Kennedy Headlines BCC Commencement

11:40AM / Wednesday, April 25, 2012Print Story | Email Story

Victoria Kennedy, keynote speaker

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Victoria Kennedy, attorney, advocate and the wife of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, will be the keynote speaker at Berkshire Community College’s 52nd Commencement Exercises.

Kennedy practiced law in the private sector for nearly two decades, with emphasis on federal and state regulation of domestic commercial banks and savings, and loan institutions. She has also served in key strategic and political roles on issues ranging from health and education to labor, especially as those issues affect women and children, and she advocates for involvement in the political process. Kennedy co-founded Common Sense about Kids and Guns, a non-profit, non-partisan organization that works to reduce gun deaths and injuries to children in the United States, and is a past trustee of several gun violence prevention organizations. She was a powerful advocate for the enactment of health care reform, which her late husband called the “cause of his life.”

“On behalf of the college I am so pleased that Victoria Kennedy accepted our invitation to be the featured speaker at our 52nd commencement.” said Ellen Kennedy, interim president. “Mrs. Kennedy has spent a lifetime raising awareness of issues that affect the lives of women, children and families, including advocating for education and healthcare.”

Kennedy is the co-founder and a trustee of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate in Boston, which is being built on the campus of University of Massachusetts in Boston, adjacent to the John F. Kennedy Library. The goal of the institute is to invigorate public discourse, encourage participatory democracy and inspire the next generation of citizens and leaders.

Mrs. Kennedy received a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude, from Tulane University School of Law, in New Orleans, where she ranked second in the class and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She was a member of the Board of Editors and the Notes Editor of the Tulane Law Review. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, magna cum laude, from Newcomb College at Tulane University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Mrs. Kennedy divides her time between Boston and Washington, D.C.

BCC’s 52nd Commencement will be held Friday afternoon, June 1, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at Tanglewood in Lenox.

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Pittsfield Housing Project Adds 37 Supportive Units and Collective Hope

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:01PM / Monday, December 29, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A new chapter in local efforts to combat housing insecurity officially began as community leaders and residents gathered at The First on to celebrate a major expansion of supportive housing in the city.

The ribbon was cut on Thursday Dec. 19, on nearly 40 supportive permanent housing units; nine at The First, located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. The Housing Resource Center, funded by Pittsfield's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, hosted a celebration for a project that is named for its rarity: The First.

"What got us here today is the power of community working in partnership and with a shared purpose," Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier said.

In addition to the 28 studio units at 111 West Housatonic Street and nine units in the rear of the church building, the Housing Resource Center will be open seven days a week with two lounges, a classroom, a laundry room, a bathroom, and lockers.

Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, challenged attendees to transform the space in the basement of Zion Lutheran Church into a community center. It is planned to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round.

"I get calls from folks that want to help out, and our shelters just aren't the right spaces to be able to do that. The First will be that space that we can all come together and work for the betterment of our community," Forbush said.

"…I am a true believer that things evolve, and things here will evolve with the people that are utilizing it."

Earlier that day, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and her team in Housatonic to announce $33.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, $5.45 million to Berkshire County.

He said it was ambitious to take on these two projects at once, but it will move the needle. The EOHLC contributed more than $7.8 million in subsidies and $3.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the West Housatonic Street build, and $1.6 million in ARPA funds for the First Street apartments.

"We're trying to get people out of shelter and off the streets, but we know there are a lot of people who are couch surfing, who are living in their cars, who are one paycheck away from being homeless themselves," Augustus said.

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