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Volunteers went to the ReStore on Sunday to attend workshops learning what it takes to build a home from the ground up.
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Habitat is selling custom hard hats to raise funds.
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Volunteers wrote messages on the studs to be used in the home at the kick off event on Sunday.
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Executive Director Carolyn Valli.
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Homeowner to be Norma Delsonno with state Sen. Adam Hinds.
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The women received lessons in the various trades they'll need to know for their construction days.
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This year the women will be raising the entire structure from the foundation up.

Habitat For Humanity Kicks Off Expanded Women Build

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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The wood used for construction will feature handwritten notes.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Norma Delsonno's five children had never built a snowman.
 
The family lived in apartment buildings with little yard space and neighborhood kids would likely knock it over anyway. This winter though, she was approved to become a homeowner through Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity. After a snowstorm hit, she and her husband drove the children up to a vacant lot on Clarendon Street where next winter she'll move into her new home — and have plenty of room for snowmen.
 
"They're in the community and they are doing great work. They are lovely people. She is always smiling. That is really exciting," Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Carolyn Valli said of the Delsonnos.
 
The home the Delsonnos will be purchasing has some uniqueness. It will be the first one raised completely by women. For the last six years, Habitat has held Women Build, a program sponsored through Lowes, to empower women by having them do the work. 
 
"It is the first year we are going to be doing it from the cement up. The women will be the first ones on the job site and we'll be raising those walls, putting down the decking. We've been really building up to this. Every year we've gotten more skills and learned more organization to really rock and roll this," Valli said. 
 
"What we hear back from our volunteers that work on Women Build is that they feel stronger and more capable to do the next thing. And that's really what Habitat for Humanity is about, building strength, stability, and self reliance."
 
This year's Women Build will kick off Wednesday and three days a week women from all over the community will be on site. The women will handle the first 17 days of construction, hoping to have the building closed up by June. 
 
"This is going to be our biggest year," Valli said.
 
Businesses, churches, schools and the like often use the project as a team builder and Valli said even more teams have joined this year. She is hoping to set a record with the number of volunteers, eclipsing the 157 from last year. The program has grow significantly since its inception locally.
 
"The first time was one day, doing landscaping at one house, and there was six of us," Valli said.
 
State Sen. Adam Hinds has been a supporter of Habitat for some time and his office plans to have a team working on the home in June. 
 
"We all know empowerment and strength doesn't come from muscles but it is pretty cool to wield a hammer or a power tool every once in a while isn't it and to see the result of your work?" Hinds said.
 
Hinds reflected on his days working with the Pittsfield Community Connection, which aimed to prevent at-risk youth from falling into trouble. He said he spent time trying to figure out how to get access to those youth and focusing on women is what worked.
 
"They wouldn't be afraid about a gun or about bigger guys. But, mom and grandma, look out," Hinds said. "That became a part of our strategy, empowering women and empowering moms in the community. I love that Woman Build is giving a nod to the fact that it is women who build strong communities and strong families."
 
Delsonno has already been putting in the work with her financial coach and will be part of building her own home. She joined dozens of volunteers on Sunday for workshops on the various tasks they'll be undertaking during the year's build — from the use of impact drivers to framing to painting. And she already knows the community she'll be joining. Valli said neighbors have already helped stake out where the home will be and a woman from across the street took Delsonno around to introduce her to the neighbors.
 
"It is just a very nice plot of land there and they'll be walking into a great community," Valli said.
 
The home will have yet another unique feature. Habitat has launched a new fundraiser in which donors can build a stud and write messages to the family on it. Those studs will be used in the construction of the home. As Delsonno told Valli, the home will be built with love inside and out.
 
Valli added that there is still space available for volunteers on the individual day of June 3. 

Tags: habitat for humanity,   

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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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