BCC Announces New Staff

04:09PM / Sunday, December 10, 2023Print Story | Email Story

Erica Barreto, Kathy Baugh, and Lauren Gregory.

PITTSFIELD, Mass — Berkshire Community College (BCC) announces the addition of four staff members.

Erica Barreto

joins BCC as Coordinator of Student Diversity Programs and Belonging. Born to first-generation immigrant parents from Brazil and Portugal, Barreto grew up in the Hudson Valley, New York, before moving to the Berkshires. In 2019, she returned to her alma mater, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, to coordinate the MCLA Institute for the Arts and Humanities (IAH). In 2022, Barreto was awarded the BCC 40 Under 40 Award to commemorate her work with IAH. She is the vice president of the board of directors for WAM Theatre. In her free time, she likes dancing at live music festivals, making collage art with girlfriends, reading with her lap cat Apollo and cooking for her loved ones.

Kathy Baugh

joins BCC as Program Coordinator of the STEM Starter Academy, helping to recruit new students and prepare them to start at BCC. Baugh brings over 30 of experience in non-profit management, including 16 years in youth development through the Student Conservation Association (SCA), where she became National Director of program. In her spare time, Baugh is an editor for the Becket Beat (a small monthly newspaper). She also serves on the MA Recreational Trails Advisory Board and as a judge for MA Envirothon. Baugh lives in Becket with her wife, two cats and a dog. In her leisure time, she enjoys hiking, x-country skiing, kayaking and gardening.

Amy Emerson-Inhelder

joins BCC's Jonathan Edwards Library as Library Assistant III-Circulation Manager. Native to Berkshire County, Emerson-Inhelder comes to BCC after almost 10 years as library director of small local library. Previously, she was an elementary school teacher at Cheshire Elementary School after earning a B.S. in Elementary Education at North Adams State College. In her free time, she enjoys baking for friends and loved ones.

Lauren Gregory

joins BCC as an Accountant II in the Business Office. A native of Pittsfield, she attended BCC before graduating and transferring to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in 2020. She graduated MCLA in December 2021 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration (accounting concentration). Gregory brings six years of accounting experience, most of it working as a bookkeeper at David J. Tierney, Jr., Inc. She also worked as a staff accountant at a Brazee and Huban, CPAs, where she prepared taxes.

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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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