North Adams Resident Wins Children's Trust Award

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Children’s Trust has announced North Adams resident Bethany Prince-Malloy, Associate Coordinator of the Family Center of Northern Berkshire County, is the recipient of its Faces of Prevention award, which honors and recognizes family support professionals across Massachusetts who support families and prevent child abuse.

Prince-Malloy lives in North Adams. She holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Plymouth State University.

"Bethany truly believes in building protective factors in families," said Amy Hall, Program Manager of Family Support Programs at Child Care of the Berkshires, who oversees the Family Center of Northern Berkshire County. "When the news came out about the baby formula recall, Bethany spent the full day on the phone with families, the pediatrician's office and with other service providers and stores, working to ensure that families knew about the recall and had the formula they needed. She went the extra mile to make sure families had what they needed. This is just one example of many different things Bethany does to support strong, healthy families."

Prince-Malloy started at Child Care of the Berkshires as a family support worker a decade ago. In that role, she helped connect families to resources and made referrals to other programs that support families’ needs. As Associate Coordinator, she continues to provide family support while also overseeing parent education programming and playgroups.

"I love the idea of prevention work. It’s the best avenue of social work," said Prince-Malloy. "I love the work we do. We’re strengthening families, mentoring them, showing them how to be successful parents. We empower families so that can be the best families they can be."

In her role as Associate Coordinator, Prince-Malloy now supervises family support professionals. 

"I’m backed by a wonderful team who make things happen here," she said. When the baby formula recall was announced, Prince-Malloy and her team started receiving calls from families desperately in need of formula. The Family Center provides emergency formula for families in need and became a hub during the recall and shortage to help families find formulas for their babies.

Children’s Trust Family Centers are community hubs where parents go to get support navigating the joys and challenges of parenting. They can tap into community resources, learn new parenting skills, get individualized family support during times of stress, meet other families, and participate in activities and programs that support them in their caregiving role. A 2019 Family Center evaluation survey found that 95% of parents found support from others through playgroups and 93% of parents found that playgroups helped them deal with the challenges of parenting.

The Children’s Trust funded Family Center of Northern Berkshire County supports 11 towns in northern Berkshire Country, including Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg, Florida, Hancock, Lanesboro, Monroe, New Ashford, North Adams, Savoy, and Williamstown. In Fiscal Year 2021, the Family Center of Northern Berkshire County provided 13,637 diapers to families, 94 cans of baby formula, 100 boxes of food, 63 bags of clothing, and 28 baby boxes. 

The Family Center also gave away 51 free books to parents who engaged in the 123 virtual playgroups, and 44 books to the families who engaged in the Story Walks on The Born Learning Trail. These are some of the many ways the Family Center supports families.

"We triaged calls to make sure families knew about the recall and to get the formula where it needed to be," recalls Prince-Malloy. "I am thankful for my team who became a ‘jack of all trades’ to support families and get them what they needed. Our team was driving all over the place to different stores to find formula. It was a chaotic time but we were able to support our families and that’s what it’s all about."

Freight Yard Pub Serving the Community for Decades

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:26PM / Saturday, December 06, 2025

One of the eatery's menu mainstays is the popular French onion soup. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Freight Yard Pub has been serving the community for decades with a welcoming atmosphere and homemade food.

 

Siblings Sean and Colleen Taylor are the owners Freight Yard Pub. They took it over with their brother Kevin and Colleen's first husband in 1992. The two came from Connecticut and Boston to establish a restaurant and said they immediately felt welcomed in their new home.

 

"The reception that the community gave us in the beginning was so warm and so welcoming that we knew we found home," Colleen Taylors said. "We've made this area our homes since then, as a matter of fact, all of our friends and relationships came out of Freight Yard Pub."

 

The pub is located in Western Gateway Heritage State Park, and its decor is appropriately train-themed, as the building it's in used to be part of the freight yard, but it also has an Irish pub feel. It is the only original tenant still operating in the largely vacant park. The Taylors purchased the business after it had several years of instability and closures; they have run it successfully for more than three decades.

 

Colleen and Sean have been working together since they were teenagers. They have operated a few restaurants, including the former Taylor's on Holden Street, and currently operate takeout restaurant Craft Food Barn, Trail House Kitchen & Bar and Berkshire Catering Co., operating as Bay State Hospitality Group. Over the weekend, it was announced they would take over management of the historic Store at Five Corners in Williamstown.

 

"Sean and I've been working together. Gosh, I think since we were 16, and we have a wonderful business relationship, where I know what I cover, he knows what he covers," she said. "We chat every single day, literally every day we have a morning phone call to say, OK, checking in."

 

The two enjoy being a part of the community and making sure to lend a hand to those who made them feel so welcome in the first place.