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Watch for Runners Near BCC on Thanksgiving Morning

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The ninth annual MountainOne Thankful 5K will be held on Thursday, Nov. 28, at 9 a.m. at Berkshire Community College.
 
The event will have runners and walkers completing a 5-kilometer course that will travel along West Street, thru the Berkshire Community College property out along West Street to Meadowridge and along the Woodland Drive cul-de-sac before returning to West Street and finishing in the Patterson Fieldhouse Parking Lot.
 
Residents are asked to use caution and reduced speeds when traveling along these roads between the hours of 8 and 10 a.m. on Thursday. Pittsfield Police will be along the course to ensure safe passage of all the participants.
 
The Berkshire Running Foundation hosts the annual event in which proceeds are donated to the South Community Food Pantry. The organizers also encourage participants to donate nonperishable food items that will also be brought to the pantry to help ease the challenges of food insecurity in our community.
 
In person registration and bib pick up will be Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Berkshire Running Center, 5 Cheshire Roard in the Allendale Underground, Pittsfield.
 
“We are thrilled to have a record setting number of registered participants for this year’s event," Berkshire Running Foundation Executive Director Siobbean Lemme said. "With over 600 registered walkers and runners this will be the largest Thanksgiving run in the Berkshires history.”
 
“This is becoming a family tradition and holiday favorite for our community to give back to those of our neighbors in need, on a day when many of us have more than enough.”
 
Volunteers are still welcomed for the event, you can contact Lemme directly at director@berkshirerun.org.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Pittsfield Takes 'Big Step' With Supportive Housing

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Housing Secretary Ed Augustus says supportive services are critical to moving people into permanent housing. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Those experiencing homelessness often need more than four walls and a roof.  

On Tuesday, Hearthway Inc. hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for 37 new units of supportive housing, 28 on vacant land on West Housatonic Street and nine at Zion Lutheran Church on First Street.

"Today is a good day. It's a day we celebrate our community's commitment and responsibility to our neighbors, especially those who are unhoused, living in shelter, or outside," President and CEO Eileen Peltier said.

"Today, Pittsfield is taking a big step toward our responsibility to make our community stronger for all of us."

The approximately $16 million project offers tenants a variety of services from partner organizations such as The Brien Center and ServiceNet. It also includes a 6,500-square-foot housing resource center in the church's basement, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, with bathrooms, showers, laundry, offices for service providers to meet with clients, and more.

"We know that providing four walls and a roof is often not enough to ensure individuals are safely and continuously housed," Peltier said.

"Permanent supportive housing like these homes is the best way to ensure individuals thrive."

Hearthway, formerly Berkshire Housing Development Corp., is developing the units on donated land on West Housatonic and at Zion Lutheran Church through a lease agreement. The church will remain open during construction. 

The Rev. Joel Bergeland explained that the Zion community is bound by a commitment to treat each neighbor with reverence and see them as "gifts sent from God." While others may not share that faith, he pointed out that they are bound by a charge to seek the welfare of the community.

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