Age Friendly Berkshires newsletter

A great place to grow up and a great place to grow old!

Hello Friends and Neighbors!

Age Friendly Berkshires' Mission - To create a more livable Berkshire County for people of all ages, with a focus on the needs of an aging population.

Age Friendly Berkshires is generously sponsored by:

Upcoming Events & News

Walk with Me in the Berkshires

Walk with Me in the Berkshires is an annual program sponsored by our community partners, Berkshire Health Systems, that encourages people to improve their health through walking and other exercise.

Now in its 17th year, Walk with Me in the Berkshires provides 2,400 people, working in teams of between 2 and 20 people, free step counters and an online step-recording program to keep track of their walking over the six-week program. Program registration opens Tuesday, March 26th so don't delay, as the program fills up quickly. Program information is here: http://www.berkshirehealthsystems.org/Walkwithme. Register your team on the iBerkshires website beginning 3/26, 10:00 a.m. here: http://iBerkshires.com

Info@BAPARTNERS.org or call 413-637-7037.

Facilitators and Trainers from Dementia Friendly Massachusetts (DFM) will visit the Claire Teague Senior Center in Great Barrington on Wednesday, April 17, 2019 to a host free, 1-hour Dementia Friends Info session, followed by a free, 1-hour Dementia Champions training, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

In the afternoon at 1:30 p.m., there will be an open Dementia Friendly Idea Exchange for local providers, caregivers and family members to connect with each other, as well as Berkshire and state-wide resources, to learn what others are doing to support those living with Dementia, and to give Berkshire community members the chance to share their Dementia-Friendly ideas and get tools and answers to important questions. Come for all or just part of the day!

For Dementia Friends and/or Dementia Champions training, register here:http://www.dementiafriendsma.org. Questions? Call Beth Soltzberg, at 781-693-5628.

For the Idea Exchange, in Great Barrington, register here: https://fs16.formsite.com/mcoa/gukv4iot3f/index.html

Who is Age Friendly Berkshires?!

AFB is a collaboration of individuals, non-profits, foundation, businesses and municipal governments and state agencies, working to improve 8 Areas of Livability in Berkshire County. Most of the work found in our Action Plan is being taken on by these organizations, who have stepped up to tackle some real challenges associated with living, working, playing or staying here.

AFB Task Force Membership is OPEN TO ALL who wish to help implement our Action Plan in some capacity. PLEASE join us! Call 413-442-1521 x16 or email: agefriendlyberkshires@gmail.com.

8 AREAS OF LIVABILITY

This is the "Progress Report" section of our Newsletter, following the 8 Areas of Livability that are the focus of the AFB Action Plan. If you'd like more information, email us at agefriendlyberkshires@gmail.com or message us via our website agefriendlyberkshires.com.

Outdoor Spaces & Buildings: Age Friendly Berkshires has been offered free technical assistance from WalkBoston to help increase “walkability” in our communities this Spring. WalkBoston will select several Berkshire municipalities and provide them with free training and technical assistance to advance Age Friendly Walkability. The free assistance is for municipal officials and residents (age 8 to 80) including those with different abilities, to advance Age-Friendly Walkability at home. The form of technical assistance is up to the community, but may come in one of three forms: 1) Pedestrian Advocacy 101 (“Ped101”) Community Discussions 2) Local Walk Audits 3) Strategic assistance and planning/design advice. For more info,

Contact Age Friendly Berkshires at 413-442-1521 x16 or email:agefriendlyberkshires@gmail.com.

Transportation: Williamstown Council on Aging continues to focus on solutions to local transit challenges in north County, by obtaining two separate transit grants to conduct two pilots -- the first, for "nights and weekend" rides and a second, for medical rides. As of January 2nd, the COA began transporting clients of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center to the SWMC Bennington and Pownal campuses. And late last year, the COA received a pilot grant from TRIPPS, to provide night and weekend van service -- both services sorely needed by adults throughout Berkshire County. The pilots will last until funding expires, but if both are deemed successful, then obtaining permanent funding to continue these services will be sought. Good going Williamstown!

Congratulations to Great Barrington on having been awarded $222,077 for COMPLETE STREETS work, including a sidewalk extension on Main Street, Housatonic. This project will fill a pedestrian network gap by extending the sidewalk along the south side of Main Street Seven new ADA compliant curb ramps will be installed along the length of the new sidewalk. The new ramps will create a new mid-block crossing on Main St., and new crossings at South St. and Oak Ave. to increase pedestrian safety. Construction of the new sidewalk segment along this important corridor for residents will create a safe pedestrian connection to two open space and recreation areas too, in the neighborhood.

Our mailing address is:

Age Friendly Berkshires

c/o Berkshires Tomorrow Inc.

1 Fenn St #201,

Pittsfield, MA 01201

agefriendlyberkshires@gmail.com

(413) 442-1521 x16