Downtown Pittsfield, Inc. Hosting a Thankful Food Drive

• 413Shirts (1595 East Street) 
• Adelson & Company PC (100 North Street) 
• Berkshire Art Center (141 North Street) 
• Berkshire Athenaeum (1 Wendell Avenue) 
• Berkshire County Arc Main Office (395 South Street) 
• Berkshire Family YMCA (292 North Street) 
• Berkshire Fitness and Wellness Center (137 North Street) 
• Berkshire Museum (39 South Street) 
• Berkshire Roots (501A Dalton Avenue) 
• Berkshire Running Center (5 Cheshire Road Suite 119) 
• Berkshire Theatre Group (111 South Street) 
• Berkshire United Way (200 South Street) 
• BFAIR (39 Willis Street) 
• Carr Hardware (547 North Street) 
• City Hall (70 Allen Street) 
• Clock Tower (Berkshire Eagle Building) 
• Cooper Center/Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (1 Fenn Street) 
• Elegant Stitches (237 First Street) 
• Guidewire, Inc. Office (34 Depot Street) 
• Hill-Engineers, Architects, Planners, Inc. (50 Depot Street in Dalton) 
• Holiday Inn & Suites (1 West Street) 
• Lee Bank Pittsfield Branch (75 North Street) 
• Mana Crypt Gaming Center (139 West Housatonic Street) 
• MountainOne (South Street and Silver Lake offices) 
• Otto's Kitchen & Comfort (95 East Street) 
• Paul Rich & Sons (242 North Street) 
• RSVP (16 Bartlett Avenue) 
• ServiceNet (141 North Street, lower level) 
• Solutions Community Connections Program (1450 West Housatonic Street) 
• Soma's Aromas (81 East Street) 
• This & That Sports (128 Fenn Street) 
• Wayfair (75 South Church Street) 
• Witch Slapped (78 North Street) 
• Wolfson Center/Barrington Stage Company (122 North Street) 

ServiceNet Cuts Ribbon on Vocational Farm to 'Sow Seeds of Hope'

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:30AM / Saturday, May 18, 2024

Lori Carnute plants flowers at the farm and enjoys seeing her friends. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Smiles were all around as farmers, human service workers, and officials cut the ribbon Friday on ServiceNet's new vocational farm on Crane Avenue.

Whether it is planting flowers or growing fresh produce, the program is for "sowing seeds of hope" for those with developmental disabilities.

"What Prospect Meadow Farm is about is changing lives," Vice President of Vocational Services Shawn Robinson said.

"Giving people something meaningful to do, a community to belong to, a place to go every day and to make a paycheck, and again, I am seeing that every day from our first 17 farmhands the smiles on their faces. They're glad to be here. They're glad to be making money."

Prospect Meadow Farm Berkshires held a launch event on Friday with tours, music, snacks, and a ribbon cutting in front of its tomato greenhouse. The nonprofit human service agency closed on the former Jodi's Seasonal on Crane Avenue earlier this year.  

It is an expansion of ServiceNet's first farm in Hatfield that has provided meaningful agricultural work, fair wages, and personal and professional growth to hundreds of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities since opening in 2011.

Eventually, the farm will employ 50 individuals with developmental disabilities year-round and another 20 to 25 local folks supporting their work.

The pay is a great aspect for Billy Baker, who is learning valuable skills for future employment doing various tasks around the farm. He has known some of the ServiceNet community for over a decade.

"I just go wherever they need me to help," he said. "I'm more of a hands-on person."