Bridging Gaps for Recovery

GBCMC requests consideration for bridge funding to allow us to continue the critical Community Liaison program our Community Relations Director has built over the past 3 years. Key connections, demographics and achievements are as follows:

Connections: Our Community Relations Director has built relationships with over 80 agencies, service providers, and local leaders including:

Berkshire Health Systems	Brien Center	Berkshire United Way
Community Justice Support Center	Berkshire Regional Planning Commission	Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity
Berkshire House of Corrections	Berkshire County Districts Attorney Office	Berkshire Community Action Council
2^nd Street	Community Health Partners	Elizabeth Freeman Center
Hearthway	Upside 413	Berkshire Harm Reduction

The connections and relationships our Community Relations Director has built have enabled us to provide direct support to individuals in critical need of immediate services. Since July 2022 we have welcomed over 2475 walk-in visits made up of 471 unique individuals. Our growth trend started with 20 visits in July 2022 and has steadily risen to over 120 visits per month recently with the following demographics:

100% in or seeking recovery	92.5% Pittsfield residents	96% Low income
Average SOGI of 73% male, 19% Female, and 8% LGBTQ+	Average Ethnicity of 67% White, 25% BIPOC, and 8% Hispanic or Latino	Age Range of early 20s to 70s

Our Community Relations Director has been an ever-present voice on many committees, studies, community meetings and recovery events. She has envisioned, established and continues to manage key programs including the Women’s Table, BIPOC Voices in Recovery, and the cadre of Community Outreach Specialists with “feet on the street” which each seek to address specific needs of those communities in recovery. She sits on the BHS Community Benefits Advisory Committee and the City of Pittsfield Mental Health & Substance Use Advisory Task Force. She is a regular attendee of BUW Berkshire Care Network, Berkshire Overdose Addiction Prevention Collaborative and its subcommittee Community Health & Access Committee.

We feel that the work we do is so important as we have demonstrated that we help bridge the gap between other services, help navigate people to those services, and have always been here with an open door, warm welcome and ready mind when people leave treatment, incarceration, or the street seeking a new way of life. Partnering with you in this important mission is very important to us.