Berkshire United Way Inc.

Filing Period

Jul 1, 2010 to Jun 30, 2011

Signed

Nov 2, 2011

Return Version

2010v3.4

Gross Receipts

$4,121,745

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Goal 2: promoting financial stability and independence: individuals and families in berkshire county will have the life skills, educational and economic opportunities they need to become financially stable and independent. Outcome: all individuals are empowered to define and achieve their goals for financial independence and career success.

Activity 3

Berkshire united way is working to improve the quality of life in berkshire county by mobilizing resources to address community priorities and create sustainable change. Working with the community, education and employment have been identified as top priorities, and collaborations among businesses, non-profits, faith-based groups, donors, volunteers and the public sector are helping to improve the focus and outcomes for these priorities. On-going initiatives include: 1.berkshire priorities is a group that mobilized after the release of the 2009 berkshire benchmarks community impact baseline report. The report included the most recently available berkshire county mcas results, which indicated that only about 60% of our third graders are proficient in english and math. Determined to significantly increase berkshire county's proficiency, berkshire priorities is today assessing best practice options,formulating a map of existing local resources, and gathering key local data in order to mobilize the community for action. 2.the early childhood education think tank is working to promote, support and make high-quality early childhood education available to every child throughout berkshire county. The early childhood team jump-started their efforts with childhood literacy activities like the recent county- wide"wee read" event and efforts to make berkshire county a "reach out and read" book end county, where every pediatrician provides a book to children at well-child visits from birth to age five, and is now formulating a comprehensive strategy. 3.the pittsfield prevention partnership (ppp) and berkshire youth development are all about youth and adult education to promote safe behaviors in our young people. Some ppp activities include "shoulder taps" surveys in which teens, accompanied by a discretely located police officer, test adult willingness to purchase alcohol for them. Ppp also played a key role in the highly successful berkshire county prescription round-up, which collected and safely disposed 1,000 pounds of prescription drugs. They conducted "safe prom" presentations, participate in the teen pregnancy prevention initiative and helped compile results of the 2011 preventionneeds assessment survey, which measures youth risk and protective factors and is a critical tool for creating strategies to address areas of concern and for measuring impact over time. 4.the teen pregnancy prevention initiative is made up of community members and practitioners in education, health care and social services concerned about alarmingly high and increasing local teen pregnancy rates. The teen birth rate in pittsfield increased by 41.3% between 1996 and 2009 and in north adams it increased 28%. During the same time period, the state rate decreased 31.2%. To understand local perceptions, our team surveyed 900 youth and adults throughout berkshire county who recommended three key actions: 1) access to comprehensive sexuality education that goes beyond the "sex talk" to helping youth navigate personal relationships; 2) access to condoms and other contraceptives during hours and in locations youth frequent and feel safe; and 3) ensuring youth perceive opportunity and hope for a bright future. Over 100 concerned citizens attended our first community conversation in pittsfield in april. Three work groups are meeting to develop and implement strategies addressing the three key actions. 5.mass 2-1-1 is an organization supported by all massachusetts united ways and several state departments. Mass 2-1-1 is staffed by information and referral specialists (mairs). It was established to provide an essential link between those who need help and those who provide it. Mass 2-1-1 is a statewide number that people can call for non-emergency information and referral. Every day, someone somewhere in massachusetts needs to find essential community services, everything from finding an after school program, locating a food pantry or soup kitchen, obtaining utilities or

Filer

EIN

04-2104841