NBCC Graduates New Community Leaders
 Al Bashevkin, NBCC executive director, said the program to train neighborhood leaders has been a long-time dream of the group. |
For the second year, the coalition's Northern Berkshire Neighbors Community Outreach Worker program trained local residents how to help their neighbors by accessing resources and uniting diverse groups. The 15-week program concluded with a graduation ceremony Tuesday at the North Adams Public Library.
"This program has been a dream of ours for a long time," NBCC Executive Director Alan Bashevkin said at the graduation ceremony. "We're building a movement of community organizers."
The program is intended to create experts on community resources to help build better neighborhoods. The graduates, mostly from the city, visited various service organizations and were mentored by other community leaders and will bring the knowledge back to help others.
"This training has meant a lot. The people in this class were so diverse ... We learned a lot from each other," graduate Mark Lincourt said. "There are so many talents, so many hidden talents that we can use."
Aldona Adams said she will take what she learned to welcome three new families to the neighborhood to help them feel welcomed and accommodate them to the area. Staurt Crampton said he has now set a goal to start a voucher program to help people with emergency needs like a place to stay for a night or a tank of gas.
"My aspiration is to arm people with knowledge," Andrea Peters said.
The group received a stipend to participate in the program and will now work with the coalition for about six hours a month.
"They're people with very big hearts that sign on to do this kind of work," Program Coordinator Wendy Krom said. "It's really about connecting with our hearts."
 Ken Galdston was the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony. |
In the spirit of sharing, the new outreach workers proposed turning the graduation ceremony into a potluck lunch and inviting all of the groups that mentored the crew during the weeks. Kenneth Galdston, lead organizer of the Newton-based InterValley Project, was invited to speak.
"The assumption was that if you worked hard, you had the opportunity to get an education, to advance. That hasn't disappeared here but it's clear that we are struggling much more as a nation," Galdston said. "The number of people who are really struggling to avoid being poor is really growing."
Galdston encouraged the graduates to talk to their neighbors and share their stories to really find out the issues that need to be fixed. After that, they must unite to make those changes. Neighbors must unite and fight for a "seat at the table," he said.
"You need to be around for a long time," Galdston said. "Go out and build relationships."
The graduates are: Aldona Adams, Andrea Peters, Cheryl LeClaire, Corinne Case, Edward LaCosse, Jeanne Feder, Kellie Morrison, Maleek Thompson, Mark Lincourt, Natalie Cain and Stuart Crampton.
