Berkshire Interfaith Organizing

03/09/2026

Organizing 101
A leadership training for community members ready to make change in the Berkshires.
RSVP https://forms.gle/bg1cMNMuvawqvhiE9

Berkshire Interfaith Organizing (BIO) and MCAN invite community leaders and community members to participate in an introductory training on the fundamentals of community organizing.

Together, we will explore how to build relationships, identify shared interests, and move from stories to action. Join us as we begin building a cycle of organizing that strengthens our communities across the Berkshires.

Date: March 29, 2026
Time: 2:00–6:00 PM
Location: Zion Lutheran Church, 74 First St.

08/08/2025

Join us—Community Conversation on Real Solutions to Homelessness
When: Sunday, Aug 10, 1:00 PM
Where: Cathedral of the Beloved | 67 East Street, (Pittsfield)
Let’s keep the conversation going about a path forward in the Berkshires. We’ll look at proven alternatives—housing-first, outreach and wrap-around care, non-police crisis response—and what’s worked in other cities. Criminalization is costly and temporary; it only hides the problem. Bring your ideas, questions, and lived experience. All are welcome.

08/05/2025

🚨ACTION ALERT🚨 At 5PM today, join BIO and the Homes Not Handcuffs coalition to peacefully protest the "camping ban" ordinance that would fine the homeless and coerce them into unpaid labor for the city. See you at Park Square!

07/25/2025

Stand up for what’s right—sign the petition today to halt this ordinance and demand solutions that honor our community’s humanity:

https://mailchi.mp/e1199a5d0ea9/homes-not-handcuffs

Enforcement‑only approaches merely shuffle our neighbors from corner to corner, rack up taxpayer costs, and strip away human dignity. Treating homelessness as a PR problem instead of a moral one betrays our shared values of compassion and justice. We owe every person the chance to live with safety and respect—through secure housing, proactive outreach, and genuine care.

The PIttsfield City Council is poised to vote on, and pass, an ordinance that would criminalize public camping and sleeping outdoors—punishing people for having nowhere else to go. We need your help to stop it. Here’s why this approach fails: