Heather Fletcher from the Berkshire United Way shows neighborhood children a collection of books the organization gives away.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city has opened its third community center to provide services to residents in public housing.

 

On Tuesday, city officials and representatives from an array of social service groups held an open house at a unit in Wilson Park.

 

Justine Dodds, the city's housing specialist in the office of Community Development, will be in charge of scheduling programs developed by community groups.

 

"The idea is to bring the services and resources we have in the city to the residents in public housing," Dodds said at the open house. 

 

The programming will replicate the two other community centers at Dower Square and Francis Plaza. Groups interested in providing programs can schedule time and they'll have space to run it.

 

Groups have put on sports mentoring, wellness clinics, nutrition and healthy cooking classes, back-to-school fairs, and theater demonstrations. It also serves as a meeting place.

 

"It can run the gambit from small to large," Dodds said. "We're trying to replicate the same idea but this is larger and the residents may want different programs."

 

Dodds is giving out surveys to the residents in an effort to try to find the most beneficial and demanded programs. The focus is particularly on programs for families and children. 

 

"We've got a number of different agencies involved," Mayor Daniel Bianchi said. "It is just a general outreach program to encourage people to seek out different services."

 

The Berkshire United Way, for example, had a presence at the open house. Heather Fletcher, the organization's family literacy coordinator, said it will have a presence in the space. The agency will be focusing on bringing programs to help teach children to read at a young age and providing parents with books and guidance in ways to teach.

 

"Some of the parents don't realize that they need to work with them before school age," Fletcher said. "I'm here for outreach and we would schedule playgroup sessions."

 

Bianchi said not only does the center provide a place for services but will serve a role in helping those who feel "disenfranchised" back into the community. 

 

Stacy Parsons from Head Start, Adam Hinds from Pittsfield Community Connection, and Mayor Daniel Bianchi.

The unit features three bedrooms used by different organizations, a living room/dining room area, and a kitchen. The utilities will be paid by the Housing Authority, who freed up a space in each of the three public housing complexes for the centers. 

 

"They have the wherewithal to manage these," Bianchi said. "But, we'll look for grants to help."

 

The program has morphed somewhat since the 2013 openings of the Francis Plaza and Dower Square. The idea sprung from a policing focus the city used to operate through the complexes. Then, officers ran the programming and used it as a substation for residents to talk about crime or issues in the community. 

 

In 2013, the city used funding from the Charles E Shannon Grant program, a grant specifically eyed to combat youth violence and gang activity, to bring back those substations.

 

The city had previously had an officer budgeted to run the stations. In this new program, police are still available and can use the center to meet with residents and, at Dower, officers have used it to run programs with children, too, but specific hours and programs aren't being scheduled.

 

"We are challenged to have police officers have hours here," Bianchi said.

 

The Housing Authority has taken on the bills and the Community Development Department has taken on overseeing that the social services are still provided, which frees up the Shannon Grant funds for the Pittsfield Community Connection, which created two growing mentoring programs.

 

Adam Hinds, who runs the Pittsfield Community Connection program, attended the open house and said the space could be used by his staff as well as they grow the mentoring programs.