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Louison House Celebrates Growth, Programs at Annual Meeting
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
Shirley Manuel tells how Louison House helped her find and furnish an apartment after unexpectedly finding herself homeless.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Shirley Manuel was looking to move to the Berkshires with her ailing husband to be closer to her grown children.
She'd visited last fall and then drove here from Mississippi in March to scout out a place to live. It was during her drive north that she received the tragic news that her 82-year-old husband had died of a heart attack.
She moved into her daughter's apartment but there wasn't really any space for her. So she called Louison House for help.
"It was nothing like what I expected. I'm 67 years old. I didn't know anything about being homeless, living in a shelter, who to turn to, where to go, anything," she told the attendees at Louison House's annual meeting. "But I had help from everybody."
She immediately made herself useful — cooking for the 17 people staying there — and, she admitted, annoying because she kept trying to do everyone's job.
"Miss Kathy would get on me because she would tell me, you know, stop trying to take over everybody's job. Stop telling everybody to go by your rules. They have to go by Louison House rules," she laughed. "I can't help that this my personality!"
Louison House helped her find a permanent place to live and the items she needed to furnish it. She's now giving back as a member of the shelter's advisory committee.
In the last year alone, it's provided more than 600 people with housing assistance, assisted nearly 100 in securing housing, and distributed $10 BRTA bus passes to more than 400 people to help them get to housing or income-related appointments. click for more
Mila Marcisz ripped a shot from the top of the 18 that slipped just under the swing of teammate Adele Low and past the Mustangs keeper in the fourth minute of the second overtime to give Mount Greylock a 1-0 win. click for more
Mount Greylock dominated for much of the game, compiling a 17-4 advantage in shots on goal, not to mention numerous Mountie chances that went just wide or high of frame. click for more
The School Building Committee on Tuesday voted to extend the contracts of Collier's International as owner's project manager and TSKP Studio as the designer.
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