April 2024

Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative
Meeting Notes


Date: April 11, 2024
Time: 1:00pm to 2:30pm
Place: Zoom Meeting


Mission Statement: The Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative is a partnership between local, state & federal law enforcement; city & state government; civic & human service organizations; faith based organizations; the business community; education providers; property managers; and residents coming together with a goal to create safe, healthy & economically viable neighborhoods through information sharing, identifying at-risk youth, referrals and community efforts in specific Holyoke neighborhoods.

Welcome & Introduction 1:00pm - 1:05pm

Guest Speaker: Diana Biagioli: Federation for Children with Special Needs (FCSN) 1:05pm - 1:20pm

Hi everybody, nice to see a lot of new faces and old faces that I've seen before. My name is Diana Biagioli, I work for the Federation for Children with Special Needs, some of you may know about us. Our director likes to call us the best kept secret in Massachusetts, especially in Western Mass. I think we're trying to expand on our presence, but I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Federation, and then I'm going to talk about Next Gen Careers.

I'll give you my email address in the chat, but it's also at the end of the presentation. So who are we, The Federation for Children with Special Needs? We're the parent center in Massachusetts throughout the state for young people with disabilities ages zero through twenty-six. Some of you may be familiar with IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. When that was enacted many years ago, it came with funding to create parent centers in every state. So that's who we are, the parent center.

What do we do? We are not lawyers, we do refer to lawyers, but what we do is we're specialists in everything related to special education disabilities. We have a free help line which I'll share with you. Anything related to again special education, if we don't have the answer, we usually can direct you to the right resources. We have free trainings, so if you go into our calendar, we have trainings on the IEP. By the way, I don't know if many of you know what an IEP is; it’s an Individualized Education Program. That's what young people with disabilities get through preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. It doesn't go past high school.

There's a new IEP coming out in Massachusetts. Wanted to throw that out there, and we have trainings on the new IEP and then we also run a lot of events. I'm going to really hype up the event; I'll do it at the end. But there's one in Western Mass at UMass Amherst at the end of the month, on the 27th. I will share that with Ed, so he can spread it out to the spread the word. It's about all resources pertaining to disability special education in the Western Mass area.

So without further ado, that's us. We work in many languages, we use the language when we don't speak the language, but I am originally a Spanish speaker, so I present oftentimes in Spanish. I will be presenting in Spanish, that was my first language. I also speak French, and many of my colleagues speak various languages. People get a little confused about this, because we recently partnered with MRC. That's the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission.

Most of you know, MRC, I just want to throw out there too that they're changing their name. They have already announced it, but they haven't officially done it. They're going to be called Mass Abilities and those of you who maybe have been around youth, or even parents who don't like the rehabilitation part of their name, I get that a lot so I think it's a good move to change their name.

Anyway, MRC what they do is that they help people with disabilities get employment. They have a traditional model. What I'm here to present to you today is a new alternative, a pilot that they got funding from our RSA for this pilot. It's not in every single city and town in Massachusetts. It's in one-hundred and seventeen cities and towns but your area is all included; so Holyoke, Springfield, Chicopee, Agawam. That area thankfully is included. I really want you all to know about it, and one of the slides tells you which cities are included in Western Mass.

What this is for young people, ages eighteen to thirty years old to help them get in the world of work to get employment. They have to have a disability, but it's kind of self-disclosure. They don't have to have had an IEP, which is what I mentioned before, an Individualized Education Program. They don't have to have had a 504 plan. It's another option they have in high school. They don't even have to have a diagnosed disability if there is something like anxiety, stress, depression, ADHD is holding them back to get a job they could very well qualify. I'll talk a little bit more about this pilot in a bit.

Like I said, it's provided by MRC, for young adults eighteen to thirty they have to be ready to work. One of the things that I will discuss in one of the slides is that they don't usually take young people who are in four year colleges because they're not ready to work. They want to finish their schooling. However, after they're done with school they can. They can do NextGen Careers. The program is seeking to enroll one-thousand young adults from across the Commonwealth through June of 2026. So that's when the pilot expires. Now in the program, ideally the idea is to tweak it, make it better and expand it throughout Massachusetts. They're testing new ways to help young people on this job search because their traditional model was not working for every young adult. And I'll talk a little bit more about that.

Let's talk right now just about where are the pilot areas in the north? It's Lawrence and Lowell. That's the northeast right of Massachusetts, southeast of Massachusetts is downtown Boston, Roxbury, and Braintree. Here in Western Mass, I love how they think the West includes Worcester, because to me Worcester Central Mass, I'm a Western Mass girl, I grew up in Spain, but I moved to Western Mass when I was young. It's Springfield and Worcester, but it includes many towns that are west of Springfield, not just the Springfield area. Here's the list that I promised you; Northampton, East Longmeadow, Springfield, Chicopee, Holyoke, Longmeadow, they're included in the pilot.

The most important thing is they have a multidisciplinary team. It's really a wraparound team, the “Next Genners” as the young person is called. They don't just work with one counselor like the traditional model does. They work with an entire team, and I'll talk about the team in a slide coming up. They work a lot on career preparedness. Unless the young man or woman already knows what their career is that they want to pursue. They work a lot on that and they use something called “Self-Cares.” Then, they discuss a lot of career pathways and what I really like about NextGen Careers is that they use a lot of internships and apprenticeships.

They are focusing right now for the pilot on STEM; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. However they don't have to, it can be STEM adjacent or related. For example, if a young person really likes working in a lab, they don't have to be the scientist in the lab, they can be the assistant, or they can be the helper. If they just want to be in the world of STEM.

Finally, another part that I really like about NextGen Careers is that once they get a job, whether you're a young person with a disability or without a disability, sometimes it's hard to keep a job. A lot of us have issues. We have communication issues sometimes. Maybe we don't know how to self-advocate. Maybe we have technology issues. So they provide career extended support if they need a job coach, or they need some kind of support on the job to keep it. It's not forever, but it's as long as they need it.

Why STEM careers? There are a lot of stats in here; basically what it is that in Massachusetts right now, there are more STEM jobs available. Also, there is a perception that young people, and not just young people with disabilities, they sometimes shy away from STEM. They think, ‘Oh, I'm not that good as science, I'm not that good at math.’ But they might really enjoy being in that environment. It's just a way of allowing them to explore that and to decide whether they want to be there or not.

It's like I said, they have the jobs are more available in that field. Internships and apprenticeships are also more available in that field and they decided to focus on that. For the pilot, for now those reasons obviously if it continues after 2026 it would include any field. It would not just be focusing on STEM. This is just the pilot.

I mentioned Self-Cares because we don't have enough acronyms. The world of education and in all our worlds, but this is yet another acronym, they have their own. When I say they, I mean Mr. Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission. They have their own learning experience. They call it Self-Cares so they focus on different areas to make the young person self-sufficient. They work on their confidence in their ability to perform a job. That's self-capacity, the self-advocacy; how to speak up for themselves and when to speak up for themselves. Self-realization and understanding; knowing what and where their strengths lie, and maybe what they need to work on, maybe areas of limitation. Finally, once you have self-capacity, advocacy, and realization you become more independent. The team works together on focusing on all these four areas trying to strengthen the young person so they become successful in the world of work.

In the traditional model they just have one counselor, but the NextGen Team includes; first of all, a supervisor. The Supervisor, I mentioned the three regions north, south, and west, there is a supervisor in every region. In your region is Christa D. Gregorio, and she presented one of your events at the Summit view. She's very approachable, she responds very quickly. I can add her email in the chat later. If you have any questions, you maybe are working with somebody and you're not sure about something STEM related, or about the team, or something, you can always reach out to Christa. She's very approachable and if not, you can reach out to me. I work with her very closely.

Another member of the team is the Peer Mentor. This is somebody that's been there as a young person, or maybe not that young, but somebody who has been in that same position as the young person, and they can guide them in anything that is needed. Same thing with the Family Partner, but the Family Partner usually works with the family. Now, family can be a misnomer there because some young people who are older, I told you it's eighteen to thirty, they may not be living with their family. Maybe their family is their community. I remember presenting at a library in a small town here in Western Mass called Granville, and the young person who is interested in NextGen, her family was the librarian. She was very close to the librarian. The librarian was her mentor. So that would be the family partner they would be working with. Family can be used in many ways.

Both the Peer Mentor and the Family Partner are there to just help out in any way needed. The Career Counselor is usually the first person that the young person to talks to because they're starting to discuss careers. They do careers and the Employment Success Specialists. It depends on how far along they are in that career exploration. They can meet them right away or maybe towards the end, when they're ready to start looking at employment. This person can work with them in anything needed, like writing a resume preparing for interviews if they need on the job support. That's who gets it for them, so that's a really important part of the team.

There are also benefits; counselor and some young people maybe receiving SSI or other benefits. So that counselor works with them to make sure that they're retaining as much as possible. That's their area of expertise. Finally, the specialty counselor role; that's because MRC is working also with the commission for them blind, and the commission for the deaf and hard of hearing. They're partnering with them and if the young person needs any counselor from either one of those commissions that person is immediately embedded into the team, so they don't have to outsource it.

The VR Counselor primarily works one to one with a young adult and partners with other resources, whereas as you can see the NextGen Careers model works with an entire team. We just went through that. Another big difference is that in the traditional model, internships and apprenticeships are not highly utilized, whereas in the NextGen model they're very highly utilized. They're always looking for internships, and I should mention there that they are paid internships, and if the company does not pay them, MRC has funding to pay the young person so that they're not just doing free work.

I touched upon the third point here. In the VR model, the traditional VR model support is provided for participants that are in associates, or about a two or a four year degree. Whereas in the NextGen model it's not that they won't work with somebody who's in school. For example, maybe they're about to finish their bachelor's degree or their associates degree, they would start talking to them. They want them to be career ready and ready for employment as soon as possible. So that's why but it doesn't mean it's black and white. It doesn't mean that they won't work with somebody who is in school, and also sometimes as we all know you need some kind of couple of years of schooling in order to get one of these STEM jobs. So it's not black and white, it's just something they want somebody to try to get a job as soon as possible.

And then the last two points kind of go hand and hand. The Peer Mentor, the Family Support Person, and especially counselors are externally outsourced in the traditional model; whereas in the NextGen model, they're automatically part of the team. Here's how to apply; you can just hit on that for information you can. Also like I mentioned, I can put Christa de Gregorios email in the chat. If you are not sure if a young person would be the right fit, I've done that before with her. I've had people on the phone that I was like ‘Hmm, I'm not sure if this is the right fit.’ I talk to her, I connect them to her.

What happens is that the young person will get a call back from MRC and they will discuss both models; the traditional VR model and the NextGen model. If the young person decides to go traditional, they'll guide them to Mr. Connect to sign up for that. If they sign up for NextGen, they'll start arranging an initial team meeting, so they can start meeting their NextGen team. The NextGenner gets to pick who their point person is. There are videos on the MRC website with all the NextGen team members from the west region, the south region, and the north region.

They talk about what they are interested in so besides what they do, meaning Peer Mentor, or Family Partner, or whatever their job is, they also talk about what they're interested in. Maybe the young person will click more with somebody who's maybe really interested in music, and if they're really interested in music or something like that.

This is the information line at the Federation, (617) 236-7210, or the 800 number. That's the free information line where you can call and set up an appointment to speak to one of us.

Agency Overview and Updates 1:20pm - 2:25pm

Wilbert Weche: Willful Change LLC
Good afternoon everyone excited to be here. My name is Will Weche, I am the founder and CEO of Willful Change LLC; which is a local training and development firm that works closely with local organizations that are looking to be more intentional with developing their leadership staff. Some of the supports that I provide are keynote speaking, training, as well as coaching. Some of the results that I'm able to help organizational leaders achieve are effective communication skills, building effective relationships, strategic thinking, amongst many others as well.

As I mentioned before, my approach is to support organizational leaders with tailored training, develop training, and coaching solutions. I'll also put something in the chat for anyone that will like to reach out for free consultation for us to discuss how my supports can also be of service to you. No new information at this time, but very excited to be here on the call.

Timothy Powis: Hampden Superior Probation
Hi, I’m Timothy Powis, from Hampden Superior Probation. Not too much going on with us, but we'll be participating in the Hoop Up Springfield Event. There's also a discussion with ROCA at the Basketball Hall of Fame coming up in May, and that's all I got.

Tammi Benson: United Way of Pioneer Valley
Hi, I’m Tammi Benson, from the United Way of Pioneer Valley. We continue to feed the hungry, we still are. We have our open pantries on Tuesday’s in Springfield, Wednesday’s in Chicopee, and Thursday’s in Holyoke. We have a relationship with Mass211, call to talk. Right now, we are working on the EFSP at the Emergency Food and Shelter Program with local agencies who qualify.

Suleiman Hurston: Behavioral Health Network
Hello, good day! My name is Suleiman Hurston, I work with IHBTC of BHN. I'm an outreach worker. My organization provides services to families and youth with mental disabilities and behavioral issues. We provide family partner advocacy, outreach work advocacy, occupational therapy advocacy, and we have a slew of clinicians and our superior faculty to help us with navigating and providing support to the families that we work with.

We are our catchment area is anywhere in the Springfield area and the surrounding areas, north, west, south and east; stretching basically all the way to the far end, the four corners of Massachusetts. We service the whole area, the whole state, and again we provide services to families and youth. So we would love and invite anyone else from their organization to provide their services, to add and aid in our support for their identified areas. We are also a person centered organization driven by the needs and wants identified by the families and youth that we're working with. My name and email is in the group chat and you can reach out to me and send me any information or ask me for any information to provide. I think that's all the information I have at this time. No reports, as I am a new member and I appreciate the opportunity.

Sidney Richeux: Gandara Center
Hello everyone, my name is Sydney; I am a triage clinician from Gandata Center. I am the triage clinician for the Intensive Care Coordination Program. I will be adding the ICC flyer and the referral form in the chat. If you have any questions regarding the program, you can give me a call. I will also add my phone number and my email. Thank you.

Sheryl Maldonado: AmeriCorps Member, WayFinders
Hi, good afternoon. My name is Sheryl Maldonado. I'm an AmeriCorps member, working at WayFinders as a Resident Engagement Trainee. So we have a few things going on; we going to open the new community room that we have now. It's going to be launched on May 7th, every first and third Tuesday of the month from 2:00PM to 3:30PM. We are open to the community to come in and learn more about it.

Also, we are going to start a computer class. This summer, the computer class will be in Spanish, fully Spanish. So if you know any residents that have a challenge of knowing nothing about computers, please reach out to me. I have my contact information in the chat. Thank you.

Shannon Burke: Holyoke Pediatrics
Hi, Shannon here from Holyoke Pediatrics! I don't have anything to report, thank you.

Sarah Moquin: Holyoke Medical Center
Hello, nice to meet you all. This is my first time attending one of these meetings. I'm a Nurse Practitioner with the Comprehensive Care Center, which is addiction and recovery. At Holyoke Medical Center we treat people for alcohol use disorder and substance use disorder, and we're trying to pilot a bridge to primary care for the folks that don't have primary care. So exciting things going on here, nice to meet you all.

Yamaris Rivera: Families First
Hi good afternoon, my name is Yamaris Rivera. I am the Program Coordinator for Families First Organization. We are launching a parenting program in collaboration with OneHolyoke and the Holyoke Public Schools. Those are parents’ that have children between the ages of three and eight. If you have any families, please reach out to me. Thank you.


Sarah Lynn: MSPCC Prevention
Hi everybody, Sarah Lynn here from MSPCC Prevention. We have the Healthy Families Program, which is for first time parents, and we also have the Parents as Teachers Program for parents with multiple children. If anybody would like me to come out and do a presentation on what our services are, I'm happy to do so. I've put my email and our online referral link in the chat, thanks.

Sandy Ward: Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts
Thanks Ed, I'm a volunteer and representing two different today. The Holyoke Public Library is doing its Mini golf and games again this month, Saturday, April 20th from 9:30AM to 3:30PM. Eighteen holes of mini golf inside the library, various games outside the library. New this year, it's simplified; it's free for all ages. It used to be free for the school children; we're letting the old people into. It should be a lot of fun.

I'm still a volunteer with the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts, and can do presentations about death care options in Massachusetts, and I can travel to different communities in the area. I just did one yesterday in Chester, Massachusetts. I'll be doing some in June at the Holyoke Senior Center again, if you have a group that would like to invite me, or someone else in our board to talk about the laws, and the consumer rights. We're independent of the funeral industry, and right now we're collecting 2024 prices from the funeral homes. We have over 90% now of the price list from them. So within a month our website will reflect those new prices. Thank you.

Richard Guy: Hampden County BHJI Program
Good afternoon, my name is Richard Guy. I’m the Director for the Hampden County BHJI Program, focused on those justice involved, primarily focusing on mental health and substance abuse diagnoses, adult diagnosis and any other supports necessary for a successful re-entering into the community. I would like to just reach out to anybody, to really try to improve on our employment supports and housing supports. I put my email in the chat and I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas as far as these areas in Hampden County. Thank you.

Nicole Arnold: Holyoke Medical Center
Hi guys, I also work for the Comprehensive Care Center at Holyoke Medical with Sarah Moquin. We also are part of the addiction consult services, so we're both inpatient and outpatient. Our outpatient office treats AUD, SUD, and stimulant use disorders. What's important to note too is that we do take walk-ins, which is unlike many places. So if you ever have someone who in the moment needs to be seen, wants to be seen, or is ready for treatment then please bring them down. You can bring them right in and they can walk in and be seen by myself or one of the providers.

Also, we can go down to the emergency room if somebody is nervous to come in due to stigma, or being afraid. We will meet them in the emergency room. So you guys can always give me a call, I put my office number there. If you have somebody who wants to come be seen and may not feel comfortable, we will come down to the emergency room and help them out. We will stay with them and introduce them to the emergency room staff.

Nayroby Rosa: OneHolyoke
Good afternoon everyone, Nayroby Rosa, the Director of OneHolyoke Community Engagement Department. I am here with an AmeriCorps intern that's working with me, Georgie Brown. She's new to this group, welcoming her to this. As far as OneHolyoke of what we're doing, we're a little bit busy this month. Our cleanup campaign is kicking off on Earth Day. Some of you maybe that worked with us in the past have received an invitation to help us support our kickoff, which will be on Monday, April 20th from 12:30PM to 2:30PM. If anybody wants to come down and join us on the kickoff, that'd be great.

We're also doing a career exploration day at Kelly School. It's called “I Can Be Anyone I Want to Be.” We're looking for organizations or businesses that would like to share with the students what they do for work. That'll be during the day from 10:00AM to 2:00PM. There is a sign up link which Georgie can share in the chat for businesses to be able to sign up. Then, from 4:00PM to 6:00PM, we're opening it up to the community for a job fair. So there'll be businesses there looking for any families that are looking for employment. Holyoke Medical Center will be providing a to-go meal.

In addition to collaborating with other events like the Mini golf, the homework house adult spelling bee, there's a lot going on. So check our website, we're sharing a lot of the community events on there. Thank you.

Milly Dinzey: Hope for Holyoke
Hello, my name is Milly Dinzey, I'm a recovery coach at Hope for Holyoke in Holyoke. Normally, my coworker the one that does this Mandy Goulet, she's the outreach and networking one over here but I'm going to try. We're a peer recovery center. We have a few things going on. We have an outreach coming up on Tuesday, the 16th, where we're going to go out to the community and feed and give them anything they need like soap and shampoo, socks, and anything that they need. We're coming out this Tuesday, the 16th, at 1:00PM.

We also partnered with Enlace de Familias that was on March 13th. They had an egg hunt activity going on. We had a table out there with them. We also have our Highway to Hope team, which helps taking people to detox and finding them beds. So if you guys need any help with that, please contact us, I'll put the information in the chat as soon as I'm done. We also have our gambling ambassadors that today are out at valor. They'll be out at valor at 2:00PM giving information out and helping the ones in need over there. Thank you so much.

Mike Pratt: Hampden County Sheriff’s Office/ Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative
Hi everybody, I'm Mike Pratt, I work for the Hampden County Sheriff's Office with Ed, and I also mainly work with the Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative. The only update that I have right now is that we've got the summer basketball league coming up. So if you know of any coaches or volunteers that want to help us out, or any kids in in your program that would be interested in playing some basketball this summer please just let Ed or I know. Thank you.

Miguel Arce: Springfield College
Thank you Ed, no updates. Thank you.

Marissa Chiapperino: Holyoke Medical Center
Hi everyone, I'm Marissa Chiapperino, Registered Dietician in Community Navigation at Holyoke Medical Center. I'm currently in the process of trying to set up some free diabetes classes with Nayroby Rosa down at her flats community building. I also am an Adjunct Instructor at Holyoke Community College, and we are going to be offering a free food pantry demonstration down on Race Street in collaboration with the United Way Food Pantry that now is present in that building. I will send the flyer out in the chat, and in two weeks we are going to be offering an open house for prospective culinary art students, so I will also include the flyer there as well. Thank you.

Lorraine Ceaser: Valley Opportunity Council
Hi everyone, my name is Lorraine Caesar, I work for Valley Opportunity Council. I am located in Chicopee, Mass. Our program offers ESOL classes, CDL classes for ESOL students, adult basic education, so that is our GED and HiSET preparation classes. We also have out of school youth programs called Youth Works in “WIOA” [Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act] for students, ages sixteen to twenty-four, who are either no longer in traditional high school or in traditional high school and want additional services.

Addition to that, we have career and education advising which I am the daytime advisor. We also have an evening advisor and a youth advisor. We have an event coming up on April 29th at 10:00AM. It's going to be our GED and HiSET information session. It starts at 10:30 in the morning. It is at our 35 Mount Carmel Avenue in Chicopee, Mass location, and I put that information in the chat as well.

Lisa Carbonell-Correa: Alzheimer Association
Hello, my name is Lisa, I am a Care Consultant that works with the Alzheimer Association. We provide educational programs in English and Spanish, and I provide the service that we call “care consultation.” We educate caregivers when they get the diagnosis for dementia, and I provide the service in Spanish. Our base is in Springfield right now. We're working remote and right now I don't have anything to report.

Laurie Dimock: Hartsprings Foundation
Hi, my name is Laurie Dimock, and I represent Hartsprings Foundation. Our organization collects donations of clothing, shoes, housewares, books, media, and more with proceeds benefiting various local nonprofits throughout Western Massachusetts as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring.

I'm excited to share an opportunity of spring clean with a purpose. We will be hosting a clothing and more donation drive on Saturday, April 27th, from 9:00AM to 12:00PM, at Dean Technical High School in Holyoke, to benefit the Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative’s various community programs. This is a great opportunity to clean out your closets and support vital efforts to uplift youth in Holyoke. I will be providing the link to our organization's Facebook information post about the event and we welcome everyone to help us spread the word.

Kevin McAllister: Triangle Solutions
Good afternoon, my name's Kevin McAllister, owner of Triangle Solutions which is a management solution for nonprofit organizations. No new updates at this point, thanks.

Kenneth Rivera: YMCA
Hi, I'm Kenny, I work for the Holyoke YMCA, I am Teen Program Youth Director here and work also with school age programming. Not many updates to share, but we run different and various programs for teens and at risk youth in our community. And that also includes programs that get them involved in volunteering. So the opportunity to connect with different organizations such as you guys, I would love to take advantage of that and get our kids involved in our community one way or another. Happy to be here, thank you.

Julia Popkin: Community Legal Aid
Hi everyone, I'm Julia Popkin, I'm a staff attorney at Community Legal Aid in Springfield. CLA provides free civil legal services to the West, people living in Worcester to the West, including Hampden County, and we serve folks who are at 125% of the Federal poverty level, but we also have some exceptions where we can go a little higher. We have family law practice; helping people with housing, eviction defense. We have an education law unit; helping students with special education, discipline issues, things like that.

We also have an employment and unemployment unit and a benefits unit. We have a subsidiary organization that can help folks with immigration issues. We also love to come to outreach events and partner with community organizations to do “know your rights” trainings or any other presentation that you might want. So I put our information in the chat for how people can apply for Community Legal Aid. I'll also put my email and feel free to get in touch if you have specific questions about our services. I don't think I have any updates.

Josh Colon: Holyoke Police Department
Hello, everyone! I'm Officer Josh Colon from the Holyoke Police Department. I work out of 208 Race Street. Right now, I have no updates, thank you.

John McCarthy: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
Hello, John Mccarthy, I'm with USCIS Citizenship and Immigration Services. My function is to provide information on immigration benefits, the eligibility requirements for immigration benefits, and what the process is that you'd be going through after you file for a benefit. The type of information I try to put out is similar to what I'm going to give you right now. There are new guidelines now for the filing of the form I6-93, that's the medical form for people who are applying for permanent residence in the United States.

There's an increase in the auto extension for certain people who are filing for employment authorization documents, that's just been published on the 4th of April. There is a new third gender option on the new form and the naturalization form which went into effect on April 1st. There is a new fee rule that went into effect on April 1, 2024. There will be a presentation on the new fee rule that will be offered virtually by the Boston Public Library on April 26th, 2024, at around noontime. The time has not been firmly set at this point, and we will be going through the new fee rule and we can answer some questions that people may have.

Finally, there is a Boston N400 workshop that is occurring on April 27th, 2024, where there will be attorneys present to assist people in putting together their forms, and 400 to apply for naturalization. If you wish to attend, being outside of the Boston area, you will need to call, and you'll need to make a reservation. I've put information URLs for all of the information that I've just covered in the chat. I've put my information and my contact information in the chat as well. Thank you.

Joanne LaCour: Department of Transitional Assistance, Holyoke
Hi, Joanne LaCour, with the Department of Transitional Assistance in Holyoke. I'm the director of the Transitional Assistance Office and the Senior Assistance Office. We administer food stamps, cash assistance, and HIP. That's it.

Jennezzy Martinez: Holyoke Medical Center / River Valley Counselling Center
Good afternoon everyone, my name's Jennezzy Martinez. I am a Community Health Worker for the Teen Clinic, part of River Valley and Holyoke Medical Center. I currently am stationed in Holyoke North, but we do support other Holyoke Public Schools. Part of what I do is support both the students and their families with basic needs; resources, referrals, you name it and we help them. So you guys are a great tool for us because we definitely can use some of these resources. Thank you, Ed, for having me here today.

Jailyn Vega: Youth Villages
Hello, my name is Jailyn Vega, I'm the Program Representative at Youth Villages. At Youth Villages we have two programs; we have our Intercept Program, which is an intensive trauma informed evidence based in-home service, serving families with children ages zero to eighteen. We can take referrals from DCF, DMH, and hospitals. Specifically, if they are boarding in the emergency room, we can also take referrals from probation officers. We have contracts with the Hampden County Juvenile Court, as well as the Hampshire County Juvenile Court. As far as openings for the Intercept Program, we will have openings within the next week.

We also have our Life Set Program, which is our transitional age youth program for young adults looking to build independent living skills for that program. We can take referrals as well from DCF and DMH. We can also take some community grant referrals, but we do have a little bit of a wait list, and those slots are limited. As far as wait time for our Life Program, I would say about three to four weeks. That program is for young adults, ages seventeen and a half to twenty-two, but we can work with the young adults up until their twenty-third birthday. If anyone has any questions, I did put my information in the chat, feel free to email me or reach out to me via phone. I can also text on the number that's in the chat as well. Thank you.

Iris Sosa: Boy Scouts of America Western Massachusetts Council
Hello everyone, my name is Iris Sosa, I'm the Outreach Specialist for the Boy Scouts of America Western Massachusetts Council. We have in in Holyoke a Cub Scout Pack, that meets in Mount Tom Lodge. Two Thursday’s a month we have meeting tonight and April 25. The Cub Scout Program is for kids from kindergarten all the way to fifth grade. So if you work with any families that you think can benefit for our program, send us their information and we can contact them. If the family needs somebody to speak Spanish, I can talk to them about the program and how to sign in. We also have the Troop BSA Program that is for eleven to seventeen year olds and so we are always looking for partnerships and volunteers that want to work with us. Thank you.

Gloria Penagos: Holyoke Community College
Hello everyone, so we have an invitation; Holyoke Community College and the Culinary Art Institute have an invitation for all of you. For the whole, I will always say this is a family of networking, so if you guys can remember we made the proposal to have a networking meeting in person. The Culinary Institute offers a lunch, and that was just incredible, because after the pandemic, we didn't have this chance and we are looking to make this happen again.

It's so important that we see each other, we have that contact in person. The students that are doing the training at this moment will have the chance to show their skills and what they are learning now. Actually, that training is this week, so they have a month to be ready. The team will decide on what is the possibility that we can have this networking meeting yearly. So we will have our networking meeting on May 10th at 11:30 in the morning on Friday.

Georgianna Brown: AmeriCorps/ OneHolyoke
Hi, not much to share. I've been sending some links in the chat for a couple of things.
I work Nayroby, so as she said, we're looking for people to sign up for career fair and clean up. So it's very nice to meet everyone.

Gabe V: Community Education Project
Hi, everyone. I'm the Student Advisor over at Community Education Project. Nothing really is going on over here, but if you guys have any native language speakers who are interested in getting their HiSET done, or who have it, or if you have any people who want to learn English, we also offer English classes. I put my name and my business phone number in the chat. If I don't pick up, just send me a text, and I'll respond as soon as possible.

Faith Sarisley: CrossPoint Clinical Services
Hi everybody, my name is Faith, and I'm the Marketing Community Relations Coordinator at CrossPoint Clinical Services. I've left my contact info in the chat as well as a website link and some other helpful links. At CrossPoint we provide faith based and traditional mental health counseling services from our four locations, the closest office is in West Springfield.

We also have some health and wellness options with our counseling services such as life, coaching, personal training, things like that that are open to anybody. We also have an in-person event coming up on May 11th in Chicopee, called “Fully Known, Fully Loved.” It's a health and wellness event. It's a great chance to kind of refresh your mind, body, spirit, and the whole nine if you or anybody you know would like to attend. Please sign up in the event section of our website, the link left in the chat. You can learn more and sign up for any of these programs in the events and coaching sections of our website. It's in the chat, or by downloading our new app as well. But thanks, everybody have a great day.

Elizabeth Veillette: Center for Human Development
Hi everyone, my name is Elizabeth Veillette, I’m the Employment Specialist Net Navigator for the Center for Human Development, Diversion, Shelter and Housing division for the shelter systems. I provide intensive job search and case management for our shelter residents, and I have no updates today.

Elizabeth Cardona: Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Hi, good afternoon everyone, great to be here. I am the Community Engagement Manager at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Our mission is to protect the natural resources in the communal of air, water, land, and part of our mission, as I presented last week, was to really commit and engage all of our community in policies and decisions that are being made that usually impact people who are most burdened by environmental issues.

I'm excited that we're going to be partnering with OneHolyoke, Morgan School, the Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative, and Kelly School for an event on the 27th the “Holy Hope Family Fun Day.” I'm sure all of you probably have some information. It's going to be an exciting day. We're excited about the opportunity to celebrate in the community and bringing awareness, and to really just celebrate our planet with people and in sharing good information. This is really bringing us all together for a special day. Thank you.

Crystal Frederick-Ladunni: YWCA
Hello, how are you, my name is Crystal Frederick-Ladunni, I am from the YWCA, the Young Parent Support Program. We support young parents, moms, and dads up until their twenty-third birthday. Our wait list is currently open. I will drop our referral form in the chat, and there are no other updates. Thank you.

Christian Diluzio: Veterans Inc.
Sheriff Ed’S group it's good to see you guys again, it's been a little while. My name is Christian, I work for the organization Veterans Inc., all New England wide, but my office is in Springfield, Massachusetts. On Friday, June 21ST, the largest veteran event in the state is going to be going on in Worcester, Massachusetts. One-hundred and thirty social service providers from all over the state, fifty-five employers, and is open to any veteran or their dependence free of charge.

We've got our surplus. We've got medical assistance on site. We've got the VA. We've got Veterans Inc. The Vet centers, federal, state, and local service providers on June 21st, Worcester, Massachusetts. An email is going to go out with the flyer and my personal contact information. If you have a veteran in your life who needs any level of service, they're going to be there on site Friday, June 21st. Thank you all.

Charlene Rivera: Holyoke Pediatrics
Hi, my name is Charlene Rivera. I'm one of the Care Coordinators at Holyoke Pediatrics. I have no new updates this week.

Catherine Brown:
Hello everyone, my name is Catherine Brown. I'm a Case Manager with a program called YASL, which stands for the Young Adult Supported Living Program. We're a scattered site housing program that provides housing, life skills, training, case management, utilities, and a bunch of wraparound support to young adults; ages eighteen to twenty-two who come from a DCF background. We also have a location in the Western area of Massachusetts. We're talking Greenfield, Springfield, Holyoke, or things of that nature, and also in the central area; Worcester, Lancaster, things of that nature. If you want more information, you can email me at cbrown@rfkcommunity.org, or if you have a referral for someone who's in that eighteen to twenty-two age range, then that can be sent to yasl@rfkcommunity.org. Also I posted that in the chat, so you can see it there.

Carl Borden: Western Massachusetts Boy Scouts of America
Hello, Carl Borden, from the Boy Scouts of America Western Massachusetts Council. A couple of updates; Iris already covered our Scouts BSA and Cub Scouts in Holyoke. But last month we started career exploring up in Chicopee with the same program. We started back in January, down in Springfield, and we're expanding that. We’re looking for partners to work with, to expand into the Holyoke area.

With that, one of the things that Iris forgot to mention is HAOA is coming up April twentieth. That's the High Adventure Outdoor Adventure Program we offer at Camp Moses in Russell once a month. It's open to anybody. You don't have to be a scout to come, there is programming for youth starting at age five and up. We're offering blacksmithing, bouldering, disc golf, fishing, geocaching, orienteering, and if we have enough kids come we will have the baby range, the x-bow range, and the rifle range is open. So these are open for the kids, I put the calendar link in the chat. We'd love to see kids come up and try out scouting. If they like it, then they can join the units we've already established, or starting new ones. Thank you.

Angela Kelly: Careforth
Hi everyone, I am with Careforth, and we are an adult foster care company, or well known as family structured care. We cover the entire State of Massachusetts. I am located in this area. I'm the representative here, and what we do is we care for the caregiver at home who's caring for a loved one. We give them a care team, and which is consists of a nurse and care managers as well as they get a tax free stipend. We are the pioneers of this. We've been doing it for twenty-three years now in Massachusetts. We're also in Connecticut and Rhode Island, two for New England States.

My information is in the chat. If you know of a loved one, someone that's caring for a loved one at home that normally that's not their role to be a caregiver, we come in and we teach them how to get here properly. So we're caring for the caregiver, not for the person that they're caring for, so that they can follow all the care plans that have been given to them by the other providers. Thank you.

Art Lobdell: Holyoke Rotary Club
I'll talk today about the Rotary Club of Holyoke. So I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware that we'll be putting up our flags for heroes at the plaza at the Holyoke Library. It's going up on May the 18th. There's an opportunity for all of you to be involved with that, either by helping on that day putting the flag poles in the ground, or by honoring someone that you know that is your hero. They don't need to necessarily be folks that are in the military or services. It's just who is your personal hero. We did have that information sent out on the distribution chain. I don't have a link for it. Thank you.

Ana Jaramillo: Holyoke Health Center
Hi guy, Ana Jaramillo, Holyoke Health Center. I don't have any events, I just have an update that the farmers marketing in Holyoke is going to be this year at the Veterans Park, starting June 11th, from 11:00AM to 2:00PM. I hope to see many organizations using the farmers market as an opportunity to meet the community where they are. I also am going to be partnering with the YMCA on the Kids Day, April 20th, and also with OneHolyoke. The Let's Move Hampden County is supporting the pop up farmers market, and I put the information in the chat.

Alisha Durocher: Head Start
Hi everyone, my name's Alisha, I'm here from Head Start. We currently have programs for childcare in Springfield, Holyoke, Chicopee, and Ludlow. Although we are enrolling from birth to age five, I will put in our enrollment number and our website. If you have anyone that you can refer over just let us know, thanks.

Aida Rivera: Holyoke Public Schools
Hello good morning everyone, my name is Aida Rivera, and I work for the Holyoke Public Schools. I work as a Homeless Education Assistance and Enrollment Clerk. What I do here; I get referred from the school regarding student experience. Working with homelessness, double-up shelter, I do give out clothes, hygiene products, book bags. I give them an application to try to help them fill out some application for low income apartments. That's all I have for now.

Abbie Germain: Western Mass MOMS
Hi good afternoon everyone, thank you so much. I'm going to do three things; I'm going to give two shout-outs and then I'm going to tell you a little bit about the Western Mass MOMS Program. Number one, I just want to thank Diana for your presentation earlier today that was a lot of good information, thank you. Always great to hear about different organizations and what your mission is so thank you for that.

Number two; I just want to give a shout out to Mr. Miguel Arce and the entire team at Springfield College. This is our first meeting since the big conference last month for those of you that were there, it was truly an amazing an event to be a part of. I know what it's like to plan and organize events much smaller. This event was humongous, hundreds of people, community leaders, speakers, presenters. It was in multiple buildings and multiple rooms with food service and it was just unbelievable. So I just want to thank you, Professor Arce, for including the MOMS Program, and just personally thank you for that. If you don't know Mr. Ed. Caisse was the keynote speaker, full of passion, love, commitment to the community, and it was just an honor to be there and to hear the words in that room. It was like vibrating energy. So thank you for inviting the MOMS Program to be a part of that.

I just wanted to say that the MOMS Program is the agency that I represent, and we work with mothers and caregivers in and around the Holyoke, Chicopee, and Springfield community. I asked Ed to share a flyer with you all earlier. I hope you got it, but we have less than three months to enroll. Our mission is to work with mothers to support them with the daily life stress of parenting and daily life. So we offer a class, it's once a week our services are free. We do provide childcare if moms need to bring the children, we can also give a bus pass for those who need it.

If you work with any mothers that are looking for some support, looking to meet with others facing similar challenges, feel safe and supported, and to get connected to resources, Western Mass MOMS is an option for you to add to your toolkit of resources. So again, my name is Abbie I represent the Western Mass MOMS, welcome to those of you who are new. I hope you come back and bring a friend and welcome back to those that are familiar faces and names. Thank you and have a good day.

Rafael Santos: Hampden County Sheriff’s Office
Hi good afternoon, my name is Rafael, I work for the Hampden County Sheriff's Office as a Transition Support Counselor for high-risk offenders. I also work with supporting Mr. Ed Caisse in the Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative programs. The way that we do that is by partnering up with the Holyoke Public School system, especially Lawrence School, on creating community events for the school, the kids, parents to come in and just building community with them.

We have a we have an event on the 24th of this month from 4:30PM to 6:30PM, which is like a little carnival where the kids are going to have fun with family, just like again, it's community building. Then on the 29th of May, we have also partnered up with Way Finders and we're doing it. Our project that is called “Let's Make Art Together” while building community, I think it's going to be a lot of fun with the kids. Where there's going to be some painting, they're going to try to put a mural together with their parents and it's going to be a lot of fun.

There's going to be some food and things like that. So more than anything it’s about every single one of the agencies that are here that are looking to support families and build communities and just give people hope out there, which is great stuff to do. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Edward Caisse: Hampden County Sheriff’s Office
For the Holyoke Hub, I just wanted to encourage, I see there are a couple of new agencies on here today. I'm not going to go into a long presentation on the Hub, but I want you guys to understand what we're doing with the Hub. Acutely elevated risk situations are coming to a table, and more than 50% of our situations that are being brought to the table are coming from the Hoyle Public Schools. It is a lot of young people that are really involved in a lot of challenges. With that sometimes comes to families really needing additional support. So with that being said, I'm asking if you haven't heard about what the Hub is, I'm asking you to send me an email. I can actually send you some additional information. I'm going to put my email in the chat again right now.

I just ask you to reach out to me if you don't really know a lot about what the Hub is. I want to say this for this networking meeting; the networking meeting for us is kind of like a feeder to that Hub. It's important for us, and even if an agency can't make it to the weekly meetings for the Hub because we meet every Tuesday, and we hear situations that are brought to the table, and if it's an agency that has resources that can actually help a young person or help an adult, we want to get those youth and families connected to those resources. So even if you can't be on the Hub meeting every Tuesday, if you can sign an MOU and be part of what we're doing with the Hub.

What we can do is make you part of a filter four team, which is a group of agencies. Its collaboration or coordinated care of agencies working together to try to get a young person, adult or families out of acutely elevated risk situations. So if that interests you, send me an email, I'll get you connected to an MOU. I'll get you connected to the work we're doing with the Hub.

CHAT NOTES:

Gabe V.
Student Advisor at Community Education Project: 413-296-1113

Timothy Powis
Hampden Superior Probation Officer Timothy.Powis@jud.State.MA.US #617-921-0501

Diosdado Lopez-Martinez
The Support Network 413-887-2771

Josh Colon
Officer Josh Colon Holyoke Police Dept. 264@holyokepd.org

Faith Sarisley
CrossPoint Clinical Services, Inc.
fsarisley@crosspointclinical.org
www.crosspointclinical.org

Elizabeth Cardona
MassDEP Elizabeth.cardona2@mass.gov

Carl Borden
W.MA Boy Scouts
Senior Membership Director, Western Massachusetts Council, BSA. 413-594-9196 x 7003 carl.borden@scouting.org

Miguel Arce
Springfield College marce@springfieldcollege.edu

Nicole Arnold
RN Comp Care HMC
Nurse with the Comp Care Center and Addiction Consult Services, Holyoke Medical Center. 413-534-2784 Arnold_nicole@holyokehealth.com

Diana Biagioli
Hi from FCSN (Federation for Children with Special Needs). I am presenting today about FCSN as well as NextGen Careers (we are working with MRC to spread the word about NextGen Careers. Dbiagioli@fcsn.org

Laurie Dimock
Hartsprings Foundation. Contact for the 4/27 Clothing Donation Drive @ Dean Tech to benefit HSNI 413-292-5704 ldimock@hartsprings.org

Wilbert Weche
Willful Change LLC, Leadership Training and Development services

Catherine Brown
Case Manager
YASL (Young Adult Supported Living Program)
413-896-4845
cbrown@rfkcommunity.org

Ashley
CleanSlate Centers
Ashley Otradovec, Director of Business Development, CleanSlate Centers (outpatient substance use treatment). aotradovec@cleanslatecenters.com

Anaamika Nair
Gandara Center, Stop Access Coalition Program Director, anair@gandaracenter.org, 408 835 5543

Nayroby Rosa
OneHolyoke CDC. Community Engagement Director Nayroby.rosa@oneholyoke.org

Chasity Santiago
Childcare administrator of Holyoke YMCA afterschool program

Abbie
Checking In- Abbie Germain- Western Mass MOMS 413-561-7413 agermain@viability.org

Suleiman Hurston
Behavioral Health Network Intensive Home Therapeutic Care outreach worker. 4138969639
Suleiman.hurston@bhninc.org

Christian Diluzio
Good Afternoon All! Christian DiLuzio, from Veterans Inc. christiandiluzio@veteransinc.org.

Alisha Durocher
HCS Head Start durochera@headstart.org

Aida Rivera
Holyoke Public School
Homeless Education Services Assistant and Enrollment Clerk airivera@hps.holyoke.ma.us/mckv@hps.holyoke.ma.us

Marissa Chiapperino
Registered Dietitian at Holyoke Medical Center chiapperino_marissa@holyokehealth.com

Crystal Frederick-Ladunni
Good Afternoon all!

Charlene Rivera
Care Coordinator Holyoke Pediatrics 413-536-2393 riverac@holypeds.com

Kenneth Rivera
Hello all

Shannon Burke
Holyoke Pediatrics, Medical Home Care Coordinator burkes@holypeds.com

Elizabeth Veillette
Hi everyone! Employment Specialist Navigator, CHD's shelter division. 413.266.9840, eveillette@chd.org

Sarah Lynn
MSPCC Prevention - Healthy Families and Parents as Teachers programs- slynn@eliotchs.org We currently have immediate openings for Healthy Families https://www.mspcc.org/hf-referrals/

Sarah Moquin
Hello! FNP from HMC Comprehensive Care.

Kevin McAllister
TryAngle Solutions (tryanglesolutions.com) Greetings

Kenneth Rivera
Kenneth(Kenny) Rivera - Greater Holyoke YMCA Teen/Youth Program Diretor : krivera@holyokeymca.org

Crystal Frederick-Ladunni
YWCA, Young Parent Support Program Cfrederick@ywworks.org 413-319-2375

Ana Gerena
Girls Inc. of the Valley, Special Projects and Volunteerism Manager, agerena@girlsincvalley.org

Richard Guy
BHJI Hampden County Director

Angela Kelly
Careforth - Adult Foster Care (Family Structured Care) covering the entire state of MA. We give you a care team to guide you through caregiving at home with a loved one as well as a tax free stipend. contact me at (619)606-6771 or akelly@careforth.com

Richard Guy
Richard.guy@bhninc.org, 413-522-0898. BHJI program for those incarcerated, parole, probation, pre-trial or released from incarceration withhin 12 months. Intensive outreach for medical,services, mental health, SUD and all supports necessary to be successful in community.

Lisa M Carbonell-Correa
MA CCHW, CDP, CMDCP,
Memory Specialist - Dementia Care Consultant
pronouns: she/ella
Alzheimer's Association, Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter
Please Note: We've relocated our Waltham office.
Our new address is: 320 Nevada Street, Suite 201, Newton, MA 02460.
lccorrea@alz.org / www.alz.org/manh
24/7 Helpline: 800.272.3900 | Find all of our virtual programs and support groups here: https://www.alz.org/manh/helping_you/community_family_education

Georgianna Brown
Georgianna.brown@oneholyoke.org Community Engagement Coordinator

John McCarthy
USCIS Community Relations John McCarthy john.j.mccarthy@uscis.dhs.gov

Sheryl L Maldonado
Hi, good afternoon, Sheryl Maldonado AmeriCorps member in Way Finders as Resident Engagement Training VISTA 413-386-6898 smaldonado@wayfinders.org

Tammi Benson
United Way of Pioneer Valley.
413-693-0200 tbenson@uwpv.org
https://www.uwpv.org/
We: feed the hungry, have a relationship with Mass211 and Call2Talk, and manage $$ resources to local agencies (EFSP)

Joanne LaCour
Holyoke DTA, Director of Senior Assistance Office and Transitional Assistance Office , '617-869-4311

Lorraine Ceaser
Good afternoon, Lorraine Ceaser, Valley Opportunity Council, Adult Education. ESOL, ESOL CDL, Career and Education Advising and GED/HiSET Prep. Lceaser@valleyopp.com 413-612-0206

Iris Sosa
Outreach, Boy Scout of America Western Mass Council. 787-512-1375, iris.sosa@scouting.org.

Abbie
Western Mass MOMS
Thanks, Diana! Great information!

Iris Sosa
Thank you for the great information.

Jailyn Vega
MSW| Youth Villages
Program Representative
413-452-3643
Jailyn.Vega@youthvillages.org

Maria Pelchar Holyoke Fire Dept
We are having issue with our WiFi so I have no camera an no microphone but I can see you and hear you all. Maria Fire Dept. Anything you need from HFD (non emergency) please call me at (413)534-2254 or pelcharm@holyoke.org

Ana Jaramillo
Holyoke Health Center Community Engagement Specialist/Lets Move Hampden County 5210

Jailyn Vega
Youth Villages will have Intercept Openings (Intensive in home service) next week and Life Set openings (Transitional Age Youth Community Based Program) in the next 3-4 weeks

Ana Gerena (she/her) Girls Inc. Valley
Ana Jaramillo, can I get your email? I have an opportunity to connect about. Thanks!

Diana Biagioli
Hi everyone. Besides the information I shared with you today, I also wanted to share two other resources. First of all we will have a free Visions of Community event at Umass Amherst on Saturday April 27th from 8:30am til noon and it will be sharing resources in Western Mass pertaining to special education and disabilities. Here are flyers in English and Spanish with information on how to register.

John McCarthy
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-announces-new-guidance-on-form-i-693-validity-period
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/uscis-increases-automatic-extension-of-certain-employment-authorization-documents-to-improve-access
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-provides-third-gender-option-on-form-n-400
https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/alerts/uscis-revises-policy-manual-to-align-with-new-fee-rule
https://www.bpl.org/ Go to events and the day and time of the event to register.
https://www.boston.gov/calendar/citizenship-day-2024

Sidney Richeux
Gandara Center
Hi Everyone, My name is Sidney Richeux. I am Triage clinician from Gandara Center. I added the referral form and the ICC flyer. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thank you!
My contact information is Sricheux@gandaracenter.org

Sandy Ward
helping with Mini Golf & Games at the Holyoke Public Library, Saturday April 20, 9:30am- 3:30pm. FREE this time for all ages! More volunteers will be needed: contact Nancy K. In the Library at 413-420-8106 (Mon-Thur mornings) or emilanancy@holyokelibrary.org

Yamaris Rivera
Having problems with connection

Diana Biagioli
Also, I wanted to tell you about the Coordinated Pandemic-Related Transition Services for young people born between March 10,1998 and September 1, 2001 who were supposed to stay in high school through age 21 during the pandemic and did not get their services. They can actually get vouchers/checks to spend as needed. I will add the flyer to the chat.
https://fcsn.org/transition-support/

Christian Diluzio
Veterans StandDown! June 21st!

Lorraine Ceaser
VOC will be having a GED/HiSET information session on Monday, April 29th at 10:30am at 35 Mt. Carmel Avenue, Chicopee MA 01013 (3rd floor) If you know anyone who is interested all are welcome to attend the info session to learn more about the program. They can also contact me directly, Lorraine Ceaser, the Daytime Career and Education Advisor at 413-314-3334.

Carl Borden W.MA Boy Scouts (He/Him)
Lone Scout and Cub Scout Meeting tonight at Holyoke's Mt Tom Lodge 235 Chestnut. for youth 5-17 5:30pm - 6:30pm

Sandy Ward
Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Mass, 413-376-4747, funeralconsumersWMass.org, FCAWMass@gmail.com

Georgianna Brown
Career Fair Business Sign Up: https://forms.gle/2SdCZJ9BbroGqeqz9

Sheryl L Maldonado
Nicol Arnold I need your contact information Thank you

Marissa Chiapperino
HCC/United Way Food pantry demo in Holyoke in May-free for all
April 24th 4-7 pm HCC Culinary Arts Program Open House

Milly Dinzey
Hope for Holyoke
HI my name is Milly Dinzey recovery coach at Hope for Holyoke and we have our High way to Hope which helps finding beds for detox and transport to and from programs.
4135611020

Julia Popkin
Community Legal Aid
https://communitylegal.org/get-help/

Laurie Dimock
Hartsprings Foundation 4/27 Clothing Drive to benefit HSNI https://www.facebook.com/HartspringsFoundation/posts/pfbid02mfUREdiLRLRWThGu6UmsenviHDd2PWR3GLX1bSf1bFvPfz6i6koXdH7Xf8zMYAZcl

Kevin McAllister
kmcallister@tryanglesolutions.com

Julia Popkin
Community Legal Aid
jpopkin@cla-ma.org

Georgianna Brown
Here is the flyer for the power of parenting program

Ana Gerena
Girls Inc. Valley
Hi all! I have to head out, but more info on Girls Inc. of the Valley at girlsincvalley.org Thank you!

Nicole Arnold
RN Comp Care HMC
Sarah & I have another meeting my apologies we have to run out, nice seeing you all! Please reach out !!! We love visitors, calls and helping!

Carl Borden
W.MA Boy Scouts
WHOA April 20th at Moses Scout Reservation www.wmascouting.org/calendar

Gloria Penagos
gpenagos@hcc.edu - HCC Workforce Development - https://www.hcc.edu/courses-and-programs/workforce-development/free-job-training-programs

Jennezzy Martinez
Bye everyone have a great weekend!

Abbie
Western Mass MOMS, 413-561-7413, agermain@viability.org

Catherine Brown
Case Manager @ YASL
Do you know a young adult (age 18-22) who has a DCF background and who is in need of Housing, Life Skills, and Case Management?
Referrals can be sent to:
YASL@rfkcommunity.org
Do you have questions or need more info?
Email me at:
cbrown@rfkcommunity.org

Maria Pelchar Holyoke Fire Dept
Sorry, no microphone and no camera right now. I can see you and hear you though. Wifi is down so my phone couldnt connect. I had to stepped out for a few minutes and of course my name was called. Thank you all.

Alisha Durocher
HCS Head Start Enrollment 413-417-7779 or hcsheadstart.org

Diana Biagioli
Thank you so much Abbie!

shannon burke
thank you everyone.

Diana Biagioli
Thank you everyone, and a special thanks to the incomparable Ed!

Old Business / New Business
Next Meeting is a Special Networking Meeting Friday, May 10th at the Holyoke Community College Culinary Arts Institute @ 164 Race Street in Holyoke @ 11:30am.



Contact Information:
Edward Caisse
Hampden County Sheriff’s Department
(413) 858-0225
ed.caisse@sdh.state.ma.us
Friend Request us on Facebook @ Shsni Holyoke