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The center is located at 175 Mohegan Street.
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The Berkshire United Way will help parents with teaching children to read.
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Berkshire Health System plans to provide services as well.

Pittsfield Opens Third Community Center In Public Housing Complex

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Heather Fletcher from the Berkshire United Way shows neighborhood children a collection of books the organization gives away.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city has opened its third community center to provide services to residents in public housing.
 
On Tuesday, city officials and representatives from an array of social service groups held an open house at a unit in Wilson Park.
 
Justine Dodds, the city's housing specialist in the office of Community Development, will be in charge of scheduling programs developed by community groups.
 
"The idea is to bring the services and resources we have in the city to the residents in public housing," Dodds said at the open house. 
 
The programming will replicate the two other community centers at Dower Square and Francis Plaza. Groups interested in providing programs can schedule time and they'll have space to run it.
 
Groups have put on sports mentoring, wellness clinics, nutrition and healthy cooking classes, back-to-school fairs, and theater demonstrations. It also serves as a meeting place.
 
"It can run the gambit from small to large," Dodds said. "We're trying to replicate the same idea but this is larger and the residents may want different programs."
 
Dodds is giving out surveys to the residents in an effort to try to find the most beneficial and demanded programs. The focus is particularly on programs for families and children. 
 
"We've got a number of different agencies involved," Mayor Daniel Bianchi said. "It is just a general outreach program to encourage people to seek out different services."
 
The Berkshire United Way, for example, had a presence at the open house. Heather Fletcher, the organization's family literacy coordinator, said it will have a presence in the space. The agency will be focusing on bringing programs to help teach children to read at a young age and providing parents with books and guidance in ways to teach.
 
"Some of the parents don't realize that they need to work with them before school age," Fletcher said. "I'm here for outreach and we would schedule playgroup sessions."
 
Bianchi said not only does the center provide a place for services but will serve a role in helping those who feel "disenfranchised" back into the community. 
 
Stacy Parsons from Head Start, Adam Hinds from Pittsfield Community Connection, and Mayor Daniel Bianchi.
The unit features three bedrooms used by different organizations, a living room/dining room area, and a kitchen. The utilities will be paid by the Housing Authority, who freed up a space in each of the three public housing complexes for the centers. 
 
"They have the wherewithal to manage these," Bianchi said. "But, we'll look for grants to help."
 
The program has morphed somewhat since the 2013 openings of the Francis Plaza and Dower Square. The idea sprung from a policing focus the city used to operate through the complexes. Then, officers ran the programming and used it as a substation for residents to talk about crime or issues in the community. 
 
In 2013, the city used funding from the Charles E Shannon Grant program, a grant specifically eyed to combat youth violence and gang activity, to bring back those substations.
 
The city had previously had an officer budgeted to run the stations. In this new program, police are still available and can use the center to meet with residents and, at Dower, officers have used it to run programs with children, too, but specific hours and programs aren't being scheduled.
 
"We are challenged to have police officers have hours here," Bianchi said.
 
The Housing Authority has taken on the bills and the Community Development Department has taken on overseeing that the social services are still provided, which frees up the Shannon Grant funds for the Pittsfield Community Connection, which created two growing mentoring programs.
 
Adam Hinds, who runs the Pittsfield Community Connection program, attended the open house and said the space could be used by his staff as well as they grow the mentoring programs.

Tags: community development,   community policing,   neighborhood program,   social services,   

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MassDOT Project Will Affect Traffic Near BMC

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prepare for traffic impacts around Berkshire Medical Center through May for a state Department of Transportation project to improve situations and intersections on North Street and First Street.

Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.

BMC and Medical Arts Complex parking areas remain open and detours may be in place at certain times. The city will provide additional updates on changes to traffic patterns in the area as construction progresses.

The project has been a few years in the making, with a public hearing dating back to 2021. It aims to increase safety for all modes of transportation and improve intersection operation.

It consists of intersection widening and signalization improvements at First and Tyler streets, the conversion of North Street between Tyler and Stoddard Avenue to serve one-way southbound traffic only, intersection improvements at Charles Street and North Street, intersection improvements at Springside Avenue and North Street, and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of First Street, North Street, Stoddard Avenue, and the Berkshire Medical Center entrance.

Work also includes the construction of 5-foot bike lanes and 5-foot sidewalks with ADA-compliant curb ramps.  

Last year, the City Council approved multiple orders for the state project: five orders of takings for intersection and signal improvements at First Street and North Street. 

The total amount identified for permanent and temporary takings is $397,200, with $200,000 allocated by the council and the additional monies coming from carryover Chapter 90 funding. The state Transportation Improvement Plan is paying for the project and the city is responsible for 20 percent of the design cost and rights-of-way takings.

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