Blog – Page 32 – Berkshire Bridges – A Working Cities Initiative

Over 60 people from our Pittsfield community of every background convened in the Conte Community School cafeteria on Monday, March 21 for our Feedback Community Conversation. Each of us believes that all people in Pittsfield should experience and equitable, safe and thriving community. Our delicious dinner was sponsored by local businesses and organizations: fried chicken wings and collard greens from RayLyn’s Soul Food, rice and beans from Manos Unidas, pizza from Big Y, and coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts.

We posted the note sheets from our 15 community conversations around the room and provided a summary report of our findings. The top 5 concerns for residents of Pittsfield fall under the themes of:

Resource Access, Collaboration & Communication
Inclusion & Perception
Safety
Youth
Education

After everyone toured the room and added their notes and ideas of what’s missing, we came together to discuss:

Did we hear you right? What’s missing?
Of these issues, what are the top 1 or 2 things that would make the most difference in your life?
What are you willing to do to make change?

This was the first meeting we’ve hosted where the Spanish-English interpretation was live, thus allowing every voice from the community to be heard collectively. Many members gave their contact information and listed what issues they’ve most passionate about, and we plan on connecting these passionate minds soon to take action. Many thanks to Melissa Rivera of Habitat for Humanity International for providing the photos below!

If you are interested in learning more about the Working Cities movement, please contact us to join!

On Friday, December 11th the Berkshire United Way, Family Resource Center and Working Cities Pittsfield Team hosted a day of learning and discussion about Berkshire Bridges. This vision for our community was inspired by the Schenectady Bridges team just over the border in Schenectady, New York. Over the last nine years, Schenectady Bridges has helped improve the lives of thousands of under resourced residents with leadership training, employer resource connections and more, all based on the Bridges Out of Poverty framework.

Nate from Schenectady Bridges speaks with the Working Cities Pittsfield Team.

There were 3 meetings that Friday about Berkshire Bridges:

A morning session for Pittsfield employers to learn about the Employee Resource Network, and how it will strengthen their company and workforce. Hosted at Berkshire Hills Country Club with over 35 employers in attendance!
A lunch session with Working Cities Pittsfield Team partners about how organizations embed Bridges Out of Poverty into their staff, and collaborate better as human service providers.
An afternoon session with nearly 40 attendees from the community to learn about the core principles of Bridges Out of Poverty and how it works in daily life.

Nancy Stoll, Vice President of Community Impact at BUW, gave a recap of part of the day:

Nathan Mandsager and Schenectady Bridges are an excellent resource for us as we move toward implementing and embedding the Bridges philosophy and constructs in Pittsfield, and then throughout the Berkshires. Nathan gave us concrete examples such as the importance of providing monetary compensation to the under resourced participants who deliver the Bridges trainings throughout the community. My belief is that resource should be built into the Working Cities implementation grant we write.

Nathan provided a fantastic presentation to the morning session of local employers. He discussed the connection between the Bridges Out of Poverty concepts in the workplace, and how the Employee Resource Network is building and supporting the economic vitality of the community and the employees who live and work there. He provided much information to support the Berkshire United Way Workplace Resource Coordinator program; many employers are interested in signing on to the pilot currently in the works as a result of Nathan’s presentation.

Berkshire Bridges 05 — A crowd of nearly 40 joined us for the afternoon Berkshire Bridges discussion.

Berkshire Bridges 03

Nate from Schenectady Bridges was articulate, engaging and provided inspiration for us in Pittsfield. We are striving to become a Berkshire Bridges community, so that all people in Pittsfield experience an equitable, thriving and safe community.

If you’d like to learn more about Berkshire Bridges, the Working Cities Team, or would like to be part of these movement, please contact us!