Berkshires Beat: Elizabeth Freeman Center's Walk a 'Virtual' Mile Continues

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Elizabeth Freeman Center's Walk a 'Virtual' Mile Continues

The Elizabeth Freeman Center's 2020 digital Walk a 'Virtual' Mile fundraiser to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault, and Gender Violence continues through September. The following walks have been scheduled throughout the Berkshires. Bring a mask and remember to social  distance.
  • Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 5:30 p.m.: Join Jane Iredale and EFC staff at 294 Main St., Great Barrington.
  • Thursday, Sept. 10, at 3:30 p.m.: Join District Attorney Andrea Harrington at the District Attorney's Office at 7 North St., Pittsfield
  • Monday, Sept. 14, at 5:30 p.m.: Join North Adams Mayor Thomas Bernard, members of the City Council, and MICinc at MCLA Gallery 51 on 51 Main St., North Adams.
  • Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 5:30 p.m.: Join state Sen. Adam Hinds and the Berkshire Delegation at Steven Valenti's at 157 North St., Pittsfield.
  • Wednesday, Sept. 16, at noon: Join Chief Troy Bacon and the Adams Police Department at the Adams Police Station on 11 Summer St. in Adams.
  • Thursday, Sept. 17, at 6 p.m.: Join local celebrity author Ty Allan Jackson at Dottie's Coffee Lounge at 444 North St., Pittsfield.
  • Friday, Sept. 18, at 4 p.m.: End the week with Elizabeth Freeman Center staff and friends at Carr Hardware at 57 Park St., Lee.
There are four Walk a Virtual Mile routes in Berkshire County, each with five storefronts with Walk a Virtual Mile "photo-booths." Stop in front of each storefront window and snap a photo or record a video of you or your group and share on social media with #WereHereWeWalk.
 
Register or donate here.
 

Gallop to Success

Gallop to Success, a non-profit organization in Shaftsbury, Vt., that works with at-risk kids, has announced a new additional horse camp program.
 
The program will take place through September, October, November, and December on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
 
The four-hour session will be the equivalent of a mini-camp for campers age 7 to 17. There will be arts and crafts, horseback riding under saddle, trail rides, bareback riding, and clinics but with a more individualized, one-on-one focus with the campers.
 
The program costs $175 per session and scholarship funds are available. Campers can sign up for up to four sessions and request scholarship funding.
 
Applications can be found online, or call 802-442-5454 or email gts@sover.net.
 

Ventfort Hall Lectures

Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum resident historian and author Cornelia Brooke Gilder will give the audience a peek at the subject of her next book titled "Overcoming Tragedies: Real Life in Lenox's Gilded Era Country Houses." She will give her talk at Ventfort Hall on Friday, Sept. 11, at 11 a.m.
 
Drawing on the research that she has been compiling for her book, Gilder will speak on accounts of tragic love stories, defiant elopements, terrifying burglaries, financial ruin and the constant specter of contagious diseases.
 
Tickets for the talk are $20; register here
 
The event will be offered via Zoom. To attend the presentation at Ventfort Hall, reservations are strongly recommended as seating will be strictly limited. Masks are required and seating will observe social distancing. For reservations call Ventfort Hall at 413-637-3206.
 
On Sept. 15 at 4 p.m., author and historian René Silvin will return to Ventfort Hall Mansion & Gilded Age Museum to give a Tuesday Talk on "All That Glitters Is Not Gold: The Perils of Being Too Rich."  
 
His focus will be two wealthy women, both of whom he knew, Ann Woodward, whom he dubs "She was a great shot" with good reason, and Christina Onassis, whom he titles "A Greek Tragedy."  
 
Silvin will make his visual presentation via Zoom from his home in Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 4 p.m.  
 
Tickets for the Silvin lecture are $20 per person. To view him on Zoom, register here.
 

AHEC Offers LGBTQ+ Health Care Presentation

Berkshire Area Health Education Center will present "Affirmative and Knowledgeable Healthcare for LGBTQ+ People" on Friday, Sept. 11, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. as a live virtual event via the Zoom platform. 
 
This program is designed to lead participants through an understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, and its unique culture, language, and health disparities. The goal is to improve communication and knowledge in healthcare delivery in an affirming environment. 
 
Speakers for this program will be Christina Cruz, Ph.D., an education specialist at Berkshire Health Systems, and Dr. Jeremy Stoepker, a physician at Community Health Programs at Lee Family Practice.

 


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Healey Announces Housing Development Supports at Former Pittsfield Bank

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Gov. Maura Healey poses with the bank's old safe. The building is being refurbished for housing by Allegrone Companies. The project is being supported by a commercial tax credit and a $1.8M MassWorks grant for infrastructure improvements. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Gov. Maura Healey stood in the former Berkshire County Savings Bank on Tuesday to announce housing initiatives that are expected to bring more than 1,300 units online. 

"People come here from all over the world. We want them to stay here, and we want kids who grew up here to be able to afford to stay here, but the problem is that for decades, we just weren't building enough housing to keep up with demand," she said. 

"And you guys know what happens when there isn't enough supply: prices go up. We have among the lowest vacancy rates in the country, so against that challenge, we made it our priority from day one to build more homes as quickly as possible." 

Approximately $8.4 million from the new Commercial Conversion Tax Credit Initiative (CCTCI) is designed help communities transform empty or rundown commercial buildings into new homes along with $139.5 million in low-income housing tax credits and subsidies through the Affordable Housing Development grant program. 

The historic 24 North St. with a view of Park Square has been vacant for about two years, and Allegrone Companies plans to redevelop it and 30-34 North St. into 23 mixed-income units. The administration announced its Commercial Conversion Tax Credit Initiative (CCTCI) and the Affordable Housing Development grant program as ways to aid housing production, both of which Pittsfield will benefit from. 

The state is partnering with Hearthway for the construction of 47 affordable units on Linden Street, utilizing the former Polish Community Club and new construction, and Allegrone for its redevelopment of the block. 

The Linden Street project is one of the 15 rental developments the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities is supporting through $25.7 million in federal low-income housing tax credits, $32.4 million in state low-income housing tax credits, and $81.4 million in subsidies. 

Allegrone's project is supported by the commercial tax credit and was recently awarded $1,800,000 from the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. 

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll said she fully comprehends the importance of housing and how crushing it is in communities that need it and want to build, but face difficulties with high construction costs. 

"Housing is the key to keeping people in the community in a safe way and giving them an opportunity to fill those many roles that we need throughout the Commonwealth in cities and towns, large and small, urban and rural, these are all important work. Having somebody fix your boiler, fix your car, we want those individuals to be able to live in our communities as well, particularly in our gateway cities," she said. 

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