Page 32 - Healthcare News Mar/Apr 2022

Pittsfield YMCA Modernizes, Expands Child Care
PITTSFIELD — MassDevelopment has partnered with Lee Bank, Adams Community Bank, and Greylock Credit Union to provide $6.5 million in loan financing to Berkshire Family YMCA, which is using the proceeds to renovate and expand its main facility at 292 North St. in downtown Pittsfield.
Constructed in 1909, the historic building’s last major renovation took place in 1981. As part of this new renovation, Berkshire Family YMCA is building an accessible indoor track for exercise and rehabilitation purposes for use by people of all abilities, adding a youth basketball court, and upgrading its fit- ness center. The organization is also creating newly configured program spaces and updating restrooms, improvements that will increase capacity of its nationally accredited child-develop- ment program to serve an additional 25 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
MassDevelopment provided a $5 million loan, with Adams Community Bank, Greylock Credit Union, and Lee Bank each providing $500,000 loans. The project is also supported by a $1 million Massachusetts Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) grant.
Berkshire Family YMCA consists of three branches serving Berkshire County and Southern Vermont: the Pittsfield branch at 292 North St., a Northern Berkshire branch located at 22 Brickyard Court in North Adams, and the Bennington Recre- ation Center branch located at 655 Gage St. in Bennington, Vt.
An architect’s rendering of planned renovations to the Berkshire Family YMCA.
MHA Collaborates with Hampden-Wilbraham on Mental Health
WILBRAHAM — A collaboration with the Spring- field-based Mental Health Assoc. (MHA) is enabling
the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District to join a growing number of school systems in integrating community-based mental-health services on site for easier student access.
The just-announced collaboration, made possible by $115,000 in state federal stimulus money secured for the program by state Rep. Brian Ashe in the $4 billion package approved by legislators and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker at the end of last year, embeds MHA clinician Katie Sarno five days a week in the system.
Her services will be accessible on different days to all 3,000 students in the district’s six schools, kindergarten through grade 12. They are seen as addressing issues in the environment outside of school but that may impact student performance, as well as supporting collaboration between a student’s school-based team and home.
Kimberley Lee, MHA’s vice president of Resource De-
velopment and Branding, said planning for the integration has been underway for some time with the district, but the funding secured by Ashe in December made it a reality.
“Our partnership is specifically in response to the increased number of children and youth with identified behavioral-health challenges who are often underserved by the traditional healthcare system,” Lee said. “The program will help bridge the behavioral healthcare system with the school system by providing trauma-informed care directly in the schools for children and their families.”
District data shows a gap in, as well as a need for, access to individual, evidence-based therapies for mental-health challenges outside the scope of a guidance and adjust- ment counselor. It is estimated that between 22% to 30% of children in elementary and middle school identify as at risk for emotional or behavioral concerns and that more than 50% of high-school adjustment counselors’ caseloads include issues of anxiety, depression, and self-harm.
Support offered will include on-site counseling services
as well as teacher and staff professional development and a proposed ‘parent-teacher partner’ component — an on- line chatroom for parents and teachers to pose questions to Sarno.
MHA will provide overall program coordination, clini- cian supervision, program evaluation, and compliance reporting as needed. Its BestLife outpatient behavioral- health clinic will be available for referrals year-round for any needed behavioral-health services outside the school setting as appropriate.
“Children have had to deal with a lot of things children have not had to deal with in our lifetime or ever,” Ashe said. “It is important to get ahead of this to address these issues. You do not want to see something [that happens] to a child at 5, 6, 7, or whatever age stifle them for the rest of their life or become an obstacle they never go over because they did not have the resources to know what to do.”
Balise Auto Continues to Drive Square One’s Campaign for Kids
SPRINGFIELD — Balise Auto, a longtime Square One supporter, recently raised $4,000 to support the nonprofit agency’s Campaign for Healthy Kids. The funds were raised through Balise’s “Tires to Inspire” initiative, through which donations were made to Square One when customers purchased a set of new tires.
“Square One does so much to set local
children and their families up for success,” said Alex Balise, director of Marketing for Balise Auto. “Education and community development are at the core of our chari- table giving philosophy, so we couldn’t
be happier to highlight their amazing programs and continue to support Square One in their mission.”
Square One’s Campaign for Healthy
Kids is a multi-year fund-development initiative focused on the agency’s commit- ment to providing healthy meals, physical fitness, social-emotional well-being, and a healthy learning environment.
“We love that Balise takes such a creative approach to supporting our
work with children and families,” said Kristine Allard, vice president of Develop-
ment & Communication for Square One. “Not only do they give generously on a corporate level, but they encourage their customers to get involved as well. That impact is far-reaching for the children and families we serve. We are so grateful for their partnership.”
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