PRESS RELEASE: GREAT BARRINGTON

The Berkshire Youth Development Project has been awarded a three-year, $600,000 federal grant aimed at supporting youth organizations in Berkshire County.  The name of the grant is Compassion Massachusetts Berkshire Initiative. The grant came about through a collaborative effort of youth agencies throughout the county.  Working with the Donahue Institute of the University of Massachusetts, each year $100,000 will be dispersed in the form of direct grants for capacity building to both faith based and non-faith based small community organizations whose programs target at-risk youth and their families.  Another $100,000 is earmarked each year to pay for the technical assistance and consulting work that those same organizations will need to implement their funds effectively and within the guidelines of the grant.

“This is a win, win, win” said Al Bashevkin, the executive director of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.  “The Berkshire Youth Development Project has high expectations for this grant.  Through this grant expertise will be provided to small youth-focused organizations, cash will also be provided to support those organizations, and all of Berkshire County’s youth organizations will now be working closely together bound in a common cause to direct services towards at-risk youth and their families.”

The Berkshire Youth Development Project has hired Kathleen Jackson to oversee the grant and coordinate the project with the Donahue Institute.  “As a lawyer and a former public defender, I have seen the back end of the problems that face our youth and the result of not paying close attention to their plight; I am excited to be working on a grant that is trying to address the problems of Berkshire County’s at-risk youth in an organized, accountable manner.  I will be working closely with the organizations who receive these federal monies to ensure they are being spent in way that best serves Berkshire’s County’s at-risk youth.”   

The leaders of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, the Pittsfield Prevention Partnership, and the South Berkshire Youth Coalition worked with the Berkshire County Legislative Delegation in January 2006 to develop the Berkshire Youth Development Project. Leaders of the Berkshire Youth Development Project meet monthly to discuss program goals, share best practices, analyze data from the Berkshire County Prevention Needs Assessment Survey for program implementation, and discuss funding for countywide initiatives. 

In 2007, The New England Network and the University of Massachusetts Donahue Institute approached the Berkshire Youth Development Project to apply for a federal grant to address the issues facing Berkshire County’s at-risk youth.  That grant is administered by the University of Massachusetts, Donahue Institute; with Berkshire Youth Development Project signing on as the required local coalition.  The primary goal of the grant is to expand the capacity of the Berkshire’s existing small community organizations, including both faith-based and non-faith based organizations, to deliver social services to Berkshire County’s at risk youth. As part of the grant’s initiative is to encourage networking and collaboration between our local youth based organizations, The Berkshire Youth Development Project is working to engage residents of all cities in towns throughout Berkshire County in this process. This is a capacity building grant; monies are not intended for direct services.  In order to be eligible, organizations must have an annual fiscal budget of 500,000 or less.  

While many of the trainings are open to all, the monetary grants will be awarded only to 8-10 community organizations per year.  Preference will be given to community organizations that have not traditionally received federal funding and serve at risk youth between the ages of 14-24 and their families.  There will be an application process that will include attending informational sessions starting in mid- February.  Before being eligible for a monetary grant, an organization must apply to become a partner with Compassion Massachusetts.  Being a partner will include attending trainings, participating in an organizational assessment and networking with other community organizations.   

Once an organization is a partner, they will be eligible to apply for grants that will range in size from $1,000 dollars to $20,000 dollars.  The project will focus on organizations that serve at-risk youth and low-income families in transition. The grant will be directed to agencies whose core purpose is to promote social skills among youth aged 14-24, or provide services to youth and their families. 

The grant is being coordinated by the University of Massachusetts, Donahue Institute.  Leslie Ackles is the active representative from the University of Massachusetts.    Jackson will coordinate the grant from her office in South County, located in Great Barrington on the second floor of the St. James Church on Main Street.

Bidder’s Conferences will be held on the following dates for organizations interested in becoming Partners and becoming eligible for grants:

March 18, 3:00-5 p.m.
Chamber of Commerce located at 75 North Street in Suite 306, Pittsfield, MA

March 20, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
First Baptist Church located on the corner of Main Street and Eagle Street,
North Adams, MA

March 20, 9:00 am– 11:00 am
Nutrition Center, located near Fairview Hospital, at 94 West Street, Great Barrington

For further information please contact Jackson at 413-528-1919 or email her at kjackson@donahue.umassp.edu.

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