BCC Announces Community Education Workshops

• Mosaic Butterfly Garden Stake with instructor Lisa Mendel: Wednesday, March 11, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. in BCC Room K118. Cost: $50. 
• Mosaic Stepping Stone with instructor Lisa Mendel: Thursday, April 9, 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Mendel's Stained Glass Studio, 1 East Hoosac Street, Adams, Mass. Cost: $40. 
• Landscape Painting with instructor Leila DiGirolamo: Saturdays, April 18 and May 9, 12 – 3 p.m. in BCC Room K118. Cost: $65. 

• Basic Dinner Party with instructor Jill Weinberg: Tuesday, Feb. 3, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $65 
• Beginner’s Flower Cupcake Decorating with instructor Melissa Albano: Saturdays, March 7-28, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $145. 
• Quick and Easy Dinners with instructor Jill Weinberg: Tuesday, March 10, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $65. 
• Brunch Fun with instructor Jill Weinberg: Tuesday, April 7, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $65. 
• Chicken Every Day with instructor Jill Weinberg: Tuesday, May 5, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $65. 

• Free Choke Saver Training
  • Session 1: Monday, Jan. 12, 10 – 11 a.m. in BCC’s Susan B. Anthony Center, Room G12 
  • Session 2: Monday, Feb. 23, 10 – 11 a.m. at Berkshire South Regional Community Center, 15 Crissey Rd., Great Barrington, Mass. 
  • Session 3: Wednesday, March 25, 10 – 11 a.m. at Freight Yard Pub, 1 Furnace St, Building 3, North Adams, Mass. 
• Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License (CSL) Exam Prep with Construction Supervisor Training LLC Staff 
  • Session 1: Tuesdays, Jan. 27 – March 10, 6 – 9:30 p.m. in BCC’s Melville Hall, Room 213. Cost: $525. 
  • Session 2: Tuesdays, April 14 – May 26, 6 – 9:30 p.m. in BCC’s Melville Hall, Room 213. Cost: $525. 
• Getting Paid to Talk: An Introduction to Voice Over with Voice Coaches Staff 
  • Session 1: Monday, March 2, 6:30 – 9 p.m. in BCC’s Susan B. Anthony Center, Room G12. Cost: $50. 
  • Session 2: Monday, May 4, 6:30 – 9 p.m. in BCC’s Susan B. Anthony Center, Room G12. Cost: $50. 
• ServSafe Training Certification with instructor Nancy Ruderman 
  • Session 1: Tuesday and Thursday, March 3 and 5, 5:30 – 9 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $185. 
  • Session 2: Monday and Wednesday, May 4 and 6, 5:30 – 9 p.m. in the BCC Kitchen. Cost: $185. 

• Regulate and Restore: Nervous System Regulation for Trying Times with instructor Rose Hedreen, LICSW: Thursdays, Feb. 5 – 26, 5:30 – 7 p.m. in BCC Room G12. Cost: $65. 
• Unlock Your Mind: Self-hypnosis for Focus, Calm and Confidence with instructor Victoria Layden, Monday, March 9, 5 – 7 p.m. in BCC’s Susan B. Anthony Center, Room G12. Cost: $30. 
• Healthy Habits, Hypnotist Style: Making Good Choices Automatic with instructor Victoria Layden, Monday, March 30, 5 – 7 p.m. in BCC’s Susan B. Anthony Center, Room G12. Cost: $30. 

Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing. 

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said. 

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today." 

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback. 

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director. 

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care.  Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires. 

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs. 

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said. 

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.