Four Berkshire Organizations Awarded DEIB Grants

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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Health New England has awarded $80,000 in grants to non-profit organizations that work to advance youth health and well-being in Western Massachusetts. 
 
The company's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) Grants went to 38 organizations in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, and Worcester counties.
 
In Berkshire County these organizations were awarded funding:
  • Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield), Playwright Mentoring Program
  • Berkshire Bounty (Great Barrington), Food Purchase Program
  • Berkshire Pride (Pittsfield), Empowerment and Well-being: After-School Program for LGBTQ+ Teens & Tweens
  • Roots Rising (Pittsfield), Roots Rising's Youth Crews
 
Health New England's DEIB mission is to improve the health and lives of people as it applies to individuals of all races, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and levels of ability. 
 
Health New England's DEIB Grants are designed to fund local non-profit organizations that focus on health equity and engage around at least one social determinant of health (SDOH). SDOHs are conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age that affect health, quality of life, and life expectancy. These conditions may include socioeconomic status, food insecurity, education, access to health care, safe housing, discrimination, violence, and trauma, etc.
 
Health New England focused this year's DEIB grants on youth health and well-being after a Springfield Public Schools Youth Health Survey revealed that more than four in ten surveyed eighth-grade students felt so sad or hopeless for two weeks or more that they stopped participating in some usual activities. The grant winners' programs and projects must also assist youths and adolescents gain what the World Health Organization's Adolescent Well-being Framework states they need to thrive:
  • Good health and optimum nutrients
  • Connectedness, positive values, and contribution to society
  • Safety and a supportive environment
  • Learning, competence, education, skills, and employability
  • Agency and resilience
 
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Pittsfield to Decide Crosby/Conte Feasibility Study in October

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — City and school officials are expected to vote on a feasibility study for the Crosby Elementary School rebuild by Halloween.

On Monday, Superintendent Joseph Curtis gave an overview of the study's timeline and components. It would determine the feasibility of rebuilding Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities.

"We at this point, do not know the feasibility study will actually occur," he told the Middle School Restructuring Committee.

"There has to be discussions of the School Building Needs Commission, who is actually meeting [Tuesday night], there has to be discussion with the School Committee, and then finally, approval by the City Council by roughly Oct. 31 to fund the feasibility study."

The study, estimated to cost about $1.5 million, is a part of the 80 percent reimbursable costs from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which accepted the project into its queue late last year.

The Crosby/Conte plan has the potential to house grades prekindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another, with both maintaining their own identities and administrations.

Curtis explained that what begins now is a 270-day timeline with a "whole host of tasks" that have to be completed in that window.

"The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) Feasibility Study is a key phase in the process of addressing the needs of public school buildings in Massachusetts. It is a collaborative effort between the MSBA and the participating school district to identify the most appropriate and cost-effective solution to a school facility problem," an overview provided by the Pittsfield Public Schools explains.

"The Feasibility Study ensures that the district and the MSBA have a well-researched and collaborative plan for addressing the school facility's needs. It provides a framework for designing a solution that signs with education goals, meets community expectations, and is financially responsible."

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