January 5, 2024: Issue 1
Offering hope and help to those impacted by opioid misuse in
Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region.
| | |
"413Cares Platform Receives $200K in State Funding" ~ Greenfield Recorder (12/22/2023) | |
"Local legislators recently presented a $200,000 check from the state to the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts to support its 413Cares initiative, which connects people with the resources they need in an online portal. The event took place at the institute’s offices at 127 State St. in Springfield.
The funding was secured for 413Cares in the fiscal year 2024 state budget as the result of a legislative earmark sponsored by Rep. Michael Finn and Sen. Adam Gomez. Funding was secured through the Department of Public Health.
“413Cares has truly modernized and expanded how residents access resources here in western Massachusetts,” Finn said. “Their easy-to-use and central location provides information about countless different programs, dramatically simplifying a once daunting task for those seeking help. I am proud to have joined my colleagues to support this invaluable asset for our region in the FY24 budget.”
Launched in 2019 by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts with support from Baystate Health, 413Cares.org is an online community resource database for the region. The platform has reached more than 100,000 searches and more than 111,000 interactions with programs. Top searches are for housing, food resources and health-related resources.
The Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts has received funding from the state in the past two legislative budgeting cycles to support 413Cares. Due to promoting awareness of the portal and building partnerships, in 2023 413Cares saw a 234% increase in website traffic over the previous year, and a sharp increase in referrals through the website to community-based organizations.
This year, the state resources are funding three new regional partners to provide outreach, promotion and support of the platform: Berkshire Regional Planning Commission, Quaboag Hills Community Coalition and the Hilltown Community Health Center. This is in addition to existing regional partner Community Action Pioneer Valley, funded by Baystate Health."
(Contributed Photo)
| |
"Unbelievable Generosity Shown Through Toy Drive " ~Greenfield Recorder 12/23/2023) | |
"One woman showed up at the Greenfield Health Department’s offices with nearly 50 handmade blankets to donate, recalled Public Health Nurse Meg Tudryn.
Another woman, a Greenfield Community College nursing student, dropped off “bags and bags” of gifts, having once been a person who’d fallen on hard times and saw an opportunity to give back. Yet another person brought caseloads of diapers, while someone else contributed gift cards to food establishments. And then there was the woman who arrived with a wagon loaded with gifts she’d bought at TJ Maxx and Marshalls, added Health Inspector Nicole DuCharme.
All of the items dropped off at the offices on Sanderson Street were part of a toy drive coordinated this month by ServiceNet, which manages both the emergency shelter at the Days Inn on Colrain Road and the Greenfield Family Inn on Federal Street, as well as other sites scattered throughout the city. The toy drive will also benefit REACH, ServiceNet’s early childhood intervention program. The donations, which were wrapped and labeled by ServiceNet staff this week at their Northampton office, were delivered to each of the shelters on Friday for families to open on Christmas morning.
“We’ve had the best possible problem of having to keep up with the amount of toys,” ServiceNet Director of Communications & Development Amy Diehl said from outside the Days Inn on Friday, where she unloaded donations from a ServiceNet box truck, separating them by age group and handing them to case managers who brought them indoors for safe keeping. The Days Inn has been used since June to provide emergency shelter to immigrant and refugee families, many of whom are Haitian immigrants, under the Massachusetts Emergency Housing Assistance Program.
“This is 10 times bigger [than last year’s drive],” she said. “Everyone has been thrilled by it. I think it’s brought all of us joy and I think it’ll bring joy to everyone else at the shelter.”
“Everyone will have a gift,” she said. “Every kid deserves to wake up on Christmas morning and open a present.”
(Staff Photo/Mary Buren)
| |
Virtual: Treatment & Recovery Committee
January 5, 2024
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Zoom details here.
Emergency Services for Unhoused Individuals Task Force
January 8, 2024
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Zoom details here
Hybrid: Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking Workgroup
January 8, 2024
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Franklin County Reentry Center
106 Main Street, Greenfield
Zoom details here.
Virtual: Healthcare Solutions Committee
January 12, 2024
10:00 AM -12:00 Noon
Zoom details here
Hybrid: Public Safety & Justice Committee
February 5, 2024
1:00 - 2:00 PM
Franklin County Reentry Center
106 Main Street, Greenfield
Zoom details here.
Virtual: Harm Reduction Workgroup
February 7, 2024
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Zoom details here.
Virtual: Methadone Workgroup
February 8, 2024
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Zoom details here.
Virtual: Housing & Workforce Development Committee
February 9, 2024
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Zoom details here.
Virtual: CAM Workgroup
February 13, 2024
11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Zoom details here.
Virtual: Building a Resilient Community Workgroup
February 21, 2024
11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
Zoom details here.
Consult our website or Facebook Page for updates. Please email us with any questions!
| |
|
FEATURED EVENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS | |
CONNECT: Post-Opioid Overdose Outreach Services | |
Although the HEALing Communities Study has officially ended, many strategies and programs will continue. Please see the following for information regarding the study highlights and strategies.
Learn more at HealTogetherMA.org
| |
Updated Emergency Resources for
Unhoused Individuals
| |
Time Sensitive Announcements | |
January 6 Stone Soup Cafe | |
January 10 - February 14 Wednesdays - Active Parenting of Teens | |
January 11 Hot Chocolate Social | |
January 11 - February 15 Thursdays Positive Discipline | |
January 13 "Let's Play Library" Bluey Party | |
January 13 Young Person's Recovery Intensive | |
January 14 Open Audition & Rehearsal for Kinky Boots | |
January 16 Together We Can Be The Dream | |
January 18 Family Game Night | |
January 18 Great Stories Club: Imagining Tomorrow | |
January 20 Winter Ecology Walk | |
January 21 Craft Day with the Friends - 1pm
Erving Public Library
| |
February 5 Board of Health Opioid Listening Session | |
|
MONTHLY/WORKSHOP CALENDERS AND WEEKLY STANDING MEETINGS/EVENTS
| |
Improving Housing to Improve Health News | |
Re-Entry Foundational Manufacturing Program | |
January Franklin County Reentry Center Calendar | |
January Programs at the Great Falls Discovery Center | |
January Brick House Programs | |
January Programs-Community Action Family Center | |
SNAP Application Assistance | |
Always Open! Community Labyrinth in Greenfield | |
RECOVER Project Groups At a Glance | |
Weekdays All Recovery Meeting at
The RECOVER Project
| |
Monday - Friday
Movement Group with North Quabbin Recovery Center Peer Leaders
| |
Mondays North Quabbin Patch Parents' Council | |
Mondays Art Guild Meetings | |
Mondays Advanced Manufacturing Info Sessions | |
Monday Drug Court Alumni Group - North Quabbin | |
Second Mondays of the Month - North Quabbin B.R.A.V.E. Task Force Meetings | |
Mondays Alternatives to Suicide Group | |
2nd Mondays
Greenfield Healing Clinic
| |
2nd and 4th Mondays
Parenting Together at the Brick House
| |
Mondays and Wednesdays
Restless, Irritable, and Discontent: Your Brain in Recovery
| |
Tuesdays
Peer-Led Grief and Loss Circle
| |
First Tuesday - Dads' Group at Valuing Our Children | |
Tuesday Tea Time & Community Resource Drop-In | |
Tuesdays North Quabbin Recovery Center Coffee Hour | |
Tuesdays Greenfield Suicide Loss Group | |
First Tuesday - P.A.R.T. Task Force | |
Tuesdays Drop-In Knitting & Sewing Sessions | |
2nd Tuesdays New Member Orientation at the RECOVER Project | |
Wednesdays - Housing Navigator Sessions at the Franklin County Reentry Center | |
Wednesdays HEROES Study Hub at GCC | |
Wednesdays Men's Support Group:
Keep Moving Forward
| |
First & Third Thursdays Parent Support Group | |
Thursdays Recovery Support Group Meetings at the Franklin County Reentry Center | |
Thursdays Coffee Hour at the Brick House | |
Thursdays Beyond Trauma Group in Spanish | |
Second Thursdays Every Month, Peer Grief Support | |
First Friday of Every Month: Ope Mic at the RP | |
Every First & Third Friday - Grandparents & Kinship Support Group | |
Every Third Friday: Karaoke at The RECOVER Project | |
Last Friday of the Month: Gardening in Recovery | |
Homeshare Program with LifePath | |
Act Now to Stay Covered with MassHealth | |
DIAL/SELF AmeriCorps Opportunity at
Montague Catholic Social Ministries
| |
CHCFC OBAT Same Day & Tele-Health Appointment Information | |
Free Meals and Essentials
Saints James and Andrews Parish Hall
| |
Come Cook with Franklin County
Community Meals Program
| |
CONNECTIONS -
A Residential Program of Behavioral Health Network
| |
Orange Food Pantry Seeking Non-Food Donations | |
When people think of donating to our agency and food pantry, they often think of food- however, that's easier for us to obtain with local partnerships with farms and retailers. What we struggle to keep stocked are hygienic & household products, such as:
- Adult pull-ups size Medium, Large, & XL
- Menstrual products
- Bath products- bath wash or bar soap, shampoo, conditioner
- Deodorant
- Floss
- Mouthwash
- Toothpaste (we have plenty of toothbrushes currently!)
- Paper Towels
- Toilet Paper
- Laundry Detergent
- Dish Soap
- Household cleaners- Windex, multi-surface, floor cleaner, etc.
Dozen-sized egg cartons for repackaging the hundreds of eggs we receive weekly from retailers are also needed.
Please share this list amongst your networks! Donations can be dropped off at 324 Wells Street (the Franklin County Community Distribution Center) at our office, or if donating a large amount, drop-off can be coordinated via donate@fccmp.org. (Image credit: Pixabay)
| |
Family Self-Sufficiency Program Available | |
Eviction Self-Help Booklets Available in Multiple Languages | |
| |
MLRI has recently updated and translated some of our self-help booklets for unrepresented tenants facing eviction. While we still recommend tenants facing eviction seek legal help, we know resources are limited and many tenants have to represent themselves. We hope these booklets can be helpful to pro se tenants and their advocates.
You can see the full list of booklets below, or at MassLegalHelp. The booklets can help tenants prepare for court, outline their legal claims, and file court forms. There is also a booklet to help public housing tenants navigate the Grievance process.
Please reach out if you have any questions about the booklets and how they can be used.
What steps to take before going to court and what to bring to court.
An easy-to-use checklist that tells you what conditions violate the State Sanitary Code. You can also use the free self-help guided interview, MADE: Up To Code.
The Answer is a court form that tenants facing evictions can file with the court to outline your legal claims and tell the court your side of the story. You can also use Greater Boston Legal Services’ free self-help guided interview, MADE.
How to ask the court to accept your Answer and Discovery forms late. You can also use Greater Boston Legal Services’ free self-help guided interview, MADE.
A form with instructions for tenants facing eviction to get information to prepare for their trial.
A form with instructions for tenants in foreclosed properties to get information to prepare their case.
A form you can file to transfer your eviction case from a District Court to a Housing Court.
How to get a new court date if you missed your court date.
If you lost your eviction trial and think you have a good case, you may appeal. This document tells you which Appeal form to use.
How to file an appeal from a case in Housing Court.
How to file an appeal from a case in District Court.
How to get time to stay in your home if you lost your case.
How to ask the court to pay for court costs.
How to think through the terms you want in an agreement. Includes a worksheet and stipulation forms to use when you go to court. Read this booklet as webpages and watch the videos!
How to correct errors on your online court records. The Booklet includes the court form you can save to your computer, fill out, save again and print when ready.
A booklet for tenants in Mass. about the grievance process, including worksheets to help you prepare for a grievance hearing.
| |
Update! Greenfield CSC New Hybrid Operations Change |
The Greenfield Court Service Center is located at 43 Hope St., 1st Floor, Greenfield, MA.
They offer in-person services on Tuesdays & Thursdays, ONLY, from 8:30 am-1 pm, and 2 pm-4 pm. Remote services (email, phone, Zoom) are available on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays.
For an intake, contact the Virtual Court Service Center, Mon. thru Fri. 9 am-12 pm by telephone: 1-646-828-7666, press #, #, then enter meeting ID: 161 526 1140 or by video: www.zoomgov.com/j/1615261140.
| |
COMMUNITY JOB OPPORTUNITIES | |
Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region www.opioidtaskforce.org
| |
| | | |