COSA meets in-person today! 10am @Hadley Public Library

April’s COSA member meeting will offer an in-person panel addressing topics related to the trans community. Among the questions panelists will discuss are:

how local nonprofits can be most supportive to trans and non-binary people?
what is the current landscape for services for trans and/or non-binary people in our region?
what are the common requests for support from members of the trans/non-binary community?

Special Guest Panel:

Leo Kleint, LGBTQ+ Counselor Advocate at Safe Passage

Mia Lauer, Community Engagement Specialist at Transhealth

James Shultis, Co-Director at Translate Gender

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

10am-11:30am

Hadley Public Library

50 Middle Street, Hadley

Light refreshments will be available.

Please arrive a few minutes early for check-in. Thank you!

Last week's favorite click

Western Mass Transportation Advocacy Network Forum on April 11th!

Join COSA or renew online in a flash.

Please save the dates May 20th and May 21st for the 19th annual Fair Housing and Civil Rights conference at Western New England University. This conference, co-sponsored by Way Finders and the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, is an engaging, supportive space for housing and civil rights advocates across the region to come together in conversation as we work collectively toward a more just future for all.

Schedule and registration are here

MA Attorney General issues workplace DEI update

AG Campbell has co-led a coalition of 16 attorneys general in issuing guidance to help businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations understand the viability and importance of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policies and practices in creating and maintaining legally compliant and thriving workplaces. The guidance comes in response to concerns from employers.

Read about updated guidance

Staff fired at HHS office running heating program

The entire staff has been laid off at a $4.1 billion federal program that helps low-income house-holds pay their heating & cooling bills. The firings threaten to paralyze the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, created by Congress in 1981. The program assists 6.2 million people across the nation.

Read the AP News article

LifePath celebrates 50 years of service

LifePath will be celebrating their first fifty years as an agency in 2025. Like many agencies, they are looking ahead to a more challenging future, as delayed funding and potential programming cuts by state and federal agencies alter the landscape of nonprofits all over the Valley. Read more about their work and how they are planning to succeed in the days ahead.

Read open letter from ED Gary Yuhas