Letter: Disappointing Responses to MCLA Homeless Proposal

To the Editor:

It’s been disappointing, but hardly surprising, to see the knee-jerk reactions to the proposed temporary use of a vacant MCLA dorm for transitional family housing. The stereotypes of homelessness have been alive and well among our local leaders and among the public. The conjured images of filthy drug addicts pushing shopping carts and begging for money have been splattered across social media and whispered over back fences. This is not what family homelessness looks like.

Families are some of the most difficult people to provide shelter for when they lose their housing. When you have families with kids, caregivers, multiple generations, etc.. the public’s stereotype of a homeless shelter simply does not work. The MCLA proposal is not this stereotype, yet that is what people are wrongly being led to believe by some who should know better.

Keeping a family group together is usually imperative and leads to much better outcomes. Kids will go to school. Grandma will get her pills. The family member with mental health issues will keep their home support group. Most revealing of all is that this group is statistically likely to leave transitional housing, and land on their feet, faster than almost any other. They want to work. They want to provide. But in that moment that they have lost their housing, they need a safety net, a roof over their head, and a warm meal. Berkshire Towers can provide that.

Greg Roach
North Adams, Mass.

North Adams Unveils Hometown Heroes Banners

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
04:30PM / Friday, May 22, 2026

Carol Ethier-Kipp holds up the first aid kit her father used as an Army medic in World War II. See more photos here. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City of North Adams honored its own on Friday afternoon, unveiling 50 downtown street banners representing local veterans who served — and continue to serve — the community and the country.

 

More than 300 residents packed the front lawn of City Hall as the community took a moment to reflect on its "Hometown Heroes" during the morning unveiling ceremony.

 

"In a city like North Adams, service is personal. The men and women we honor today are not strangers to us. They are our neighbors, our classmates, our parents, our grandparents," Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the crowd. "... These banners are far more than names and pictures hanging along our streets. They are visible reminders of the values that define North Adams: courage, sacrifice, humility, duty, resilience, and the love of country. They remind every person who passes by that this community remembers our veterans."

 

The banner program launched exactly a year ago. Veterans Services Agent Kurtis Durocher opened applications in October and spent the next six months working with families to bring the project to Main Street and over the Hadley Overpass. 

 

"We gather to recognize the brave men and women from our community who have served or who are currently serving in the United States armed forces," Durocher said. "These banners are more than images. They bear a tribute to service, sacrifice, courage, and pride, and they remind us that the freedoms we enjoy every day have been protected by our neighbors, family members, friends, and Hometown Heroes."

 

Each banner features a portrait of a veteran alongside their military branch and dates of service.

 

Durocher noted that the program was something residents clearly wanted, pointing to how fast applications flooded his desk. He praised the volunteers who stepped up to get the banners made and displayed — including city firefighters and Mitchell Meranti of Wire & Alarm Department, who were installing them as late as Thursday night.