch of people I would have never met. These people are all from different backgrounds, different cultures, and I definitely get to know more about them and especially more about my environment. Roots Rising teaches me about farms and how you eat, and knowledge that you should just know. I am learning things that school doesn’t necessarily teach me."

Carlos and Mary talk about things that have helped them succeed—the support of a mentor and positive activities in the community—things that have made a real difference in their lives. Berkshire United Way mobilizes individuals and organizations as well as volunteers in 32 communities from Savoy to Sandisfield to make sure opportunities like these are available to all teens here in the Berkshires.  When the young people in our community succeed, we all succeed. 

To nominate a young person in your life, between the ages of 14-25, for Humans of the Berkshires, please email humansoftheberkshires@gmail.com.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Kat Toomey

Coordinator of Positive Youth Development