Berkshire United Way Conducts Community Impact Update04:28PM / Wednesday, November 04, 2009
PITTSFIELD, Mass. - Berkshire United Way (BUW) will conduct a community impact update at the Country Club of Pittsfield on Thursday, November 12, 2009, beginning at 1 pm. The update will address work over the last year focused on two key priorities identified by the community - education and employment. The sessions are free and the public is encouraged to attend.
The first session, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm, will feature reports from community participants who served on Early Childhood Education, K-12/Youth Development, and Adult Learning/Career teams. Also shared for the first time will be results of the Community Impact Baseline Report commissioned by BUW and compiled by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The report details a number of baseline community measures and will be used as a tool for measuring progress over time and ensuring community accountability against the priority areas of education and employment.
The final session, from 3:30 pm to 5 pm will focus entirely on the issue of teen pregnancy in Berkshire County. A key measure from the Community Impact Baseline Report indicates that in Berkshire County the likelihood of teenage girls age 15-19 giving birth increased 20.5% in the last decade while in the state it steadily decreased 21.7%. To register, email Mary Ryan at mmryan@berkshireunitedway.org or call 413.442.6948, ext. 104.
BUW leads the effort to solve the most pressing problems in the Berkshires by building collaborations among businesses, non-profits, faith-based groups and the public sector. Working together, the community identifies needs, develops solutions, and invests in programs that attack root causes and deliver meaningful and measurable results - all to create sustained changes in Berkshire County. Through a series of community meetings, education and employment have been identified as top priorities. |
