Pittsfield Human Services Advisory Council Advises 2023 CDBG Awards

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Human Services Advisory Council on Thursday voted on $206,250 in recommendations for the fiscal 2023 Community Development Block Grant awards.

The proposals for more than 20 local agencies and organizations will go to Mayor Linda Tyer and the City Council for approval during the FY23 budget process.

The federal funds support services for families with children, housing insecure individuals, residents with disabilities, senior citizens, and arts programs.

During the meeting, members of the volunteer committee expressed a wish for more funding to disperse.

"To the agencies, we wish we could give you more," Chair Rosalind Kopfstein said.

Because the 2023 CDBG allocation is not yet known, the proposed budget is based on last year’s allocation of $1,359,378. Up to 15 percent of the annual allocation can be awarded to human service agencies.

The $206,250 is $154,500 in projected CDBG funds and $51,750 in city general funds.

The committee held six meetings from January to March when they had presentations from agencies that were seeking funding.

In February, there was a public hearing for the city's 2023 annual Action Plan to gather input on how the city’s CDBG funds should be used to benefit the community.

The Elizabeth Freeman Center has the largest proposed allocation of about $17,500. During EFC’s presentation on January 27, Executive Director Janis Broderick spoke to the need for the center’s 24/7 domestic and sexual violence services — especially during the pandemic.

"When COVID hit we knew that there would be increased violence and decreased access to help so we never closed our doors, our greatest fear throughout this time has been that we would miss someone, our offices remained open and staffed to receive walk-ins, provide basic emergency assistance, to help with accessing online resources and court hearings for protection orders," she said.

"Our shelter stayed open to protect those in danger and in hiding we continued to provide transportation to our offices and left safe phones throughout the county at police stations, courts, and hospitals so that people could safely call us."

Broderick said the phones in March 2020 were "eerily quiet," which was worrisome, but by late April the calls were flooding in. Not only did the number of calls rise dramatically but the center was seeing higher levels of danger with lethality assessments routinely scoring in the severe and extreme ranges.

There was also a great financial, housing need, and "horrific homelessness," she said.

"Since COVID hit, the number of people calling our hotline increased by 77 percent, the number of calls, repeat callers, increased by 240 percent, and the number of hours that we would spend on the hotline on these calls increased 330 percent," Broderick explained.



"And our cost for motels to shelter survivors and their families in danger when there was no other appropriate shelter available increased 72 percent."

She added that the center also has some successes in helping families struggling with homelessness get housing vouchers and being assisted through the center’s other programs.

Committee member Dina Guiel Lampiasi commended the center for its important work and asked Broderick how to ensure the CDBG funds will be spent on Pittsfield residents, as the center serves the county.

Broderick said a majority of clients are from Pittsfield and that most of the center's expenses are centered in the city.

"The work that you do is just phenomenal and you are saving so many lives," Kopfstein said.

Roots Rising, whose mission is to empower youth and build community through food and farming, is proposed to receive about $17,100 for its youth crews program.

The organization hires Pittsfield teens for paid work in crews on farms, in food pantries, and at the Roots Rising farmer’s market.

"So what is the impact of our crews in 2021? 94 percent of crew members reported that they had a stronger work ethic, 94 percent felt less sad, anxious, or lonely, 88 percent felt that Roots Rising staff helped them grow as a person, 94 percent felt more prepared for the workforce, and 100 percent had more pride in their community," co-founder and co-Director Jessica Vecchia explained during her presentation on March 10.

"Those statistics don't tell the full story, in the words of one crew members, 'Roots Rising gave me an opportunity to look inside myself, it showed me that I'm valued and seeing my crew was the greatest five weeks my life.’"

The committee did struggle with one funding application, as the Tyler Street Lab was unable to present to the group, but agreed to propose funding with the information from its application.

The community development space is a neighborhood pop-up initiative based in the Morningside neighborhood.

The lab does not currently have its 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization designation and will need to have that by July to receive the CDBG funds.

The following organizations and agencies are being proposed for CDBG funding to support a service program within.  The amounts are subject to change during the approval process. 

  • 18 Degrees, $16,191
  • Berkshire County Regional Housing Authority, $16,686
  • Berkshire County Kids Place, $9,127
  • Community Access to the Arts, $2,997
  • NAMI, $6,187
  • The Brien Center, $13,751
  • Child Care of the Berkshires, $7,004
  • George B. Crane Memorial Center, $5,291
  • Elder Services, Meals on Wheels, $8,226
  • Elder Services SHINE, $3,023
  • Berkshire Center for Justice, $3,806
  • ServiceNet, $16,183
  • United Cerebral Palsy, $5,967
  • Habitat for Humanity, Community Connections, $7,591
  • Habitat for Humanity, Community Navigators, $8069
  • Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center, $5,509
  • Berkshire Immigrant Center, $8,716
  • Elizabeth Freeman Center, $17,544
  • Community Legal Aid, $15,965
  • Berkshire Nursing Families, $5,280
  • Roots Rising, $17,157
  • Roots and Dreams- 1,500
  • Tyler Street Lab- 1,500
  • IS183- 2,979

Tags: CDBG,   

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

View Full Story

More Pittsfield Stories