Hancock Shaker Village Awarded NEH Challenge Grant

08:26AM / Monday, May 15, 2023Print Story | Email Story

HANCOCK, Mass. — The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Hancock Shaker Village an Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant for $750,000.

This is one of the five largest grants in the 2023 NEH funding cycle, which encompassed 258 recipients.

The funding, and matching monies, will support the renovation of the Visitor Center/Center for Shaker Studies, providing a year-round footprint for the Village and a research hub for scholars.

With a dual goal of improving the visitor experience and protecting the Village's world-class collection, the project will reconceive the existing building, introducing permanent collection galleries, a textile and works on paper gallery, open and vault storage, a library, new lobby, and multi-purpose spaces. It will include significant accessibility and visitor amenity improvements as well as the upgrade of all mechanical systems.

"We are thrilled to announce this important award and thank NEH for its generous support. This project will transform Hancock Shaker Village into a museum-first experience. It promises to elevate our world-class collection, foregrounding the iconic designs and exacting craftsmanship of a diverse community whose astonishing ingenuity was rivaled only by its profound faith," said Director Nathaniel Silver.

With over 33,000 objects, the building will introduce the history of Hancock through its objects, imparting Shaker narratives, highlighting works of artistic importance and cultural complexity, and foregrounding the hard-working community who crafted and used them. This collection-driven experience will inform the visitor's journey prior to entering the grounds where they will be immersed in the physical context, the twenty historic buildings comprising the Village, where many of the objects functioned and were made.

"We thank NEH for this grant and look forward to fulfilling plans that will enable Hancock Shaker Village to better serve its communities," said Board Chair Bob Plotz.

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Pittsfield Housing Project Adds 37 Supportive Units and Collective Hope

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:01PM / Monday, December 29, 2025

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— A new chapter in local efforts to combat housing insecurity officially began as community leaders and residents gathered at The First on to celebrate a major expansion of supportive housing in the city.

The ribbon was cut on Thursday Dec. 19, on nearly 40 supportive permanent housing units; nine at The First, located within the Zion Lutheran Church, and 28 on West Housatonic Street. The Housing Resource Center, funded by Pittsfield's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, hosted a celebration for a project that is named for its rarity: The First.

"What got us here today is the power of community working in partnership and with a shared purpose," Hearthway CEO Eileen Peltier said.

In addition to the 28 studio units at 111 West Housatonic Street and nine units in the rear of the church building, the Housing Resource Center will be open seven days a week with two lounges, a classroom, a laundry room, a bathroom, and lockers.

Erin Forbush, ServiceNet's director of shelter and housing, challenged attendees to transform the space in the basement of Zion Lutheran Church into a community center. It is planned to operate from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. year-round.

"I get calls from folks that want to help out, and our shelters just aren't the right spaces to be able to do that. The First will be that space that we can all come together and work for the betterment of our community," Forbush said.

"…I am a true believer that things evolve, and things here will evolve with the people that are utilizing it."

Earlier that day, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus joined Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll and her team in Housatonic to announce $33.5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funding, $5.45 million to Berkshire County.

He said it was ambitious to take on these two projects at once, but it will move the needle. The EOHLC contributed more than $7.8 million in subsidies and $3.4 million in low-income housing tax credit equity for the West Housatonic Street build, and $1.6 million in ARPA funds for the First Street apartments.

"We're trying to get people out of shelter and off the streets, but we know there are a lot of people who are couch surfing, who are living in their cars, who are one paycheck away from being homeless themselves," Augustus said.

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