Berkshire Agricultural Gives $10,000 Grant To Greenagers

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass — Berkshire Agricultural Ventures' (BAV) announces a $10,000 grant to Berkshire-based nonprofit, Greenagers. 
 
The grant will both support Greenagers' second year of apprenticeships ($2,800) at their farm at April Hill Conservation and Conservation Center as well as offset the cost of a pilot year of Greenagers Helping Farm Hands project ($7,200). 
 
"We are happy to be supporting Greenagers training the next generation of farmers through their apprenticeship at April Hil. We also see a big win/win getting young adults working for Greenagers exposed to a variety of farms through the Helping Hands Program, all while giving the farmers the extra hands needed for big projects," Dan Carr, outreach and technical assistance coordinator at BAV said.
 
Specifically, this grant will help Greenagers apprentices learn how to re-engage the agricultural land at April Hill Farm from pasture and hay production to a diversified farm that will include tree nuts, tree and vine fruits, vegetables, beef, lamb, duck eggs, chicken eggs, conservation nursery stock, pollinator habitat, and honey.
 
Starting April 1, the Helping Farm Hands project grant would offset the cost of helping with the need for labor on local farms and allow youth crews a diversity of farming experiences. For more information on this program visit https://greenagers.org/april-hill-farm/.
 
"We need more farms and we need more farmers and we need more educated consumers.  Helping Hands, by connecting youth with local farms, supports the labor needs of farms--elevating profitability and puts young people on farms.  If out of twenty youth that participates, one becomes a farmer and nineteen know more about their agricultural landscape and the power of their food choices, we will be making great strides toward a more resilient and just food system," Will Conklin, executive director of Greenagers said. 
 
Greenagers provides paid employment programs, internships, and apprenticeships and engages teens and young adults in  work in environmental conservation, sustainable farming, and natural resource management.
 
BAV supports farm and food business development and viability by offering access to technical assistance and financing including low-interest loans, grants, and other professional resources.
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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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