NAMI Berkshire County Hires New Executive Director

12:30PM / Tuesday, November 02, 2021Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Berkshire County announced that Melissa Helm has joined the organization as Executive Director.

"Her passion for our mission along with her desire to grow and expand our organization made her the perfect fit to lead NAMI Berkshire County," said board president Ruth Healy. "The three tenets of NAMI's mission are to support, educate and advocate for all those in Berkshire County whose lives are impacted by mental illness. Our niche is helping the family and loved ones of someone suffering from mental illness because they often don't know who to turn to for help in coping with their situation."

Melissa comes to NAMI from Kripalu where she held the position of Partnerships and Community Engagement Manager. She is also President of the Board of the Berkshire Coalition for Suicide Prevention and is Chair of the Berkshire County Walk to Fight Suicide.

"We always welcome volunteers to help in the office or with fundraising or to join our board," said Healy. "We are currently looking for a Treasurer with QuickBooks experience. Anyone interested in this opportunity can contact us at namibc@namibc.org."

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Berkshire Museum Explores Ancient Egypt With ‘Soulful Creatures’

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
11:33AM / Friday, October 09, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Following its multimillion-dollar renovation, the Berkshire Museum is welcoming an exhibition unlike any it has been able to host before.

Marking the museum's first major exhibition since its renovation, "Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt," opening Saturday, Oct. 10, thins the veil between the ever-evolving history of Egyptian culture and society and modern day people.

"The most important thing about history is recognizing people from the past as actual people. Ancient Egyptians are no different than us," said William Dore, the museum's chief curator. "They have different cultures and beliefs and different viewpoints, but you can say the same thing about people today."

When audiences experience the exhibit, they will see the humanity in the people of the past, which in turn helps them connect with different views and perspectives around the world today, he said.

Combining archeology with modern scientific imaging, Brooklyn (N.Y.) Museum curators Yekaterina Barbash and Edward Bleiberg designed an exhibit that works to uncover the mysteries behind these objects and the beliefs and rituals that surround them.

"I think something that people kind of misunderstand about history is none of it's ever settled. ... History is a science that is constantly questioned,” Dore said. "It only works if everyone's constantly rethinking things, learning new things ... which is for me super exciting because as much as we know a lot about the ancient Egyptians, there's a lot we don't know.”

The installation features dozens of artifacts on loan from the Brooklyn Museum that explores the practice of animal mummification and the role animals played in ancient Egyptian religion.

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