Northern Berkshire United Way Executive Director Patti Messina give the history of the umbrella agency, which started as a community chest 90 years ago. NBUW launched its annual campaign drive last week.
Amy Hall of Child Care of the Berkshires tells how NBUW funding helps the family support agency in its mission.
Ethel Altiery, interim CEO at BFAIR, says outside funding will be critical for supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities if Medicaid cuts go through.
Messina preps slides for the Wednesday morning breakfast meeting in 3 West in the Norad Mill.
Stakeholders and community members attended the breakfast.
NBUW Board President Kelly McCarthy calls for a vote on next year's slate of officers.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A round of applause greeted the number for Northern Berkshire United Way's annual campaign drive: $530,000.
"Last year, at our annual meeting, we presented our goal for the campaign at $475,000," said Executive Director Patti Messina to the annual business meeting and campaign launch on Wednesday at Norad Mill. "With a lot of work and your support — we have surpassed it. I'm a little emotional on that. ...
"We could not have met this amazing goal and gone past it without the support of this community for Northern Berkshire."
It was the first time the nonprofit had exceeded the half-million mark in a decade — and its money that will be needed for its 20 member agencies during a time of funding reductions.
Ethel Altiery, interim CEO at Berkshire Family and Individual Resources, spoke to the fears of how cuts to Medicaid will affect its clients.
"We serve [400] to 500 people a year, and we employ over 200 mostly full-time employees. Our mission is pretty simple. We want to stand beside the people that we support and provide the services they need to live with dignity, independence and opportunity," she said.
During a recent American Network of Community Options and Resources, or ANCOR, conference in Washington, D.C., some 300 members from 42 states representing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities advocated for Medicaid funding to congressmen and senators.
"I'm sure you've been following a lot of HR 1 and the Medicaid cuts that are in HR 1, and they listened to us and will they be able to do anything to change these upcoming cuts? I'm not really sure, but we were there, and we advocated for the people we support and the staff we employ," she said. "BFAIR receives state and federal funding to provide the services I mentioned above. It comes from Medicaid, MassHealth, and although the funding provides certain services, it does not provide for everything a person needs."
Those necessities are met by grants, fundraising and through organizations like Northern Berkshire United Way. Sometimes that's a wheelchair, or a special mattress, or staff training on automated defibrillators — items that may not be covered under Medicaid or MassHealth.
"We serve a lot of people who are very medically complicated and are very frail," Altiery said. "Someone who's lived in an institution for the majority of their lives, they've never gone to the ocean. Now, I know that might be hard for some people to realize that somebody's never seen an ocean, but we do have people like that. So they want to go to Cape Cod for the weekend. MassHealth isn't going to pay for that."
"Northern Berkshire United Way has supported BFAIR and the 19 other member agencies to make this community a great place," she concluded.
Messina has made a tradition now of asking member agencies to speak at the annual campaign launch to explain what they do and why the fund drive is important.
Amy Hall, president and CEO of Child Care of the Berkshires, said, "they [NBUW] help bring people, resources and organizations together so that we can do the important work of supporting children, families and the whole community."
Child Care of the Berkshires serves more than 100 children daily from infants to school age and works with a network of family care providers. Some 90 percent of the children in its care receive state funding and 35 percent are involved with the state Department of Children and Families.
"We provide a safe, nurturing and educational environment. We work closely with a lot of people here today, including the Hoosic Valley Regional School District, North Adams Public Schools, Youth Center Inc. and Head Start to assure that children transition to school are ready to learn," she said. "Many of those children have experienced trauma in their lives, and children who have experienced trauma really need, more than anything, a supportive, nurturing environment, and that is what we do."
Hall told of one young mother who came to them through the Healthy Families program; she was young, had tough upbringing, few familiy connections, and challenges with the father.
"As the weekly visits happened in her own home, helping her to feel comfortable and develop a relationship with her home visitor, she was able to disclose to us that there was domestic violence happening. So we connected her with the Elizabeth Freeman Center, another funded program, and they helped her out a lot, but she needed even more," Hall said. "So we connected her with the Brien Center for mental health counseling ... her home visitor helped her through all of this."
The result is a thriving child and a mother who's finished a college certificate program and secured a employment and safe, stable housing.
"In this time of uncertainty and division, it is it is so important for us to come together as a community and to support each other and support the next generation so that they can become thoughtful, compassionate adults," Hall said. "Thank you for everything you have done, and thank you for the Northern Berkshire United Way."
NBUW is entering its 90th year of raising funds for social service organizations. It started in the midst of the Great Depression when a group of committed citizens came together to create a community chest for residents in North Adams and Clarksburg.
That informal meeting on Nov. 14, 1935, led to the first campaign drive to raise $39,910 for nine agencies; about $38,000 was the final tally. It was enough for the chest to be formally chartered in early 1936 and was reorganized in 1943 to include the National War Fund, raising a record $67,331 in 1944, and became part of the United Way in the 1970s.
The 2025 campaign has set a goal of $480,000.
Steering the organization will be returning President Kelly McCarthy, Vice President Tyler Bissaillon, Clerk Melissa Main and Vice President of Finance Tracy Sheerin, Vice President of Community Needs and Special Grants Leah Thompson, Vice President of Board Development Randall Kinnas, Thomas Rumboldt as past president, newly elected Vice President Jacob Dabrowski and Directors Laura Baran, Peter Mirante, Iris Moresi, Celia Norcross and Erik Ray, and new board member Daniel Sadtler. Departing board members Doreen Meczywor, Stacy Parsons and Kimma Stark were thanked for their contributions.
"In January of 2026 we will be kicking off our 90th anniversary," said Messina. "The Northern Berkshire United Way's story is one of partnership, innovation and unwavering partnership and resolve. As we mark 90 years, we know that our greatest achievements are those we can make together."
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