March 29, 2022

Pittsfield Human Services Advisory Council Advises 2023 CDBG Awards

BY Brittany Politoiberkshires

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Human Services Advisory Council on Thursday voted on $206,250 in recommendations for the fiscal 2023 Community Development Block Grant awards.

The proposals for more than 20 local agencies and organizations will go to Mayor Linda Tyer and the City Council for approval during the FY23 budget process.

The federal funds support services for families with children, housing insecure individuals, residents with disabilities, senior citizens, and arts programs.

During the meeting, members of the volunteer committee expressed a wish for more funding to disperse.

“To the agencies, we wish we could give you more,” Chair Rosalind Kopfstein said.

Because the 2023 CDBG allocation is not yet known, the proposed budget is based on last year’s allocation of $1,359,378. Up to 15 percent of the annual allocation can be awarded to human service agencies.

The $206,250 is $154,500 in projected CDBG funds and $51,750 in city general funds.

The committee held six meetings from January to March when they had presentations from agencies that were seeking funding.

In February, there was a public hearing for the city’s 2023 annual Action Plan to gather input on how the city’s CDBG funds should be used to benefit the community.

The Elizabeth Freeman Center has the largest proposed allocation of about $17,500. During EFC’s presentation on January 27, Executive Director Janis Broderick spoke to the need for the center’s 24/7 domestic and sexual violence services — especially during the pandemic.

“When COVID hit we knew that there would be increased violence and decreased access to help so we never closed our doors, our greatest fear throughout this time has been that we would miss someone, our offices remained open and staffed to receive walk-ins, provide basic emergency assistance, to help with accessing online resources and court hearings for protection orders,” she said.

“Our shelter stayed open to protect those in danger and in hiding we continued to provide transportation to our offices and left safe phones throughout the county at police stations, courts, and hospitals so that people could safely call us.”

Broderick said the phones in March 2020 were “eerily quiet,” which was worrisome, but by late April the calls were flooding in. Not only did the number of calls rise dramatically but the center was seeing higher levels of danger with lethality assessments routinely scoring in the severe and extreme ranges.

There was also a great financial, housing need, and “horrific homelessness,” she said.

“Since COVID hit, the number of people calling our hotline increased by 77 percent, the number of calls, repeat callers, increased by 240 percent, and the number of hours that we would spend on the hotline on these calls increased 330 percent,” Broderick explained.

“And our cost for motels to shelter survivors and their families in danger when there was no other appropriate shelter available increased 72 percent.”

She added that the center also has some successes in helping families struggling with homelessness get housing vouchers and being assisted through the center’s other programs.

Committee member Dina Guiel Lampiasi commended the center for its important work and asked Broderick how to ensure the CDBG funds will be spent on Pittsfield residents, as the center serves the county.

Broderick said a majority of clients are from Pittsfield and that most of the center’s expenses are centered in the city.

“The work that you do is just phenomenal and you are saving so many lives,” Kopfstein said.

Roots Rising, whose mission is to empower youth and build community through food and farming, is proposed to receive about $17,100 for its youth crews program.

The organization hires Pittsfield teens for paid work in crews on farms, in food pantries, and at the Roots Rising farmer’s market.

“So what is the impact of our crews in 2021? 94 percent of crew members reported that they had a stronger work ethic, 94 percent felt less sad, anxious, or lonely, 88 percent felt that Roots Rising staff helped them grow as a person, 94 percent felt more prepared for the workforce, and 100 percent had more pride in their community,” co-founder and co-Director Jessica Vecchia explained during her presentation on March 10.

“Those statistics don’t tell the full story, in the words of one crew members, ‘Roots Rising gave me an opportunity to look inside myself, it showed me that I’m valued and seeing my crew was the greatest five weeks my life.’”

The committee did struggle with one funding application, as the Tyler Street Lab was unable to present to the group, but agreed to propose funding with the information from its application.

The community development space is a neighborhood pop-up initiative based in the Morningside neighborhood.

The lab does not currently have its 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization designation and will need to have that by July to receive the CDBG funds.
The following organizations and agencies are being proposed for CDBG funding to support a service program within. The amounts are subject to change during the approval process.

18 Degrees, $16,191
Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority, $16,686
Berkshire County Kids Place, $9,127
Community Access to the Arts, $2,997
NAMI, $6,187
The Brien Center, $13,751
Child Care of the Berkshires, $7,004
George B. Crane Memorial Center, $5,291
Elder Services, Meals on Wheels, $8,226
Elder Services SHINE, $3,023
Berkshire Center for Justice, $3,806
ServiceNet, $16,183
United Cerebral Palsy, $5,967
Habitat for Humanity, Community Connections, $7,591
Habitat for Humanity, Community Navigators, $8069
Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center, $5,509
Berkshire Immigrant Center, $8,716
Elizabeth Freeman Center, $17,544
Community Legal Aid, $15,965
Berkshire Nursing Families, $5,280
Roots Rising, $17,157
Roots and Dreams- 1,500
Tyler Street Lab- 1,500
IS183- 2,979