THE BERKSHIRE EDGE: Berkshires offers community a safe outlet to mobilize, gather, share post election
Read the full article at The Edge here.
Berkshire County — Voting as a blue bubble within a blue state, many in the Berkshires were taken aback by the November 5 election results. But the region’s community members and organizations stepped up in response.
Volunteers in Medicine
Early on November 6, only hours after the election results were set, the Berkshire medical team at Volunteers in Medicine (ViM) set foot on a morning hike “to ground and fortify ourselves for the fight ahead,” the organization’s Facebook post stated. “We felt proud to work in this community where people know they must take care of one other to thrive. Join us in protecting the health and safety of our most vulnerable neighbors. Here at ViM, we are not going back .”
With offices in Pittsfield and Great Barrington, the practice provides free healthcare to qualified individuals who lack health insurance.
According to ViM Director of Advancement Nelson Fernandez, the outing was prompted by Executive Director Ilana Steinhauer, FNP, as an important offsite “to come together and be with each other given that the majority of our staff come from the very communities that we serve; that is, immigrants from Central and South America.”
“Behind the spirit of the hike [was] a resolve to continue to stay on mission, which is to provide critical healthcare services to the most vulnerable in our community, those who meet our income-eligibility criteria and who are ineligible for healthcare insurance in the Berkshire region and to continue to do that,” he said.
For Fernandez, the ViM model goes beyond meeting patients’ healthcare needs by serving as “a hub” for other community services such as immigration assistance, housing, education, language training, and workforce training.
Interestingly, ViM offices haven’t been flooded with calls since November 5, nor have their phone responders heard anxious voices on the other end of the line, with Fernandez attributing that phenomenon to the organization’s preparedness. Before the election, ViM staff assured patients the practice’s day-to-day services wouldn’t change and staff would be “ready and able” to direct them to local community sources of information for accurate election news and post-election issues, he said.
“So, even before the election, we worked hard to make sure everybody felt that they could turn to ViM for support as they move through these uncertain times,” Fernandez said. “For us, it’s really business as usual, staying focused on our vision and our mission.”
Although he declined to speculate whether ViM’s services would be compelled to change following the Trump administration taking office in January, Fernandez said “it will be very interesting to see how policy will evolve post-inauguration.” He added that ViM will be prepared to respond to policy adaptations accordingly, “always being mindful of following the law but always doing the best we can through our advocacy and our service-oriented approach to make sure that our patients are at the center of everything that we do.”
As for the possibility that post-election funding cuts may curtail ViM’s efforts, Fernandez said that scenario won’t happen due to the support of loyal local donors and their fundraising efforts. “These are longtime supporters of ViM who recognize the important role that ViM plays in keeping the very people that work for them on a daily basis healthy and connected to community,” he said.
Most of the organization’s funding is contributed by these donors and, increasingly, from foundations, with very little sourced from the federal government, Fernandez said. “Whereas in the long term there could be a risk that the very small portion of government grants that we get might be at risk, we take great comfort in knowing that our funding base right now consists of the very loyal, committed donors we have in the Berkshires,” he said.
Organizing: Witch Slapped
Four days post election, Danielle Munn, founder and owner of Witch Slapped, 78 North Street, Pittsfield, said she is in the planning stages of recruiting trustworthy volunteers and community leaders to “build a support group and form a resistance.”
That group will include “anyone who believes in human rights,” she said.
Munn explained that her Pagan community doesn’t follow the mainstream. As a result, she wants to offer an “open and safe space for anyone who feels they don’t belong,” an inclusive place to teach and learn.
Christ Trinity Church, Sheffield
On the morning following the election, members of Episcopal/Lutheran Christ Trinity Church in Sheffield spoke with their pastor, Reverend Erik Karas, telling him that a service may help ease their jitters. Karas obliged and organized a special service that evening for his parishioners to “be in community and comfort one another.”
Some in his assembly were harboring a mix of emotions, including grief “and a whole lot of fear,” and he sought to remind them that “God is bigger than elections,” he said.
“The future seems very uncertain for family and friends that we all have, people in the immigrant community that we know, my daughters,” Karas said.
He describes Sheffield’s Christ Trinity Church as being very open to the LGBTQ community, featuring a set of rainbow-painted Adirondack chairs in the front of the building. “We welcome everyone here,” Karas said. The progressive Christian congregation maintains a tent on the Appalachian Trail to feed hungry hikers; keeps a cycling hospitality station behind the church; and supports local nonprofits such as affordable-housing provider Construct Berkshires, the Berkshire Immigrant Center, and the Elizabeth Freeman Centerthat assists domestic and sexual assault survivors.
Karas’s recent service began in an unusual way, with a group meditation to add a sense of calmness for the approximately 20 worshippers. His chosen readings emanated from the Easter Vigil, the Saturday service between Good Friday and Easter Sunday that starts in darkness, as he likened that darkness to the fearfulness he was feeling for friends and family—immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community. At one point, parishioners donned their fingers in a peace sign or a heart, waving their hands in a symbol of sharing the peace that exists within themselves.
A video of that service can be found here.
Although Karas feels that people left the service in a more peaceful state than when they arrived, he said many are still on edge and “there’s so much unknown as to what will happen.” “What I’ve been telling people lately is that our mission, before this election, was to ‘love God and love our neighbor unconditionally,’ and our mission after this election is to ‘love God and love our neighbor unconditionally,’” he said. “That hasn’t changed, and that’s what we’ll do.”
For Karas, the answer can be found in togetherness.
“Find a community and have some help getting through the time ahead,” he suggested.
Pop-ups: Berkshire Pride, Collaborative Endeavors
As with Karas, several local organizations have organized community gatherings since the election, with Berkshire Pride hosting a pop-up event November 8, from 6 to 8 p.m., at 34 Depot Street, Pittsfield, and mental-health practice Collaborative Endeavors LLC offering a post-election open event on November 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., at 17 Main Street, Suite B3, Lee (the Zabian building).
For Collaborative Endeavors founder Christina Marks, LICSW, the idea of a pop-up came the day following the election. “As everyone was processing [the election] and the results were landing, I was getting texts from clients who were saying, ‘Christina, I’m scared,’” she said.
Patients of the Lee-based therapy group include members of the LGBTQ+ community and neurodivergent individuals and families, with clients voicing concerns about their visits continuing under federal funding, Marks said. With two bilingual therapists out of its total nine staffers, Collaborative Endeavors serves Spanish-speaking immigrants, who Marks said are “frightened.”
“The power of community and group is transformative,” Marks said.
The idea of hosting a pop-up and other community events has been on her radar for some time, but she said she kept putting it off until now, until “it felt right” and she needed to “widen the net for these humans, our community.”
“The goal [of the pop-up] of course is [providing a] safe space, but I would almost want to call it an ‘accountable space,’ because we are going to listen in to what helps people feel safe,” Marks said. “It’s the beginning of, hopefully, something bigger or more consistent.”
The come-and-go program will be staffed by mental-health specialists, is geared towards ages 13 and up, and is limited to 30 attendees. It will feature opportunities for art, socializing, and self-expression including spoken word, poetry readings, and songs. Although drop-ins are welcome, attendees are advised to text (413) 358-8752 when arriving or before the program with their first name and number of people going so staff can plan accordingly.
“We’ve got to lean in; we’ve got to create discourse and dialogue because we’re fragmented,” Marks said. “The major enemy is isolation, and we’ve got to come together.”