MONTHLY NEWS / SEPTEMBER 2021 |
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The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home, received an Arts Build Community grant to produce an audio tour and other translated materials to create an engaging and welcoming experience for Spanish speakers, in collaboration with the Berkshire Immigrant Center. Photo: John Dolan |
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Program, Philanthropy & Leadership Highlights
New Grant Opportunity: We have launched a second round of our Bridging Divides, Healing Communities grant program, which supports community-building efforts to bridge differences and drive positive change at the local level. We will award grants of up to $3,000 to support activities by organizations and groups throughout our four-county region that bring together residents to build and strengthen relationships, especially among people who may hold different views or come from different backgrounds. Applications are due Oct. 15. A first round of grants provided $50,000 to 21 local groups earlier this year.
Economic Opportunity: EforAll Berkshire County continues to help residents turn their promising ideas into successful businesses and stimulate inclusive economic growth. This month, 14 entrepreneurs joined a 12-week intensive fall accelerator program to hone their pitches, participate in classes and receive guidance from volunteer mentors. [Read more about past and present cohort members in BusinessWest.] EforAll will also hold an in-person pitch contest on Nov. 10 at Crissey Farm in Great Barrington for entrepreneurs to share ideas and compete for seed funding in front of a panel of local judges. EforAll is supported by a group of committed local funders, including Berkshire Taconic.
Kusik Award: We are honored to be a recipient of Berkshire Regional Planning Commission's annual Kusik Award with our COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund for Berkshire County partners Berkshire United Way, Northern Berkshire United Way and Williamstown Community Chest. Berkshire Vaccine Collaborative is also a recipient. Our Emergency Response Fund, along with our Neighbor-to-Neighbor Fund and the Massachusetts COVID-19 Relief Fund, awarded $3.05 million in 2020 to nearly 100 organizations serving residents feeling the greatest impact of the pandemic. This summer, the fund awarded an additional $182,000 for programs addressing mental health and food needs.
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Board, Staff & Committee News
Impact of Area Funds: Our area funds are dedicated to strengthening communities throughout Berkshire, Columbia, northeast Dutchess and northwest Litchfield counties. The volunteer advisory committees that lead these funds have awarded more than $500,000 so far this year to support innovative programs and provide general operating support for nonprofits in response to the pandemic.
Board Member in the News: Monument Mountain Regional High School received a $300,000 grant from the Barr Foundation. Peter Dillon, who is a BTCF board member and superintendent of the Berkshire Hills Regional School District, spoke with WAMC and the Berkshire Edge to explain how the funding will support a variety of projects to help redesign learning and teaching.
In Memoriam: We remember Judy Kittredge, whose liveliness was matched only by her generosity. Judy and her late husband John both played leadership roles for Berkshire Taconic funds that support students and nonprofits in central Berkshire County. Read more about Judy's lifelong interest in other people.
New Staff Member: Bailey Jacquier joined our team as finance associate. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration from Centenary University and grew up working on her family's fourth-generation Laurelbrook Farm in East Canaan, Conn. Email Bailey or call 413.229.0370 ext. 120.
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Grants in the News
Sharon Social Services: Mary O' Reilly is the new Sharon social services director. She works closely with BTCF by directing funds to individuals and families in crisis through our Neighbor-to-Neighbor Fund. Learn more about Mary in the Republican-American.
Iceland Photography: Photographer Shaun O'Boyle of Dalton traveled to Iceland to capture climate change in the Arctic with support from an Artist's Resource Trust (A.R.T.) Fund grant. More than 30 of his photos are featured on the Smithsonian Magazine Instagram page.
Community Day: Thanks to a grant from the Northeast Dutchess Fund, Innisfree Garden in Millbrook offered free admission to northeast Dutchess County residents earlier this month. The Millerton News highlighted the Community Day in a photo and article.
Remembering 9/11 Through Art: Donald Bracken of Cornwall curated an exhibit in Torrington that memorialized 9/11 through art with support from a Martha Boschen Porter Fund grant. He spoke with Compass about the show and his time working as an artist in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
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Coming Up
Youth Film Challenge: Young people ages 14 to 24 are invited to enter the new Bridging Divides, Healing Communities Youth Film Challenge to make their voices heard and compete for $3,500 in cash prizes. Participants may submit up to 6-minute films by Nov. 1 that explore divisions and inequities in society, and how they are tackling challenges in their families, schools and communities. Learn more and view virtual classes with professional filmmakers at www.YouthFilmChallenge.com. [Read articles about the Youth Film Challenge in the Berkshire Edge, Compass and Rural Intelligence.]
Art Show: Chalice Mitchell, a 2020 Artist's Resource Trust (A.R.T.) Fund grantee, will exhibit paintings she created with her grant at the Plant Connector in North Adams from Oct. 1 to 24.
Berkshires as Living Laboratory Hikes: Berkshire Natural Resources Council, in partnership with Berkshire Museum and other organizations, will host artist- and scientist-led walks on Oct. 3 in Pittsfield and Oct. 9 in Hinsdale to increase inclusion and accessibility to natural and cultural resources. These programs are supported by our Arts Build Community initiative.
Indigenous People Exhibit: The Sheffield Historical Society is hosting an interactive art installation that shares the history of the Muhheconneok from their ancestral homelands in the Berkshires to their present home in Wisconsin. The exhibit, which is supported by a Bridging Divides, Healing Communities grant, is open weekends and on Indigenous Peoples Day through Oct. 11.
Spanish-Language Film: With support from our Arts Build Community initiative, the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center will present a free Spanish-language film screenings of “Dedicada a mi Ex” on Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.
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