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August Engagements!

7/30/2021

 
Read all about it! 

We are back after an enriching restorative pause! Thank you all for your grace and patience so our team can reboot in service to our mission! 
​
We have an abundant amount of good news to share! For today, we want to share with you that our CEO and Founding Director, Gwendolyn VanSant, has been published in a book compiled by Dr. Emily Williams on IDEA work. Get your copy here! 
Book cover of Diversity Matters
Also our partners at BCAC nominated our fearless leader for our community action award to have made the pivot to impactfully and intentionally activate in support of communities facing poverty issues. We will be honored alongside our client and partner Greylock Federal Credit Union who also was one of these National Community Action Awardees. Be in touch if you want to join in the Boston celebration in September! Keeping the Berkshires on the map with our collective Equity and Inclusion efforts!
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Our summer program Happiness Toolbox is relaunching for its 12th consecutive year! We have several enriching programs in person and online. We are thrilled to have Drive Forward back with us online—clowns that focus on empowerment and joy. Don’t forget to visit our online video library from last year! We will have Spanish, French, Coding, Foraging, Yoga, HANDLE, Bookmaking, photography, Berkshire legends, Character strengths Sports, dance and activities with youth leaders. We will be celebrating Mother Earth! Join us. Financial aid available! Register here!! ​
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Special thanks to Canna Provisions for our Pride month SJIA raising $1415. Also deep gratitude to our partners at Three Sisters Farm and Sweet Freedom navigating our stormy weather and supplying our mutual aid goods for our families. Big thanks to First Congregational Church for supporting our second year of mutual aid. We want to also congratulate Colleen Goewey on our team on her promotion as mutual aid coordinator. Growing our team step by step!
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2021 August Engagements:

  • IDEA Institute@BRIDGE Systems of Oppression training and Train the Trainer 
    • Please email RSVP for part 2 following Cultural Competence Foundations starting July 30
    • Register for Fall Cultural Competence Foundations, Systems of Oppression and Train the Trainer - held at Berkshire Community College - starts September 10th.
  • Happiness Toolbox Hybrid program for children ages 5-12
    • Aug 9-13 and Aug 16-20
    • Aug 7 one day only youth training in positive education and diversity leadership! 
    • Click here to register 
  • Stay tuned for farming and gardening education class this month! Questions, please contact [email protected].
  • Race Task Force for Racial Justice Meeting (RTF): Monday, August 2nd 12:30 - 2:00PM
    • Click this link to register 
    • Guest: ACLU Tanekwah Hinds WADADAM and coming up DA Harrington listening forum
    • Planning for follow up with PPS education forum 
  • Women2Women (W2W): 
    • Thursday, August 5th 6:00 - 8:00PM
      Guest: Laura Manosalva 
      Topic: BailoTerapia o Zumba
    • Thursday, August 12th 6:00 - 8:00PM
      Guest: Carmen Baker 
      Topic: Chapter 10 “Super Powered”
    • Thursday, August 19th 6:00 - 8:00PM
      Guest: Greylock Federal Credit Union
      Topic: Oportunidades, beneficios, etc . Videos and interactive dialogue 
    • Thursday, August 26th 6:00 - 8:00PM
      Guest: Nubia Toloza
      Topic: Manos artesanas: Creativity with Art Crafts
  • Towards Racial Justice South County Meeting (TRJ): Thursday, August 5th 6:30 - 8:30PM
    • Click this link to register
    • We will cover several local community actions and planning with local public safety and legal outlets
  • Northern Berkshire SPIRIT Convening at Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA: *Please note that these events are dedicated to North County community residents & commuters as the conversations will be centered around Northern Berkshire County residents.
Northern Berkshire SPIRIT Convening
  • Facilitator Training: Monday, August 9th 4:00 - 7:00PM at Terra Nova Church, 85 Main St., North Adams MA
  • Northern Berkshire SPIRIT Community Conversations: Wednesday, August 11th 4:00 - 8:00PM, Mass MoCA
  • Northern Berkshire SPIRIT Community Conversations: Thursday, August 12th 4:00 - 8:00PM, Mass MoCA

  • Men’s Caucus for Racial Justice: Thursday, August 28th 7:00 - 9:00PM
​
​Please [email protected] to attend any of the above events!
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With love,
JV and the BRIDGE team! 
​

🤎 We appreciate your support, sustaining pledges and engagement! Thank you! Donate here! This month we are collecting for Happiness Toolbox and Mutual Aid Food Sovereignty program! 💕

A Restorative July

7/2/2021

 
Dear BRIDGE friends:

We are going in to a holiday weekend and asking that you all consider what Independence and Liberation is for all.
​
 We are writing to you to invite you to revisit the classic Frederick Douglass speech which our BRIDGE community read in 2019 with Shakespeare & Co. And what was most important is that we read the entire piece.
Picture of Frederick Douglas
A way BRIDGE is practicing our values is we are taking a break! Our offices will be closed for a planned restorative retreat. We will be closed July 12th - July 23rd. I was thrilled to see this notion of a resilience retreat be captured here in Vu Li’s article. We have made this suggestion to several of our clients that kept working through the pandemic and a few have found meaningful ways in both 2020 and 2021 for a resilience retreat for their employees.  This is a way to honor the labor of our teams. We all need time to restore and reboot. 

If you have urgent needs, please contact [email protected] during 7/12-7/13 AND if you are able to help us with our mutual aid distribution on 7/16, please email [email protected] by July 9th! Many hands make light work.
​
While we are away, we hope you spread the word about our hybrid Happiness Toolbox program and join us for a fun day on July 30th. 
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Our Race Task Force will be meeting in subcommittees on July 12th. We will use the same Zoom Link. 

Also, we have just finished up our IDEA Institute Cultural Competence Foundations and we will resume with Systems of Oppression on July 30th. If you have taken BRIDGE’s Cultural Competence, we invite you to sign up for these three sessions or a deeper dive into a race, gender and poverty analysis.

Also, we begin the Foundations course again in September followed by Systems of Oppression which are prerequisites for our Train-the-Trainer course in the Fall hosted in partnership with Berkshire Community College.
​
Here is a sneak peek into our IDEA Institute Inclusive Leadership Cohort to see the topics covered as we begin to design our community projects. 

Thank you to Canna Provisions in Lee, MA for celebrating Pride Month with BRIDGE and thank you Hop Brook Community Club for hosting a Social Justice in Action event on Juneteenth and raising consciousness about white privilege and its impact.

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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Staff And Volunteers
    • Board and Advisory Council
    • Partnerships and Coalitions
    • Organization Members
    • Impact
    • Support Us
  • Programs
    • Happiness Toolbox Summer Program >
      • HT2022 Photos
      • HT2021 Photos
      • Happiness Toolbox Sessions
      • HT Bios
    • Community Education >
      • Cultural Competence Community Training
      • Real Talk On Race
    • Youth >
      • Happiness Toolbox >
        • Happiness Toolbox Blog
        • Coloring Pages
        • Happiness Toolbox Photos
      • Real Talk
    • Towards Racial Justice And Equity In the Berkshires >
      • TRJ-South
      • Race Task Force
      • Great Barrington Trust Policy
      • Honoring Du Bois's Life & Legacy >
        • Du Bois Legacy Participants 2022
      • Not In Our County - Berkshires
    • Women To Women >
      • Immigrant Women's Group
      • Professional Support/Community Integration
      • Mindfulness and Movement
    • New Pathways >
      • New Pathways Social Justice Conference 2020 >
        • New Pathways Conference Keynote
        • New Pathways Conference Videos
        • New Pathways 2020 Conference Bios
      • New Pathways Labs
      • New Pathways Talks
      • New Pathways Podcast
      • New Pathways Bios
    • Food Sovereignty & Sustainability >
      • Resource Kits
      • Distribution Sign Up
  • Services
    • Business >
      • Educational Support
      • Workplace Programming
      • State Vendor: Supplier Diversity Program
      • Recruitment
      • Language Access Services
    • Memberships
    • IDEA Institute Trainings
    • Online Training >
      • Virtual Training Hub >
        • Cultural Competence Foundations
      • Inclusive Leadership Cohort >
        • ILC Project Proposals
  • Ways To Give
  • News And Events
    • Mosaic Stories
    • Catalyst.Love.Impact GALA >
      • Gala Photo Gallery
      • Gala Impact
      • Gala Bios
    • Events >
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  • Resources
  • Contact
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