Letter Carrier Food Drive; BMC at monthly Interfaith meeting

We're Giving Out More Food Than Ever

The line in green shows that April was our busiest month in more than three years operating the Friendship Center Food Pantry.

This past April had the most total household visits in our 3+ years as a food pantry: 815 total visits. We averaged 163 household visits per week; in April 2013 we averaged 139 visits per week.

As for the first week in May, we had 152 visits on Wednesday, May 7, a large number for the first week of the month. By comparison, last May we served 114 households in the first week of May.

So far I am aware of 5 or 6 people who lost their jobs when the hospital closed who have come to the pantry. Otherwise, I thnk the increase is due to reduction in food stamp (SNAP) benefits and in the cutoff of long-term unemployment insurance.

We brought in more than 5,000 lbs. of food this past Tuesday.

So the annual Letter Carrier Food Drive on Saturday, May 10, is very important. We get donations from North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida. These donations are split among the Friendship Center Food Pantry, the Berkshire Food Project, the Salvation Army and the Dream Center, all of whom do great work.

With the promotional help of Mass in Motion, last year we processed 15,500 lbs. of food donations in 2013, two tons more than in 2012.

This kept us going and saved us from having to pay much for food for a month. Please be generous.

Anyone interested and able to help in sorting the food collected in North Adams, Clarksburg and Florida should come down to 107 Main St. in North Adams (just west of the Mohawk Theater) between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This takes a lot of volunteer power and is a lot of fun. Call the Friendship Center at 413-664-0123 if you need more information. Or you can email me at markrondeau@earthlink.net.

BMC at May 16th Interfaith meeting

Above, our pantry nurses, Cindy Croce and Barb Cariddi now both work for Berkshire Health Systems/Berkshire Medical Center, headquartered in Pittsfield. Below, NARH sign on Route 2 — sort of covered up.

In response to some complaints from North Adams people on their reception at Berkshire Medical Center, on Wednesday morning, April 30, Sean Jennings, MA VP Berkshire Medical Center Support Services addressed pantry members in the Eagle Street Room and answered questions about their concerns.

When I spoke to him afterward and mentioned that we have a monthly meeting, he immediately expressed interest and said he would try to have someone address us. He will be coming to our May 16 Interfaith meeting at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of North Adams, Eagle Street Room. He said he was trying to get member/s of the Senior Team at BMC to attend also.

We will begin with our customary period of introductions, announcements, silent prayer and faith sharing.

Later, on April 30, I sent an email to Mr. Jennings. Here is what I wrote to him in part, answering his question about what we should discuss:

“As for topic, I think the concerns that were passed along...to Barb Cariddi from our pantry members about transportation and the attitude they encountered would be good. It would also be great to have an update to the extent possible about BMC's plans for north county and the NARH building.”

I added,

“I think many of us, myself included, are eager to find ways to partner with and encourage BHS and BMC in their efforts to fill in the void left by the bankruptcy of our health system. I personally had a [test] at the Crane Center on Friday, the first time I had been a patient at BMC, and was quite pleased with my care and the attitude of the people providing it.”

Back to now: The fact that I didn't have a problem doesn't mean that others from North County didn't have problems. In fact, my contact with non-medical personnel was minimal and limited to one person. And I HAD private transportation down to Pittsfield, which many people up here don't.

Anyway, I am looking forward to an enlightening and civil discussion, much as was had at the April meeting of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition on the hospital’s closing.

God Bless,

Mark

NB Interfaith Action Springs Ahead

Looking Ahead: Letter Carrier Food Drive May 10

Each year, our local letter carriers make a heroic effort to collect donated food from residents along their routes. This food then goes to local food programs.

Here is a press release by Al Nelson that we have ready to help announce the food drive:

On Saturday, May 10, our local food pantries get help from your letter carriers.

You can make their day and help those in need in your community by leaving a bag of non-  perishable food by your mailbox, your door, or business before your regular mail delivery to be  taken to Northern Berkshire pantries. 

The Berkshire County Letter Carriers’ Branch No. 286 out of  our post offices in North Adams, Adams, and Williamstown will come together with volunteers  from the Interfaith Action Initiative, and  Mass In Motion, the latter a  program of the Northern  Berkshire Community Coalition to help alleviate the increasing plight of food insecurity for many of our neighbors.  Lots of people in our area are in crisis. Families with children, the  working poor, and seniors. A visit to a pantry twice a month helps immensely to supplement  their meals with nutritious food.  And it’s always passed along by volunteers in friendship with  dignity and respect. 

Your generous donations will fill the shelves of the Friendship Center, Berkshire Food Project,  and the Salvation Army in North Adams.  In Williamstown, the Saints Patrick and Raphael Parish  and the Community Bible Church. In Adams, the Pope John Paul Charity Center has asked that  food in that area be directed to the Family Life Support Center Louison House. 

Your letter carriers see the problems face to face during their mail deliveries. They’re ready to  help in a big way on Saturday, May 10th. Bags of food from those who can give will make a difference to the hungry in our communities.

We are looking for volunteers for this drive. If you can help, email us at northernberkshireinterfaith@gmail.com.

Need for Food

This chart shows that the total number of visiting households this year was higher in March than in previous years. Green line shaped like a V shows 2014 trend.

The need for food remains steady. So far we have not seen a great increase in pantry members due to the unfortunate closure of North Adams Regional Hospital, though this may change. As was well-publicized in the local media, we did receive about 1,400 lbs. of food left over from the hospital. To call this donation “bittersweet” would be accurate.

It’s worth noting that the Food Bank of Western Mass. has been quite active in finding out whether they can be of any assistance in providing food aid to those who lost employment at the hospital, even asking our food service director directly if we have seen in an influx and needed extra help getting food. So far the answer has been no.

Still, with five weeks this year, April may prove to be our busiest month yet. Last year we averaged 139 household visits per Wednesday; this year we are averaging 157 household visits per Wednesday.

Some of the food given to the Friendship Center Food Pantry by the hospital.

The Friendship Center Food Pantry took part in a services fair at MCLA on April 11 for those who had lost their jobs at North Adams Regional Hospital. These women speaking to Steve Green did not need our services. Those who do are encouraged to call us at 413-664-0123 or stop by on Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. or 4 to 6 p.m.

In some better news, our friend and original Eagle Street room nurse, Barb Cariddi, who lost her job with the VNA when the hospital closed, has been hired by Berkshire Medical Center and was up with us on Wednesday, April 23. Though she has other duties now, she told her new employers that she would be quite happy serving with us on Wednesdays. We should be seeing more of her in the future. Fortunately, we now also have the services of nurse Cindy Croce, who also has been a joy to be around and a blessing to us and our visiting friends.

Barbara Cariddi

Monthly meetings going strong

Debbie Vallieres, from Little’s Pharmacy, spoke at our March meeting. She was very knowledgeable and dedicated to the services she helps provide.

Since our last post, we have had two great third-Friday meeting monthly presentations.

At our March meeting, Debbie Vallieres, from Little’s Pharmacy, spoke about Medicare Part D drug coverage problems and solutions for people with financial need. She will also talk about Part B coverage, and medication compliance as a means to decrease hospitalizations and re-admissions.

She particularly impressed us with how the pharmacy goes above and beyond with its program to compile monthly packets of the pills its customers need. Each day has its own compartment. This is a nation-wide program that Little’s participates in and is quite impressive.

At our April 18 meeting, 13 people gathered for a reading on and discussion of Catholic Social Teaching led by Sister of St. Joseph and former Northern Berkshire Community Coalition employee Natalie Cain. In four years of monthly meetings, this was the first time most of those present stayed seated well past noon to continue the discussion.

We read as a group the 1975 pastoral letter of the Appalachian Catholic Bishops “This Land is Home to Me.” It is very poetic and incisive and we marveled at how much it in is relevant to the U.S. today and how much of it relates to very closely to our life in North Adams:

“Without judging anyone, it has become clear to us

that the present economic order does not care for its people.

In fact, profit and people frequently are contradictory.

Profit over people is an idol. And it is not a new idol, for Jesus long ago warned us.”

———

“In a country whose productive force is greater than anything the world has ever known, the destructive idol shows its ugly face in places like Appalachia. The suffering of Appalachia’s poor is a symbol of so much other suffering — in our land — in our world. It is also a symbol of the suffering which awaits the majority of plain people in our society

– if they are laid off,

– if a major illness occurs,

– if a wage earner dies,

– or if anything else goes wrong.

In this land of ours, jobs are often scarce,

Too many people are forced to accept unjust conditions

or else lose their jobs."

———

“Throughout this whole process of listening to the people, the goal, which underlies our concern, is fundamental in the justice struggle, namely, citizen control, or community control. The people themselves must shape their own destiny. Despite the theme of powerlessness, we know that Appalachia is already rich here in the cooperative power of its own people.”

Above, Sister Natalie Cain hands a copy of “This Land is Home to Me” to Eric Wilson at our April Interfaith monthly meeting. Below, some of those who attended reading the letter, which applied Catholic Social Teaching to the lives of ordinary people in Appalachia and the U.S.

The next meeting of the Interfaith Action Initiative will be held on Friday, May 16, at 10 a.m. in the Eagle Street Room of the First Baptist Church of North Adams. All are welcome

No topic for the meeting had been determined as of the writing of this post. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements of what it will be.

Support the North Adams Lip Dub!

Annie Rodgers and Peter Gentile speak about the North Adams Lip Dub project on “In the Company of Friends.”

After a several-month absence, the cable TV show “In the Company of Friends” is back on Northern Berkshire Community Television Corp.’s Channel 15. This is 116-2 on my TV.

Our current show focuses on the North Adams Lip Dub project. 

Annie Rodgers and Peter Gentile were our guests. Annie is leading the project for the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition and Peter will produce and direct the Lip Dub.

The Lip Dub would be a great project for community spirit, but time to fund it is running out. This would be a music video promoting North Adams, filmed downtown in September, with people saying the words to a locally written song. 

The video would be filmed in one take, with no cuts. You’ve likely seen one, whether you realize it or not.

To find out more, visit here. Or watch the program on NBCTC Channel 15 on Sundays at 7 p.m., Mondays at 7:30 p.m. and Tuesdays at 3 p.m. The Monday and Tuesday times will not apply during the first week of May.

To those who would say that such a project is not appropriate at this time of hospital and job loss, I say not doing it will not bring back jobs or medical services. On the other hand, all the money spent on this will stay here, locally. A successful project will provide a boost to the economy and the city’s image as a resiliant place.

The message to the world would be not another version of: “Poor North Adams reels from another hit” but “North Adams, the tough little city that just won’t quit.” Think about it — then please donate if you can!

God Bless All of You,

Mark

Lots of Pantry and Interfaith news to share

Come to our meeting on Friday

Friends,

We have a lot of news to catch up on.

First, I want to announce that our next Interfaith public meeting will be held on Friday, March 21, at the First Baptist Church of North Adams. Please use Eagle Street address. All are welcome.

Debbie Valieres, from Little's Pharmacy, will speak about Medicare Part D drug coverage problems and solutions for people with financial need. She will also talk about Part B coverage, and medication compliance as a means to decrease hospitalizations and re-admissions.

Come and see what we're up to! We will share announcements, insights and provide a time of silent prayer.

Some new pantry statistics

On Thursday, Jan. 30, the Friendship Center for the third year in a row welcomed the latest class of community outreach workers from the Northern Berkshire Neighbors program of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.

As I write this on March 17, the Friendship Center Food Pantry (FCFP) has served so far in 2014 an average of 133 families per week, on average 95 families in our 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. session and 38 in our 4 to 6 p.m. session. Volunteer support remains great. So does agency support at the Eagle Street Room. We regularly have a nurse from Northern Berkshire Healthcare there every Wednesday, Barbara Cariddi, and Maryam Kamangar from Goodwill also. Frequent visitors also are Sherri Dunne from the Family Life Support Center/Louison House; people from the Family Place; and Amanda Chilson and others from Mass in Motion. We also have at times representatives from WIC, Community Legal Aid, the Food Bank of Western Mass, the Reconnect Center and more...

Stuart Crampton has compiled and shared with the board some fascinating statistics. Summarizing, in 2013 the FCFP served 1,060 different households, representing 3,413 individuals, about one third of whom were children.

It is interesting to see how many households came only one time (214), two times (116) or three times (103). Households visits multiplied by the number of times they visited gives a measure of the total amount of food distributed to households that came that number of times. Crunching his numbers, Stuart concludes that "the households that come regularly account for only a small proportion of the food distributed. Evidently, most households come only in emergencies."

Of the roughly 230,000 lbs. of food the FCFP distributed, free government food from the Food Bank accounted for 96,424 lbs. and other free food from the food bank provided 30,095 lbs. Local food drives and gleaning provided another 41,721 lbs. of free food. We bought 47,338 lbs from the Food Bank and another 13,012 lbs. from local businesses. Total free food was about 75 percent of the total by weight. Nevertheless, we spent $45,685 for food.

It takes lots of donations — food and money and volunteer effort — to keep the pantry operation going, and we thank you all!

Plates for Increased state Food Funding

This is my plate. Both volunteers and pantry members are filling them out.

Speaking of funding for food, we at the pantry are participating in a paper plate campaign, organized by the Food Bank of Western Mass., to let our legislators know — and help make the case to their colleagues — that we need increased state funding for emergency food. The plates have a space to fill in your name and address and plenty of room to write a message. We will start sending the plates to Representatives at the beginning of March (like now) and to Senators at the beginning of April. Here is part of the info sheet from the food bank for volunteers and pantry friends in support of the effort:

Paper Plates for More MEFAP Food!

The Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program (MEFAP) is an important food resource for many food programs, including this one (the Friendship Center Food Pantry). Each year, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts sets aside money for food banks, like the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, to buy MEFAP food. Then that food goes to meal

sites and food pantries. Last year, the Massachusetts legislature decided to increase the funding for MEFAP to $14 million, which was helpful. However, that was the first time in many years that the funding for MEFAP had increased. That means that $14 million still doesn't buy enough food.

This year, the governor's budget proposes the same level of federal funding for MEFAP as last year. Since food prices keep going up, that money buys less food than it used to. At the same time SNAP [food stamps] and Unemployment benefits have been cut, so there is more need for MEFAP food. We are asking our state senators and representatives to increase the amount of money for MEFAP this year from the $14 million the governor proposed to $16 million. The $2 million increase would be spent on more food across Massachusetts that would be distributed through programs like meal sites and food pantries.

The paper plate is one way that you can tell your state senator or representative that you support an increase in funding for MEFAP. Legislators care about what the people they represent think. [The rest of the message tells ways the plate(s) can be delivered to the legislators. We at the Friendship Center are mailing/delivering them.] This is the first time we have done this kind of advocacy — which by the way is full compliant with the non-profit status we seek — and the plate campaign has started slowly. We feel confident, however, that we will be able to submit to our legislators all 50 of the plates we receive filled out by pantry members, volunteers and supporters.

Service for Mental Health Recovery and Understanding

North Adams Mayor Dick Alcombright reads at the second annual Service for Mental Health Recovery and Understanding Jan. 21 at New Hope Methodist Church. At left, sits Rev. Dan Randall, pastor of New Hope. Below, NBIAI Co-Director Al Nelson lights a candle during the service.

Our second annual Service for Mental Health Recovery and Understanding was held on Sunday evening, Jan. 27, at New Hope United Methodist Church in Williamstown. About 30 people attended this ecumenical service of readings, candle-lighting and support. We thank the Rev. Dan Randall for planning and leading the service. Dan, by the way, is a volunteer on the Wednesday evening shift at the Friendship Center. Addressing the group at the opening was Marilyn Moran of the Berkshire Chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and yours truly on behalf of the Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initiative.

Though attendence was a bit down this year compared to last, we plan to continue this event, as it is an interfaith endeavor to reach out to friends and neighbors in need.

We don't need justification for our focus on this issue, but I note with interest that mega-evangelist Rick Warren is now venturing into this field, one year after the suicide of his son. According to a recent article by the Associated Press,  "Warren, founder of Saddleback Church and a best-selling author, will team with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange and the National Alliance on Mental Illness to host a daylong event next month focused on helping church leaders reach parishioners who are struggling with mental illness.

"The Gathering on Mental Health and the Church grew out of private conversations Warren had with the local Catholic bishop, Bishop Kevin Vann, after his son's death and his own writings in his journal as he processed his grief. Matthew Warren, 27, committed suicide last April after struggling with severe depression and suicidal thoughts for years."

Marilyn Moran speaks about NAMI at the service. Below are most of those who helped plan and/or present the service. Rev. Peter Elvin, Rev. Mark Langhurst. Kathryn Remillard, Rev. Dan Randall, Carrie Crews, Eric Wilson, Mayor Dick Alcombright, Mark Rondeau, Corinne Case, Marilyn Moran. Below (Al Nelson and group photos courtesy Robert Scott)

Our January and February meetings

Above, Chip Joffe-Halpern of Ecu-Health Care (left), with Al Nelson. Below, Paul Austin of Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity.

It's been a while since we've caught up here on our monthly meetings. We've had two good and informative ones so far this year. On Friday, Jan.17, we welcomed Chip Joffe-Halpern of Ecu-Health Care. He spoke to us about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts. On Friday, Feb. 21, we hosted Northern Berkshire Habitat for Humanity. Paul Austin, John Case and Habitat homeowner Alecia Briggs gave a great presentation. We dicussed as a group ways to get our local faith communities more involved and to cooperate as an Interfaith group with Habitat.

Alecia Briggs speaks about her family's experience with Habitat. More faith congregations in Northern Berkshire should see the presentation NB Habitat offered us at our meeting!

Donations in memory of Henry Bounds

In the four years of this blog, the most popular post — more than 1,300 views in less than a month — was the one above this post about Henry Bounds, who passed away unexpectedly on Feb. 22. Henry’s church, Florida Baptist, and the Friendship Center Food Pantry were listed in his obituary as places to send memorial donations. So far, we have received more than 50 generous donations from individuals, families, businesses and institutions honoring Henry. 

I did not find out until after his death that Henry had written an autobiography, “The Secret of The Black Onion (God’s Cure for Cancer).” I ordered a copy from Amazon.com and have found it to be both an entertaining and inspiring book. (See http://www.amazon.com/The-Secret-Black-Onion/dp/1300133767 ) I wish I had known about this book a year ago.

Well, we certainly miss Henry. His passing reminds me that we’re all just pilgrims on this side, whether we recognize it or not. Anyway, I will here end with a quote from Pope Francis:

“The encounter with God in prayer again pushes us to ‘come down from the mountain’ and back down into the plain where we meet many brothers and sisters weighed down by fatigue, injustice and both material and spiritual poverty.”

God Bless,

Mark

We’ve lost a dear friend

Henry, in black jacket, helps unload the truck at the Friendship Center Food Pantry on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013.

It is with shock and sadness that we note the passing of our friend and volunteer Henry Bounds, who died unexpectedly on Saturday. I’m told he was up working at his church — Florida Baptist — in the morning when he was stricken.

Henry was a regular — and leader — of the Tuesday crew that unloads the truck of food we drive up from the depot in Pittsfield to the Friendship Center Food Pantry at 43 Eagle St. When the truck was getting near on its journey up from Pittsfield, Mark Lincourt — and later — Rich Davis would give Henry a call and he would come over with a group of guys from McDonald’s.

Henry was a man of faith and a man for others. I remember a Community Coalition meeting about four years ago about homelessness. A young woman there was in deep distress over being homeless. Henry was there and took her outside to talk to her. It wasn’t long before her situation was on track.

I remember two other times in the brief three-year history of the Friendship Center when Henry was there helping people with nowhere to go. Another time I was talking to a young couple in line — back when we had long lines stretchinig down Eagle Street. They were from the mountain — Florida. Did they know Henry? Of course they did and spoke very highly of him and how he had helped them.

One thing that epitomizes Henry for me was that he — unasked — documented the setting up and the opening of the Friendship Center back in 2011. He was there on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 when we opened for the first time snapping away with his digital camera. He was an excellent photographer.

Next time we saw him he gave us a thick stack of developed prints and a CD with the photos burned onto it. Mark Lincourt later put many of these in a frame and this montage now hangs in the Friendship Center.

A former trucker, Henry was a physically strong man, though not tall. He was softspoken, good-humored, gentle — a joy to be around. You could sense his quiet inner strength. He was one of those people I was always happy to see and talk to. I’ll always remember him with a smile on his face.

What's unseen and beyond is a mystery, of course, but one can imagine the Master he served saying, “Well done.”

Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to Henry’s wife, Sheila, his children, and his extended family.

Mark Rondeau

A montage of photos Henry took and made prints of the Friendship Center Food Pantry getting ready to open and of opening day, Wednesday, Feb., 23, 2011. Below, Henry (back to camera) helps load a truck from a food drive at North Adams Commons on Saturday, March 12, 2011.

Service for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding Jan. 26

New Hope Church is well-named. A bright, cheerful, contemporary space, it was the site of the first Service for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding in January, 2013.

The second annual Interfaith Service for Mental Illness Recovery and Understanding will be held at New Hope Methodist Church in Williamstown on Sunday, Jan. 26, beginning at 7 p.m. 

This will be an inclusive and supportive event in an informal setting. All are welcome.

New Hope is located at the corner of Main and Water Streets in the former TGL Photoworks building. 

Last year’s service was quite powerful and well-attended and this year’s service is shaping up to be the same. It will be led by the Rev. Dan Randall, the recently installed pastor of New Hope, who has planned the service. It will last about an hour. Refreshments will be available.

More than 40 people attended last year’s service, which was led by Pastor Kim Kie, who is now pastoring in Barre, Vt.

I am looking forward to it, and hope to see you there.

God Bless,

Mark

Ecu-Health Care at Jan. 17 Interfaith meeting

Michael Morelli speaks at our November Interfaith meeting, which generated much interest.

___

I have known Chip Joffe-Halpern, of Ecu-Health Care, for many years. First, writing about health access issues years as a reporter for The Advocate, pretty much from the time the program started on.

More recently, Chip helped both my mother with her prescriptions health benefits and later on me with managing some of my hospital bills after a major operation.

He is a great guy, very passionate about helping people get access to affordable health insurance. So I was very pleased and called me recently, wishing to present at one of our Interfaith Action Initiative public meetings.

The Friday, Jan. 17, meeting of the Northern Berkshrie Interfaith Action Initiative will feature Chip, who is the executive director of Ecu-Health Care.

The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. at the First Baptist Church of North Adams. All are welcome. He will speak about health access issues and opportunities such as the Affordable Care Act.

Ecu-Health Care is a local nonprofit health care access organization, located in the Doctor’s Building on the campus of North Adams Regional Hospital.

The organization, which has been connecting uninsured and underinsured residents with affordable health care for the last 18 years, was recently named as one of 10 Navigator sites by the Massachusetts Health Connector.

One of the great things about Ecu-Health Care is that it started as an ecumenical effort!

November meeting well-attended

Our November meeting featured Michael Morelli, benefits paralegal with Community Legal Aid in Pittsfield, talking about SNAP (food stamp) benefits. Some 18 people attended this meeting of them, several for the first time.

About us

The Northern Berkshire Interfaith Action Initative is a group of

people of different faiths and denominations work together with others of goodwill to find ways to serve our community. It runs the

Friendship Center Food Pantry in North Adams, an emergency voucher system in Northern Berkshire, and holds monthly meetings to discuss topics and programs of civic and religious concern.

For more information, call Mark at 664-0130 or visit our page on Facebook.

Many Partners Make for Productive Service

Michelle Sylvester of WIC made healthy treats at the Eagle Street Room recently.

Friends,

Since we at the Friendship Center started about a year ago to have our visiting friends sign up first at the First Baptist Church of North Adams Eagle Street Room, the number of other programs that have come to help there have been amazing.

The Family Place of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition started visiting our people before this move, and the Food Bank of Western Mass. even did a food demonstration from the vestibule of the former Papyri Books store.

Both organzations have since come down to the Eagle Street Room, most frequently the Family Place. Another Coalition-sponsored program, Mass in Motion, has since come to the Eagle Steet room several times to encourage healthy eating.

The WIC program (see photo above) has had a presence at the Eagle Street Room, as had Bryan House of the Reconnect program aimed at young adults and run by the Berkshire Community Action Council.

One of the services we are most excited about is the presence of nurse Barbara Cariddi (photo below) almost every Wednesday at the Eagle Street Room, for such things as blood pressure checks and flu shots. And not only for our visiting friends but for us volunteers, too. In fact, I got my flu shot there from Barbara this fall.

She talled up here services between Wednesday, Sept. 25, and Wednesday, Nov. 27, and she saw 140 people, with a high number of 31 on Oct. 23.

Most recently, we have had Sherry Dunne from Louison House vist on a recent Wednesday to chat with our guests to see if they or anyone they know is homeless. Sherry is great and was an early attendee when the NBIAI was getting started nearly four years ago now.

Most recently, this past Wednesday, Jan. 8, in fact,, we welcomed Maryam Kamangar, commmunity development manager of Goodwill Industries of the Berkshires Inc. to the Eagle Street Room. She was informing people about Goodwill’s SuitYourSelf program, which helps people get suitable clothing to apply for and keep employment.

Maryam has spoken to me and others, and we feel there are some great opportunites for collaboration between our groups.

All of these collaborations are exciting and are part of what makes all this work a joy.

God Bless

Mark

AMDG

Nurse Barbara Cariddi is available most Wednesdays during our first session at the Eagle Street room. She sees patients in a very accessible but quite private side room.