Progress on the path to economic prosperity

Emerson works two jobs but is still not earning enough to put food on the table at every meal for herself and her two school-age children. She often has to make difficult decisions between paying for car repairs or purchasing an A/C unit for her asthmatic children. This is an all too common reality here in the Berkshires.

While progress is being made in moving working families out of poverty, there is still much work to be done. More families are low-income families and they are struggling to move into the middle class. In 2016, 28.2% of families in Berkshire County were low-income, up from 22.4% in 2015. The median household income also increased to $52,253 from $49,956 in 2015 – but that is still far below the median household income of $70,954 across the rest of our state. (Source: Berkshire Benchmarks)

This is where our Economic Prosperity Impact Council comes in. EPIC is a cross sector coalition of over 35 members representing 30 organizations. The coalition’s goal is to reduce the number of households with incomes under $75,000. Our dedicated EPIC volunteers are committed to getting more people to work. Our strategies are focused on refining hiring practices of employers, building the skills and talents of job seekers, improving college completion rates, and aligning social services to promote employment. In order to address these strategies, Berkshire United Way invests $105,000 in Berkshire County Regional Employment Board Berkshire recruiter program, and $75,000 in Lever, Inc’s Berkshire Business Interns.

Next steps for EPIC are to build on the opportunities for success, including working with local employers to refine their hiring practices to support employees and promote retention and aligning our existing training/certificate programs with the current job openings. We also need to keep an eye on areas where there are job growth opportunities, like manufacturing and health care.

We would love your input on what is and is not working related to your employment needs – whether you’re an employer with positions to fill or a job seeker who’s looking to add to their resume.

Please contact me via email at jsingley@berkshireunitedway.org or give me a call at
413-442-6948 x32, if you are interested in helping to build our community through this important work.

Julie
Program Manager, Community Impact

"We should remember those who changed the world."

That’s what Allison, a sixth grader at Herberg Middle School, said following a recent presentation about Elizabeth “Mumbet” Freeman by local author Jana Laiz. Laiz wrote the book “A Free Woman on God’s Earth,” about Mumbet, the first African-American woman to file and win a freedom suit in Massachusetts.

Berkshire United Way, through the Berkshire Youth Development Project, purchased 338 copies of Laiz’s book for Herberg students to read prior to her presentation.  In return, Laiz agreed to do a day of presentations for Herberg students to provide even more meaning to what they had read. Connecting positive role models and mentors such as Laiz to young people in the Berkshires is one of the many ways Berkshire United Way creates positive opportunities for young people in our community.

Learning that an independent movie, based on Laiz’s book, will be produced in the Berkshires by critically-acclaimed actress, Octavia Spencer, elicited additional enthusiasm from the students.

“The presentations were very well received by the students and the faculty. Additionally, many of the students took advantage of having their books autographed by the author,” commented Herberg Principal, Dr. Gina Coleman.

Seventh grade students at Herberg Middle School in Pittsfield visit the Ashley House in Sheffield, MA.  Mumbet, who was enslaved in the Ashley House, helped end slavery in Massachusetts.

Berkshire United Way is proud to support positive youth development activities such as this in schools throughout Berkshire County. To learn more about this work and/or to join our Positive Youth Development Impact Council (PYDIC), please email me at ktoomey@berkshireunitedway.org or give me a call at 413-442-6948 x 15.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Kat Toomey
Coordinator of Positive Youth Development

Turn the "summer slide" into the "summer glide"

If you ever learned to play an instrument, draw or dance, you may have heard, “Practice makes perfect.” The same holds true for building reading and learning skills in young children.

Studies show that children experience a learning loss when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer.  This phenomenon, known as the “summer slide,” is something every parent hopes their child will avoid.  

Summer learning opportunities are fun for the whole family plus they help keep your child’s skills sharp.  Need some ideas?  Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

• Take advantage of Free Fun Fridays, which offer no-cost admission to treasured cultural venues in Massachusetts, including many here in the Berkshires! Visit HighlandStreet.org for a complete schedule.
• Take pictures of your adventures and create a summer scrapbook with your child. Label the new things you do and learn.
• Read 20 minutes every day! Take turns with your child reading aloud and sharing books. Introduce your child(ren) to newspapers, maps, comic books, or online resources.
• Stargaze together by enjoying a free visit to nearby Williams College Planetarium.
• Visit the library and check out some audio books for car rides.
• Enjoy family-friendly podcasts while doing crafts.
• Cook together following recipes – it’s a fun way to incorporate reading!
• Garden together – learn what vegetables need to survive and how to control garden pests organically.

Most importantly, explore together. Share stories about your childhood, and ask open-ended questions about their interests.  You will create wonderful family memories that will last a lifetime.

Happy learning!

Stephanie
Coordinator of Early Childhood Development

Making a positive impact

 When you give to Berkshire United Way, your gift is part of a collective that impacts our community in a way that no single person, program or organization can do alone.

I’d like to provide a glimpse of just one of the many ways you made an impact in the Berkshires. 287 youth were matched with a mentor last year - mentoring provides teens with a caring adult who acts as a positive role model, helping them to navigate those critical formative years and make healthy decisions that will lead to high school graduation and a career or college plan.

Mentoring in action at the Railroad Street Youth Project.

One young man, we’ll call him Jack, was struggling to remain in school; he was combative with teachers, school administration and some peers, resulting in a couple of school suspensions and being held back from class field trips.

In an effort to intervene he was matched with a mentor, but right out of the gate he let the mentor coordinator know, he was only interested in playing basketball.

As time progressed, he became an active member in various group activities and games and even attended multiple field trips. With the help of his mentor, his peer relationship skills developed, and he demonstrated positive growth in his relationships with his peers and school and even earned a field trip to Boston.

This is just one story, and mentoring only represents one strategy we are implementing in our positive youth development work. Currently we are investing over $575,000 in quality youth programming.  We could not do this without you. On behalf of our community partners, friends and neighbors throughout the Berkshires, thank you.

Duffy Judge
Development Manager

Emergency food and shelter – it matters

Since November 2015, more than 9,000 community members have been touched by the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) administered by Berkshire United Way.

How are EFSP funds used here in the Berkshires?

• Meals or groceries were provided to 7,000 of our people
• They covered the cost of 2,800 shelter nights for residents
• They paid 109 utility bills (for one month)
• They helped with 10 rent/mortgage payments

When you are facing a non-disaster-related emergency, assistance with basic needs like food and shelter really matters. 

Berkshire County has been awarded $49,311 in Federal EFSP funds. Qualifying agencies may complete an application before Wednesday, June 13th and submit it as requested. A local board will then determine how the funds will be distributed.

For further information, please feel free to contact me via email or give me a call at 413.442.6948.

Together, we can make a difference.

Julie Singley
Program Manager, Community Impact

Connecting activities for a brighter future

Every young person deserves a chance to explore opportunities relating to both college and career, this was the theme that rang clearly throughout the 20^th annual Connecting Activities Conference hosted by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on May 15^th. Emphasis is placed on attending college after high school, however, the reality is pursuing a 4-year degree is not an option for some teens, and in fact, may not even be what they need to be successful. A recent NPR article captures this sentiment perfectly, as it addresses high-paying vacancies in the trades that are left empty, as increasingly more young people line up for universities - only to find themselves faced with the challenge of finding employment once they’ve graduated college.  

Attending this conference made me realize we’re on the right path with our Positive Youth Development Impact Council (PYDIC), which is centered around successful youth transitions to work, education, or training after high school.

While PYDIC’s initial goal was to increase high school graduation rates throughout the county (it is currently at 87%), we also understand the need to focus on ensuring our young people graduate from high school with a college or career plan.

On April 18^th, community members, non-profit organizations, and local businesses put their heads together to develop a plan to support college and career readiness for all Berkshire County Teens.

The result is a commitment to:

1) Support and increase existing mentorships for Grades K-12

2) Formalize and strengthen partnerships between business, non-profit, and  other sectors

3) Increase education and access to information for parents on college and career readiness for their children

Regardless of which option a young person chooses to pursue, work-based experiences and internships are the foundation our young people need to successfully transition into life beyond high school and when our youth succeed, we all succeed.

Katie Hickey of Berkshire Community College leads a workshop for south county teens at Berkshire Community College on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.  The workshop was one of twenty workshops offered as part of a Career Conference.  (Photo courtesy of Berkshire Community College.)

For more information and/or to join PYDIC, please contact me at ktoomey@berkshireunitedway.org or 413.442.6948 x15.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Kat Toomey, Coordinator of Positive Youth Development

How are the children?

Come away with me, if you will, across these Berkshire mountains and streams.  Come with me across oceans and borders, to the heart of Africa to the lands of Kenya and Tanzania, to the Maasai tribe, renowned as one of the world’s last warrior cultures.  I imagine you’d appreciate learning a greeting to use upon meeting our hosts so that you can make a connection with this fabled tribe.  Are you ready?  The greeting for “Hello, how are you,” is “Kesserian Ingera,” which loosely translated, means “And how are the children?”  Not hello, what’s up. Not I’m fine, thanks, and you?  Not your children, or mine, but the children.

The Chapter One early childhood development coalition has been asking this question, how are the children?  We come together out of a shared concern that 56% of children in the southern Berkshires are not reading proficiently by 3^rd grade.  Seventy-four percent of students who struggle to succeed in reaching this marker are far more likely to continue to struggle in school and in life.  We are a community who is prepared to implement strategies to improve literacy.  In fact, the first strategy developed by the Chapter One coalition was to improve the well-being and access to early learning for our kids, with the goal of ensuring each and every one of our children arrives at school ready for success.

How will we know if we are making a difference?  How will we know we are improving our children’s readiness for school?  How will we know what strategies are working?  In effect, we are now asking together, “How are the children?” To hold these goals and strategies in place, the Chapter One coalition has worked with all six south county school districts.  On April 30^th, eighteen teachers from five school districts spent the first of three evenings together to learn how to measure kindergarten readiness.  

Educators from Morris, Lee, Muddy Brook, New Marlborough, Richmond and Undermountain Elementary Schools gather to learn about the Brigance screening tool. Educators will use the screening tool to collectively measure kindergarten readiness in southern Berkshire County. 

In the weeks and months to come, we will learn important information about our children.  So, friends and neighbors, please join us, in greeting one another, in this ongoing dialogue of this most important question, “How are the children?”  Our futures, yours and mine, are dependent on us having this conversation, whether on Main Street, at the doctor’s office, in our parks, houses of worship, and places of learning. 

Amy Taylor

South County Community Liaison