Senator Comerford secures $1.1M for area groups: Trauma Informed Hampshire County to receive $35,000 to promote the initiative’s work of healing trauma.

Senator Comerford secures $1.1M for area groups: Trauma Informed Hampshire County to receive $35,000 to promote the initiative’s work of healing trauma.

Senator Joe Comerford asks the panel including Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Dr. Patrick A Tutwiler, Secretary of the Executive Office of Education, Amy Kershaw, Acting Commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care, and Dr. Noe Ortega, Commissioner of the Department of Higher Education, a question during the budget hearing of the Joint Committee on Ways and Means on Governor Healey’s 2024 proposed budget chaired by Comerford and Representative Andy Vargas at UMass Monday, March 13, 2023.[/caption]

 By JAMES PENTLAND

NORTHAMPTON — With passage of the state Senate’s $55.9 billion budget last week, Senator Comerford, D- Northampton, secures $1.1M for area groups. A number of area organizations can look forward to a financial boost to the tune of $1.15 million at the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Topping the list of government aid recipients in Sen. Jo Comerford’s Hampshire and Franklin county district is the University of Massachusetts Water and Energy Technology Center, known as the WET Lab, which is in line for $500,000. Among other programs with announced awards, Trauma Informed Hampshire County will be receiving $35,000 to promote the initiative’s work of healing trauma. “It’s nothing to take for granted,” Comerford said of the funding. “We’re gearing up to ask the conference committee to meet soon and to keep the earmarks.” This and all proposed funding has to survive the reconciliation process between the House and Senate budgets and be approved by Gov. Maura Healey before becoming final… (more…)

‘Unmasking Autism Book Group’ and Walking Group starting in May

‘Unmasking Autism Book Group’ and Walking Group starting in May

Published:  April 11, 2023
GREENFIELD 

‘Unmasking Autism Book Group’ starting in May

The Salasin Project is launching an “Unmasking Autism Book Group,” which will meet in person and online on the first Monday of each month from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. starting in May. The book group will feature discussions, writing exercises and art projects to explore topics related to neurodiversity and making a more inclusive world.

 

Salasin Project starting six-week walking group

The Salasin Project’s new walking group will meet on Fridays starting May 5 to embark on walks around the city. Walks are expected to last from 10 to 11 a.m. for six weeks. Contact Bekki at [email protected] or 413-774-4307, ext. 104 for more information or just show up at the Salasin Project, 474 Main St., to meet the group [continue reading...]

Greenfield domestic violence vigil offers ‘survivor-centered space’

Greenfield domestic violence vigil offers ‘survivor-centered space’

A woman photographs messages written on a T shirt at the Clothesline Project on the Greenfield Common Thursday evening. 

By BELLA LEVAVI

Staff Writer

GREENFIELD — In recognition of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, two Greenfield-based groups held a candlelight vigil on the common on Thursday to honor survivors, grieve the lives of those lost and connect survivors with social services.

“This is a survivor-centered space,” Katri Schroeder, community organizer with the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT), said during opening remarks. “There is nothing in the world like feeling the power of being in a community space where we get to say our truths without shame and without stigma.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that 47,000 women and girls worldwide were murdered by intimate partners or other family members in 2020. Schroeder noted the U.S. has seen an 8% increase in these numbers over the last decade.

In addition to the candlelight vigil, the event — organized by NELCWIT and the Salasin Project — included a T-shirt display as part of The Clothesline Project. Attendees used markers to decorate T-shirts that were then hung around the Greenfield Common, using an art form to share people’s experiences with gender-based violence…