Women’s Fund of Western Mass to award $250K to organizations that assist women
(Photo Credit: Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts)
Local Web Design Business Gives Back to Franklin County Community
Contact: Mary Kate Farley
The Consortium
(413) 536-2401 x5511
mfarley@wmtcinfo.org
Local Web Design Business Gives Back to Franklin County Community
During the holiday season, Common Media of Greenfield gifts gracious donation to the Consortium
HOLYOKE, MA January 25, 2021 – The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is pleased to announce it has received a generous donation from Common Media, a web design and communications business based out of Greenfield. Common Media chose the Consortium alongside several other local non-profits to support in the Franklin County area. Their contributions to Western Massachusetts non-profits uplift crucial, mission-driven work throughout the region at a time when it’s most needed.
Kristi Ceccarossi, the CEO and co-owner of Common Media, described in an interview what inspired them to donate. Originally based in Hadley, Ceccarossi and her business partner Gabe Smith moved the business to Greenfield to feel like they were rooted in a community. “Part of our beliefs around this work is that being human is about being in community […] [W]e feel like it’s really important for us to be an active participant in whatever way we can.” With the needs of Franklin County residents close to their hearts, particularly surrounding substance use and recovery, Ceccarossi and Smith identified several impactful non-profits to share their success with.
When asked what motivated Common Media to support the Consortium, Ceccarossi noted how much she appreciated “the sort of 360 approach that I feel like the Consortium has. It’s not enough to just treat recovery this one way, you need to bring in the full circle of support. […] We’re very lucky that we have people who think that way in our community and who are so organized around those principles.
“[T]he Consortium’s work, sort of the spectrum of the work, is really inspiring.”
Beyond financial donations, Common Media seeks to connect with mission-driven projects to offer inclusively designed, human-centered web services. “[W]e’re here, and we’re interested in finding ways that we can plug into the work that other people are already doing and support it.”
Their donation will contribute to the incredible work of local Consortium-supported communities such as the RECOVER Project, Salasin Project, People’s Medicine Project, the Support Network, and the Greenfield center of the Wildflower Alliance (previously Western Mass Recovery Learning Community).
Interested in contributing? Check out the Consortium’s Network for Good donation page, where you can designate your donation to a community that speaks to you: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/theconsortium
The Consortium, founded in 1975, is a learning organization committed to creating conditions in which people with lived experience pursue their dreams and strengthen our communities through full participation. To learn more, visit their website at http://wmtcinfo.org.
Isolation and opioids during the pandemic
Published September 27, 2020 2:17AM (UTC)
This piece originally appeared on TomDispatch.
…Back in March, one of the first recommendations for reducing the transmission of the coronavirus was, of course, to stay home — but not everyone has a home, and when businesses, restaurants, libraries, and other public spaces locked their doors, some people were left without a place even to wash their hands. In Holyoke, Rafael Rodriguez and his colleagues at the Recovery Learning Community, along with staff from several other local organizations, rushed to city officials and asked that a handwashing station and portable toilets be installed for the many local people who live unhoused. Rodriguez sees such measures not only as fundamental acts of humanity, but also as essential to any viable treatment for addiction.
“It’s really hard to think about recovery, or putting down substances, when [your] basic human needs aren’t being met,” he said. In the midst of extreme summer heat, he pointed out that there wasn’t even a local cooling center for people on the streets and it was clear that, despite everything he had seen in his life, he found this astonishing. He is now part of a community movement that is petitioning the local city government for an emergency shelter.
“When you have no idea where you’re going to rest your head at night, using substances almost becomes a survival tactic,” he explained. “It’s a way to be able to navigate this cruel world.” […] [CONTINUE READING]
Artists in recovery celebrate National Recovery Month with song, stories
Staff Writer
Published: 10/8/2020 6:00:49 AM
…Amie Hyson, who has served as a peer counselor at the RECOVER Project, followed him, reading an original piece. “I’m a woman in long-term recovery,” she said before she started to read. “I was addicted to opioids. I facilitated my own healing through writing.”
Today, she works with women in the Franklin County Jail running a writing group.
“It has been a good, long time since this old familiar voice felt an impeding sense of dread,” she continued.
She read a piece that talks about her “dis-ease” and how she learned to “silence thoughts that had haunted” her. Hyson says she is now comfortable with herself. She also talked about how alone she has felt through the pandemic — just like everyone else — and that the old demons tried to return during this time of COVID, but the fear passed and she returned to gratitude…
Mayor’s task force focusing on rise in domestic violence during pandemic
[CONTINUE READING]…“Advocates can help you to think about your personal situation and work with you to create a safety plan,” the statement reads, adding that a safety plan is a personalized, practical plan that identifies ways to remain safe while in a relationship, whether you are planning to stay or leave. “It may include telling a trusted neighbor or friend, identifying a place to stay if you need to leave quickly or thinking about ways to stay safe in your home if your partner becomes physically abusive.”
Free and confidential help is available at Montague Catholic Social Ministries in Turners Falls at 413-863-4804, The Salasin Project in Greenfield at 413-774-4307, and the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT) hotline at 413-772-0806. The NELCWIT hotline operates 24/7.
The Task Force on Domestic Violence typically meets in the Town Hall Meeting Room at 1 p.m. on the second Wednesday of every month, though the pandemic has forced these meetings to be conducted via Zoom. For more information on the task force, visit bit.ly/3iUfPWf.
New directors with The RECOVER Project, Consortium announced
Published: 8/27/2020 1:36:25 PM
The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, which supports The RECOVER Project and The Salasin Project in Greenfield, is promoting Peggy Vezina, formerly the director of The RECOVER Project, to be the Consortium’s director of program and community development. Taking Vezina’s seat as RECOVER Project director is Abbi Cushing. [CONTINUE READING]