Second Street Second Chances in Pittsfield celebrates renovated and expanded space to provide resources and training for people who've done their time and are trying to reintegrate into the community.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In 2024, Berkshire County organizations saw new locations and successes in their fields.
Downtown Pittsfield saw some new tenants — in fact, Downtown Pittsfield Inc. even relocated to North Street to be right on the pulse of activity.
"It was not for lack of a fondness of the space. We love Central Station but like many other landlords, as we owned the building, we reached a point kind of post-pandemic where making those numbers with finding tenants and keeping commercial space full was becoming challenging," President and CEO Jonathan Butler said at the organization's annual meeting.
"And as a nonprofit where that's not primary to our mission, we made the decision that moving on from owning our own real estate was probably the best move. We actually quickly were able to identify a buyer and closed in August."
Moving into the space is another prominent local organization: the Elizabeth Freeman Center.
In mid-December, the domestic violence program and rape crisis center moved its main office from 43 Francis Ave. to 66 Allen St. Its satellite offices at 168 Main St. in Great Barrington and 61 Main St. in North Adams will continue to operate as normal.
The organization outgrew the former office's capacity and after months of searching for solutions, the EFC purchased the building with a mortgage from Lee Bank in August.
"We are thrilled to take this step forward in our mission to serve survivors," Divya Chaturvedi, the new executive director, said in a press release.
The center serves more than 4,000 survivors and their families every year and provides violence prevention/sex education to approximately 600 youth in Berkshire County schools.
The organization has operated under various names since its founding in 1924 but has stayed true to its mission of meeting peoples' greatest needs, from economic hardship support during the Great Depression to emergency funding during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was officially recognized as Berkshire United Way in 1984 after decades of service during the recovery from World War 1 in the 1920s, the Great Depression in the 1930s, World War 2 efforts of the 1940s, a baby boom in the 1950s, urban renewal in the 1960s, significant job loss at General Electric's Pittsfield plant in the 1970s, and the emergence of modern technology in the 1980s.
The organization reached $1 million of campaign monies raised in the 1980s and met the $3 million mark at the turn of the century.
It was a big year for ServiceNet, as it opened a new shelter in downtown Pittsfield and a farm.
Smiles were all around in May as farmers, human service workers, and officials cut the ribbon on ServiceNet's new vocational farm on Crane Avenue. Whether it is planting flowers or growing fresh produce, the program is for "sowing seeds of hope" for those with developmental disabilities.
"What Prospect Meadow Farm is about is changing lives," Vice President of Vocational Services Shawn Robinson said.
"Giving people something meaningful to do, a community to belong to, a place to go every day and to make a paycheck, and again, I am seeing that every day from our first 17 farmhands the smiles on their faces. They're glad to be here. They're glad to be making money."
The nonprofit human service agency closed on the former Jodi's Seasonal on Crane Avenue earlier in the year. It is an expansion of ServiceNet's first farm in Hatfield that has provided meaningful agricultural work, fair wages, and personal and professional growth to hundreds of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities since opening in 2011.
In February, ServiceNet's new 40-bed shelter at 21 Pearl St. opened. The Pearl has three dorms with bunk beds and en suite bathrooms, two recreation rooms, handicapped restrooms, and a laundry room.
The former Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter saw new life in 2024 as No Paws Left Behind. The Sonsini shelter announced its closing in the summer of 2023 and manager Noelle Howland saved it by taking leadership.
When the former Pittsfield location on Crane Avenue shut down at the end of August, Howland said space was a main need, specifically more room for outdoor and indoor kennels, a separate space for the cats not located in the office, and a meet-and-greet space.
The Brien Center, the county's largest provider of mental health and substance abuse services, was awarded a five-year contract from the state Bureau of Substance and Addiction Services for the peer recovery support center. The $300,000 in funding comes from the federal Helping to End Addiction Long-term, or HEALing Communities study. The city is participating in the study which includes grassroots strategies to reduce addiction.
"We all see this new center as a source of hope. Hope in and of itself is incredibly important in one's life," said M. Christine Macbeth, president and CEO of the Brien Center at Friday's gathering. "I'm so thrilled that it's part of the name. For years my computer screen used to say 'Keep hope alive.' When this name evolved, I was absolutely thrilled with that."
PopCares, a nonprofit that provides support to local cancer patients, reached the $1 million mark in donations and returned to having its annual in-person chicken dinner fundraiser. It has helped more than 1,300 people in the last dozen years. Its donations help with bills, gas, travel to doctors and comforts during their worst times. All the funds raised by PopCares stay within the community.
Another local cancer charity, the AYJ Fund, marked its 10th year in 2024. Over the past 10 years, the AYJ Fund has committed $1.3 million to research and helped in hosting the first conferences on gliomatosis cerebri, a rare brain cancer. The fund has also helped numerous local children and their families who are dealing with a cancer diagnosis through its programs.
In September, the Berkshire North Women, Infants & Children Nutrition Program celebrated its 50-year milestone with an open house at 510 North St. A grant-funded program of Berkshire Health Systems, it currently serves 1,740 people from Central and Northern Berkshire County.
"We are a staple in our community," Program Director Melissa King said.
"We support nutritional foods for our participants but we also are a community partner. We make sure people that come in for our services are referred out to the community for other things they may need, whether it's childcare, heating, all of that stuff."
The Berkshire North WIC has offices in Pittsfield and North Adams. The Pittsfield office has eight employees and has been located in the 510 building for about five years.
NAMI of Berkshire County marks 40 years supporting mental health in the community.
The 40th anniversary also came with change, as Paul Johansen was hired as the new executive director and the nonprofit moved to an office space at 141 North St., Suite 301 in downtown Pittsfield.
Johansen said he finds it important and rewarding work because mental illness cuts across all barriers, affecting all types of people regardless of factors such as race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic class.
"This milestone is not just a reflection of the crucial services and the need for these services in our community but also a testament to the compassionate, non-judgmental care that our staff here delivers to each and every one of the people that walk through our doors," Executive Director Lindsay Cornwell said.
The nonprofit's space has expanded from 1,500 square feet to 4,600 square feet, with two community navigator offices in the "rotunda" or main area, an office for private meetings, a large room used for workshops and meetings, and common spaces.
Sheriff Thomas Bowler said the numbers speak for themselves, comparing the program's 11 percent recidivism rate to the county's 36 percent. He emphasized the importance of having supports in place immediately upon release from jail.
Aimee Gelinas and Daniel Cohen have led hikes and other programming at Tamarack Hollow for more than a decade. The upcoming educational center, staged for completion in 2026, will create new opportunities to connect people with the natural world and the folklore traditions that honor it.
The conservation and educational nonprofit's mission is to educate about the diverse natural and cultural world through programs for all ages that inspire stewardship of natural, and cultural resources.
With two full-time staff, it serves more than 5,000 people per year.
"We strive to inspire environmental and cultural awareness, appreciation, and stewardship by providing meaningful and engaging year-round educational opportunities for the public through diverse hands-on learning opportunities that connect people's culture and place," Gelinas explained.
"Our mission is to educate the public about the importance of stewarding our natural world, as well as folkloric traditions from world cultures that intrinsically connect music with the rhythms of the natural world. Through awareness and appreciation of the environment and diverse cultures, we can better understand each other and ourselves."
Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires in May honored seven individuals who have gone above and beyond in their nonprofit work: Jess Vecchia, Kate Barton, Jude Wesselman, Noelia Salinetti, Brenda Petell, Karen Richards, and Chris Melski.
The event at the Kripalu Center was described as the "Oscars for the Nonprofits." During the ceremony, NPC founder Liana Toscanini and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier helped distribute the awards and House and Senate citations.
Construct Inc. held its first Designer Showcase exhibition in the Gilded Age estate throughout the month of June, showcasing over a dozen creatives' work through temporary room transformations themed to "Nature in the Berkshires." The event supported the nonprofit's effort to convert the property into 11 affordable housing units.
Two years ago Construct, with help from the New Marlborough Housing Development Committee, purchased the 27-acre farm at auction with $217,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds. The nearly $7.4 million fundraising goal was more than 80 percent met at the time of the showcase.
This includes over $2 million from Federal Home Loan Bank Boston's Affordable Housing Competitive Funding Program, in partnership with Greylock Federal Credit Union.
The housing development project is a response to Berkshire County's housing crisis, with a 2020 report stating that New Marlborough has no affordable housing and businesses are struggling with staff shortages. Full occupancy is anticipated in 2026 after an overhaul of the estate into units between 850 and 1,400 square feet.
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