ReMarks and Refreshments Forum to be Held in Blandford

12:58PM / Monday, February 19, 2024Print Story | Email Story

BLANDFORD, Mass. — State Senator Paul W. Mark and state Rep. Nicholas Boldyga invite the public to a "ReMarks and Refreshments" forum on Friday, February 23.

The legislators welcome the public to ask questions or offer up comments about opportunities and/or challenges facing the Town of Blandford and Western Massachusetts. Senator Mark and Representative Boldyga will also share some legislative updates from the State House.

This event is open to the public and will be held at Blandford Town Hall, 1 Russell Stage Road, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Senator Mark's Berkshire, Hampden, Franklin, and Hampshire District consists of 57 municipalities in western Massachusetts. He is the chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Cultural Development; the vice chair of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets; and the vice chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation.

Representative Boldyga's Third Hampden District consists of the Hampden County towns of Blandford, Chester, Granville, Montgomery, Russell, Southwick and Tolland; Precincts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 in the city of Agawam; and the Hampshire County towns of Huntington and Middlefield. He is the Ranking Minority on the House Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs.

The Blandford ReMarks and Refreshments event is one in a series of public forums Senator Mark is organizing in an effort to reach all 57 communities.

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2026 Point in Time Count on Jan. 25

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
01:52PM / Tuesday, January 13, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Point in Time count, which measures people experiencing homelessness, will occur on Sunday, Jan. 25, and the Three County Continuum of Care stresses that every survey matters.

Earlier this month, the CoC's data and evaluations manager Michele LaFleur and compliance manager Natalie Burtzos reviewed past data with the Homelessness Advisory Committee and discussed planning for this year's count.

LaFleur described the PIT count as "our attempt to try and determine how many people are experiencing homelessness on a single night." Each year, it has to be conducted within the last 10 days of January.

In January 2025, there were 215 Pittsfield people in shelter, and 12 people unsheltered. In July, 107 city people reported being in shelter, and 27 people reported being unsheltered.

Of the unhoused individuals in the winter of 2025, 113 were people in families with children under 18. The PIT count for 2024 reported more than 200 people experiencing homelessness on that day.

Pittsfield's shelter data consists of ServiceNet's individual and family shelters, Soldier On's shelter and transitional housing, and Elizabeth Freeman sheltering areas. The winter count has increased significantly since 2021, and the CoC conducted a summer count on July 20 that showed fewer people in shelters and more unsheltered.

It was noted that the count misses people who are couch surfing or paying to live in a motel, as the reporting is on the burden of service agencies or community members who work with those experiencing housing instability.

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