Credit Success Workshop
2024-05-13 17:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Whether you want to buy a house or a car, pay off your student loan debt, or understand how to build your credit, Way Finders is here to help.
Our Credit Success Workshop provides the tools you need to reach your financial goals. Learn directly from a Way Finders’ certified counselor through interactive and engaging activities. After you complete your workshop, you will have the opportunity to meet with a HUD-certified housing counselor to discuss your individual goals.
There is a $10 fee to reserve your seat for the workshop. This fee will be refunded upon workshop completion.
In-person workshop. Registration required.
Way Finders is dedicated to assisting low-to-moderate income clients achieve financial stability and success. You will not be turned away for inability to pay.
To request a one-time time waiver please contact our support department at homeownership@wayfinders.org or 413-233-1621.

Springfield Symphony Chorus “Sing, Praise, Light II”
2024-05-11 16:00 - 18:00

Springfield Neighborhood WALK/RUN FOR ADOPTION
2024-05-11 09:30 - 13:00
Help us spread awareness about adoption
from foster care across the state. For the first
time in the Walk for Adoption’s 15-year-history,
we’re excited to host a local walk in Springfield!
Whether you participate at one of our
Neighborhood Walks or join us at our main
event on May 19th at Jordan’s Furniture
in Taunton, your participation and any
fundraising you do helps to support MARE’s
work to find permanent adoptive homes for
children and teens in foster care.
To register:
• Go to walk.mareinc.org
• You can choose to join a team, start your
own team, or register as an individual
• As part of your registration, you’ll be
prompted to select your Walk Location.
Registration Fees: $35 per adult / $15 per child
Please be sure to register by May 1st to ensure
that we’ll have a Walk/Run shirt for you on the
day of the event!

Lighthouse Open House
2024-05-10 12:00 - 16:00

Tapestry's Annual Auction. An Evening Under the Stars
2024-05-09 17:30 - 19:30
Silent Auction | Local talents | Delicious appetizers

Thursday, May 9, 2024,
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

at

The Penthouse 650
at Tower Square

1500 Main St Suite 650, Springfield, MA 01115

Become part of a vibrant community, making a difference in community health.

May First-Time Homebuyer Webinar Series
2024-05-07 18:00 - 21:00
In this Zoom webinar presented by Valley Community Development:
Get the facts from real estate professionals, including attorneys, loan officers, realtors, home inspectors & housing counselors
Learn tips about how to improve your credit.
Ask questions to help you proceed & protect your own interests as you approach this life decision.
A certified course recognized by MHP & MassHousing, this workshop helps you qualify for special mortgage products.
$50 for two adults in the same household.* Registration is nonrefundable & attendance is required at all three sessions.
May sessions are scheduled:
Tuesday, May 7
Wednesday, May 8
Tuesday, May 14
All from 6pm-9pm on Zoom.
Please reach out if you need reasonable accommodation due to disability or lack of technology access.
If your income is at or below the posted incomes below, and you live in Amherst, Easthampton, or Northampton, MA, you may be eligible to attend this class for free. Contact Donna Cabana 413-586-5855 ext. 180 to schedule a budgeting session prior to the webinar. You will need to complete a household budget, provide pay stubs, bank statements, and participate in budget counseling. Residents of other towns are not eligible.
Household size and maximum income:
1 – $52,750, 2-$60,250, 3-$67,800, 4-$75,300, 5- $81,350

How to Apply for Affordable and Subsidized Housing
2024-05-07 18:00 - 20:00
This Webinar discussion will cover the crucial process of combining available public funds with
realistic family assets to create the best potential for housing options. Although this is a basic
workshop, it highlights all of the important steps to any plan in process, and will be useful even for
those already on the Section 8 list.
Topics include: public funds available to pay for housing; level of support needed; living skills
development; assessment of personal resources; housing models; person-centered planning and
state care support options (including non-DDS) options.

14th Annual Daffodil Run 5k/10k
2024-05-05 10:00 - 13:00
By signing up for the Daffodil Run 5k or 10k, you’re helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

CHD’s Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County will hold the 14th Annual Daffodil Run in person at the Amherst Town Common, Amherst, MA 01002
It will begin at 10:00 a.m.
Walk or run and invite others to join you in support of mentoring. Register for the Daffodil Run.
This community event has become the first marker of spring for the town of Amherst and draws hundreds of community members to the area to participate and cheer on their family and friends.
Look forward to 5K Run/Walk & 10K Run post-race party with delicious food, and family-friendly fun. The Daffodil Run helps sustain the power of youth mentoring through Big Brothers Big Sisters by connecting adult mentors with young people in our community. Once matched they go on to build a meaningful, positive relationship that empowers the potential inherent in each child.

SquareOne Derby Party
2024-05-04 17:00 - 20:00

Spring into Movement
2024-05-03 18:00 - 19:00
This May, let’s Spring into Movement with It Takes a Village!
It’s all starting Friday, May 3, 2024 from 6pm-7pm! For this first class, we’re partnering with Strong as a Mother Wellness and Easthampton’s Fitness Fusion.
Special fundraiser rate per class is $20 donation.
Proceeds from the class go to It Takes a Village.
And save the date for the next class near you!
Hampshire: Friday, May 3rdBerkshire: Friday, May 17thFranklin: Friday, May 31stHampden County: TBD
We hope you can join us!

Community Action PV Annual Meeting
2024-05-03 07:30 - 21:00

United Way of Pioneer Valley - DDRWLC Speed Networking
2024-05-02 17:30 - 19:30 | White Lion Brewing Company, 1500 Main Street, Springfield, MA, 01103, United States
A light-hearted networking event celebrating friendship, collaboration, and the power of women communing and connecting. Get together with women across the Pioneer Valley through networking and make new friends in the process!

HSF Supervisory Skills Certificate Series Spring 2024
2024-05-02 09:00 - 12:30 | NCYF Building; 203 East St, Easthampton, 203 East St, Easthampton, MA, 01027, United States
This series of workshops is ideal for new supervisors to get the skills and knowledges needed to succeed. A trained supervisory team will improve any organization and lead to higher impact in aiding their communities.
The workshop series takes place from 9am to 12:30pm every week for eight weeks on Thursdays starting May 2nd. Attendance is required at every session for certification.
This is a hybrid series, please select if you are attending in person at our offices in Easthampton, or virtually over Zoom.

Session Topics:
Lead with Influence– Everyone exerts influence, intentional or unintentional. A good leader is aware of how they would prefer to positively impact their team and guides their field in that direction.
Employment Law 101 and 102- This 2 part workshop presents the most up to date laws requarding employment is crucial for anyone who oversees employees. Mitigate risk, learn to avoid litigation and retaliation, and fulfill your legal obligations.
Benefits and Liability- Insurance can be difficult to understand. In this session, gain a better understanding of what liabilities exist for your organization. Also understand what insurance benefits are available to be to make sure your team is making the most of them.
Team Building and Conflict Resolution- Build your team up, making the whole stronger than the sum of their parts. Learn tips and tactics to help drive unity. Be able to address when conflict does happen, leading back to making your team work in harmony.
Cyber Security- Protect your information and that of your organization. Learn what steps to take to discourage hackers and scammers. Learn about the most common forms of attack, and how those attacks are evolving, as well as what the attackers are after and why.
Retention: Rewards & Recognition, Accountability & Discipline- Help build an understanding within your team of their own progress. Be able to have conversations about great performance, and areas of improvement. Build a culture that retains their workforce through active development.
Assessing D.E.I. as a New Supervisor- Where does your organization stand on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion? Do you understand your organization’s plan and your place in that plan? Learn to build and foster DEI within your team.
Program Fees:
HSF Members: $500 Not Yet Members: $900
Participants must attend all sessions to receive their certificates. Makeup sessions are not allowed.
Series Sponsor:

HSF Annual Sponsors:

Trauma-Informed Yoga for Therapists and Their Clients
2024-05-01 09:00 - 17:00
No prior training in yoga, trauma treatment, or EMDR is required.

Live Online

May 1, 2024

9:00-5:00 EST

6 CEs, 3 EMDRIA CEs
$160 early bird rate until April 1

This day long workshop includes four 90-minute sessions exploring foundational concepts and techniques for integrating yoga into psychotherapy. Each session explores both practical and philosophical overlap between the practices of yoga and trauma treatment. Students will practice and learn to lead 4 gentle yoga sequences, 4 yogic breathing techniques, and 4 grounding resources for offering yoga safely and effectively to clients with trauma histories. These skills are also useful as self-care to mitigate risk of burnout for those working in stressful environments. No prior training in yoga, trauma treatment, or EMDR is required.
Participants will be able to:

Define Sanskrit terms Yoga, Asana, Ahimsa, Prana, and Pranayama in English and describe how each term relates to trauma therapy.
Choose appropriate timing for utilizing yoga postures, concepts, and breathing techniques in clinical practice, including resourcing/stabilization, during trauma processing, and post-treatment integration. Connections between trauma-aware yoga and the 8 Phases of EMDR will be explored.
Solve trauma related challenges including negative beliefs, difficult emotions, and painful sensations that may emerge during yoga practice using skills of external grounding, window of tolerance, internal resources, non-judgmental awareness, self-compassion, and/or choice.
Understand social justice concepts of empowerment and oppression and how they relate to offering yoga in psychotherapy in a trauma-informed manner.
Practice effectively and safely leading 4 different yoga scripts: Yoga Unites/Trauma Divides, Non-Judgmental Awareness, Finding Our Centers, and Grounding Yoga Sequence.

Early Registration Will Bike 4 Food
2024-05-01 08:00 - 17:00
Will Bike 4 Food (WB4F) is back for its 14th year!This fun cycling event raises funds and awareness for The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Cyclists of all levels can pedal towards a hunger-free future by joining us for a Century (100 mile), Half Century (50 mile), Quarter Century (25 mile), or the 10-mile Family Fun Ride. Registered riders can also choose to participate virtually by riding their miles any time in September during Hunger Action Month.

2024 NonProfit Innovators Forum
2024-04-29 18:00 - 20:00

Intergenerational Trauma / Ask a Therapist
2024-04-29 17:30 - 19:30
In this training, attendees will learn how many of our current mental health issues can come from the traumas of our parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents. We will learn and discuss how to build off the work of experts in the fields of neuroscience and posttraumatic stress. We will also reserve time for an “Ask a Therapist” session where you may ask questions in a welcoming and safe environment.
Facilitated by: the Behavioral Health Network
Hosted by: New North Citizens’ Council
Sponsored by: Youth Mental Health Coalition

Big Brothers Big Sisters 14th Annual Daffodil Run 5k/10k
2024-04-28 10:00 - 14:00
Help support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County
By signing up for the Daffodil Run 5k or 10k, you’re helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.
What does Big Brothers Big Sisters do?
Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. For a few hours, 2-4 times a month, Bigs and Littles spend time doing various activities together, from going to a museum to taking a hike. By simply offering the invaluable gift of friendship, Bigs and Littles literally change each others’ lives for the better.

Runway 5K
2024-04-28 07:00 - 12:00
About the Runway 5K
Race Date: April 28. Run & Walk both start at 9AM.
You know what’s even more rewarding than finishing a 5K on a runway? Knowing that you helped change foster care for good when you cross the finish line. The Runway 5K mission is to bring community together to raise funds for foster care innovation. Every dollar raised helps kids soar.
When you register for the Runway, you’re joining a community on a mission to support kids first – and a race/walk second. It’s easy and fun to get involved. You can run – timed or for fun – walk, join virtually or volunteer. You can create a team – or fly solo – for fundraising. We’ll share tips and tools to help you succeed in raising funds and awareness to celebrate your participation and foster care innovation. Every dollar serves children, youth and families who’ve been impacted by foster care in the greater Pioneer Valley.
Plus, this year donations go further thanks to Greenfield Savings Bank. GSB will match every dollar donated to $15,000 with their Community Challenge Grant.
Don’t miss earning your wings and a Runway beanie when you raise $150 or more!

34th Annual Victim Rights Conference
2024-04-26 08:00 - 15:30
This course is designed for law enforcement, mental health professionals, victim witness advocates, physicians, nurses, psychologists and community providers and social workers.
In line with the theme for National Crime Victim’s Rights Week, the 34th Annual Victim Rights Conference asks all of us-friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues, community leaders, schools, victim service providers, criminal justice practitioners, and health professionals-how can we help those who experience crime.
By focusing on survivor experience and best practice, we ask participants to reflect on whether they are creating safe environments for survivors to be able to share their stories, are their agencies trauma-informed and are they familiar with services available in the community. Time will be specifically allotted for participants to share resources and the services they provide.
By participating in this conference participants will learn how to offer support, services, and hope to those who have been impacted by crime.
Available credit:5.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™5.50 ANCC Contact Hours5.50 APA American Psychological Association5.50 ASWB Continuing Education Credit(s)5.50 IPCE Credit Hour(s)5.50 NBCC

Advancing Climate Justice and Health Equity
2024-04-25 12:00 - 13:00
This webinar will showcase the various climate justice work that the Public Health Institute of Western Mass is involved with in order to advance climate justice and health equity.
Speakers will include Samantha Hamilton and Francheska Bermudez from Public Health Institute of Western Mass, and Dr. Krystal Pollitt, Associate Professor of Epidemiology Yale School of Public Health.
To request interpretation, please contact Keleigh Waldner at KWaldner@PublicHealthWM.org or 413-794-2897. We will do our best to fulfill any requests. Advance notice will help us to provide seamless access.

Faces of Faith 2024
2024-04-24 17:30 - 19:30
Faces of Faith honors local women and men, who are cancer survivors and living vibrant lives. Through a photographic display and storytelling, their lived experiences of faith and resilience will inform, encourage, and uplift as well as help break the silence and stigma of a cancer diagnosis.
2024 Faces of Faith Honorees:-William Brown-Robin Fowlkes-Joyce Huff-Denise Jordan-Khali Maddox- Abdegeo-Vivian Moulden-Sandra Moultrie-Irvinia Scott-Robbins-Dixie Rodriguez-Andrew Rucks-Deborah Scott-TJ Steele
For more information, please contact Kimothy.Jones@BaystateHealth.org

The State of Gender Equity in Western MA: New Findings & Local Action
2024-04-23 13:00 - 14:00
This webinar will share the latest findings from a recent report on gender equity in Western Massachusetts. In collaboration, the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts and the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts (WFWM) gathered extensive data, including listening to local communities, to create a report rich with information and insights. Come learn how women, girls, transgender, and gender-diverse residents are doing in our region. Hear about the WFWM’s strategies to advance gender equity and what you can do to make a difference.

April First-Time Homebuyer Webinar
2024-04-17 18:00 - 21:00
In this Zoom webinar presented by Valley Community Development:
Get the facts from real estate professionals, including attorneys, loan officers, realtors, home inspectors & housing counselors
Learn tips about how to improve your credit.
Ask questions to help you proceed & protect your own interests as you approach this life decision.
A certified course recognized by MHP & MassHousing, this workshop helps you qualify for special mortgage products.
$50 for two adults in the same household.* Registration is nonrefundable & attendance is required at all three sessions.
April sessions are scheduled:
Monday, April 8
Wednesday, April 10
Wednesday, April 17
All from 6pm-9pm on Zoom.
Please reach out if you need reasonable accommodation due to disability or lack of technology access.
If your income is at or below the posted incomes below, and you live in Amherst, Easthampton, or Northampton, MA, you may be eligible to attend this class for free. Contact Donna Cabana 413-586-5855 ext. 180 to schedule a budgeting session prior to the webinar. You will need to complete a household budget, provide pay stubs, bank statements, and participate in budget counseling. Residents of other towns are not eligible.
Household size and maximum income:
1 – $52,750, 2-$60,250, 3-$67,800, 4-$75,300, 5- $81,350

Ableism and Disability Justice for Social Workers
2024-04-13 09:00 - 16:30 | Smith College, United States
In Person Seminar
Smith College Campus
Northampton, MA 01060
Instructor: Davey Shlasko, M.Ed. and Hillary Montague-Asp, M.Ed.
Note: Exact classroom to be announced prior to event
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 6
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
Disability Justice (DJ) is an intersectional framework and movement that understands ableism (the oppression of disabled people/people with disabilities) as deeply entangled with racism, capitalism, heteronormativity and colonization. This training uses a DJ lens to unravel internalized ideas about health, wellness, ability and independence and reflect on our sometimes conflicting desires for independence and interdependence, individual achievement and community support. Participants will reflect on how internalized messages related to disability may show up in interactions with clients and will practice discussing disability with clients in DJ-informed ways. The trainers will share wisdom and experiences from disability communities that have so much to teach us all about advocacy, mutuality, thriving and liberation. The training concludes with opportunities to dream, scheme and plan ways of incorporating DJ into our work, our agencies and beyond.
The presentation is “introductory” in that most people haven’t been exposed to the framework before. However, since it is such a nuanced and intersectional framework, it is valuable even for folks with deep experience in other social justice frameworks.

A Postmodern Approach to Non-Monogamy and Attachment in Therapy
2024-04-13 09:00 - 16:30 | Smith College, United States
In Person Seminar
Smith College Campus Center
100 Elm Street, Northampton, MA 01060
Instructor: Kat Glick, M.Ed., LPC, ACS, CIMHP, CSE
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 12
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
April 12 and 13, 2024, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET
This is a multiple-day session. In order to receive CEs, you must attend both days.
This 12 hour course is structured to assist the practitioner in understanding variations and nuances in non-monogamous and polyamorous relationships, and to better enhance their therapeutic skills when working with individuals and relationships that are not traditionally monogamous. In the first third of the course, participants will be guided to deconstruct their existing views on non-monogamy before learning about the various options for non-monogamous and polyamorous relationship structures. Participants will learn about common challenges of non-monogamy and polyamory, and will incorporate foundational skills necessary to work effectively with consensually non-monogamous (CNM) and polyamorous individuals/relationships.
The middle part of the course is structured to assist the participant in building on their foundational understanding while incorporating deeper understanding of identity and intersectionality. We will dive deeper into understanding the lived experiences and challenges of CNM/polyamory and examine philosophical and values-based frameworks that influence one’s choice to pursue non-traditional relationship structure and influence how those relationships function. We will deconstruct themes such hierarchy, power dynamics and internalized oppressions such as capitalism and consumer culture.
The last part of the course focuses on key therapeutic skills to assist clients with navigating challenges and pitfalls within polyamorous and CNM relationships, all from a trauma-informed and attachment-based lens. Core themes of differentiation, emotional safe-haven, and secure base will be integrated in discussions of the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic skills taught. Themes of codependency and boundaries will be discussed, and participants will have the opportunity to practice various skills with other participants. Other core skills of conflict resolution, dealing with jealousy, navigating changes, sexual health and community-building will also be discussed

Door, Wall, Window, Sky: Finding our Ground as Mixed/Multiracial Clinicians
2024-04-12 13:00 - 16:15 | Webinar
Live Interactive Webinar
Instructor: EJ Seibert, LICSW and Nathalie Rodríguez, LICSW
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 3
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
This facilitated dialogue will be a place where clinicians with mixed (biracial/multiracial) identities come together to discuss the specific joys and complexities of what our backgrounds bring to our work. What are the questions we run up against in our practices? What strategies have we found to support clients and ourselves in these areas? What therapeutic models are most helpful to draw from? How do we understand and experience our bodies/nervous systems within this conversation? How do our other intersecting identities benefit, hinder, inspire, guide and impact us?
We will utilize case study, large group discussion, small group discussion, dyad work and journaling time to explore together. Metaphor will help us to frame the conversation: when is our experience a door, a wall, a window, a sky (a passage, a barrier, an in-between, a liberation)? When is it all of the above? What centers/grounds us in the multiple truths of who we are and what that means in clinical contexts? What do we envision for the future of social work as a discipline, based on the wisdom we hold?
This workshop will be facilitated from within a collective liberation framework with a focus on intersectional change processes. We will discuss the way in which the nuance of mixed-race identities offers wisdom to the discipline as a whole, holding ourselves and others accountable. The wisdom and beauty of Indigenous knowledges will be centered.

Mentalization-Based Treatment
2024-04-12 09:00 - 16:30 | Smith College, United States
In Person Seminar
Smith College Campus
Northampton, MA 01060
Instructor: Joan Lesser, Ph.D, LICSW
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 6
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
This course will present mentalization-based treatment (MBT), a recent psychoanalytic extension of attachment theory and research. MBT places strong emphasis on the relationship between attachment and mentalizing situated within the broader developmental gene-environment context. The multidimensional nature of mentalization will be addressed with attention to assessment of mentalizing, automatic (implicit) versus controlled (explicit) mentalizing and cognitive versus affective mentalizing. Additionally, the course will discuss mentalization and culture and address MBT principles used in the treatment of relational trauma. Finally, there will be a discussion and application of therapeutic techniques, illustrated with case examples. Course participants will be invited to share their own disguised case material, as appropriate.

Somatic Experiencing: Enhancing Psychodynamic Therapy
2024-04-12 09:00 - 12:15 | Smith College Campus Center, 100 Elm Street, Northampton, MA, 01060, United States
In Person Seminar
Smith College Campus
Northampton, MA 01060
Instructor: David Levit, Ph.D., ABPP, SEP
Note: Exact classroom to be announced prior to event
Level: Intermediate
CEs: 3
Review CE accreditation and approvals for this course on tab above.
This program is focused on interweaving Somatic Experiencing (SE), a trauma therapy, into psychodynamic therapy for clients who suffer from unresolved early trauma and severe forms of dissociation. David Levit will outline the SE model and discuss its basic principles. He will illustrate ways to draw upon approaches from SE by presenting clinical process from therapy with clients who struggled with catastrophic dissociative episodes and who had a histories of severe early trauma. Levit will discuss the interweaving of SE in terms of various psychodynamic perspectives, with emphasis on Winnicott, and especially on the role of SE in enhancing provision of holding. He will also illustrate in a broader sense how the SE model can supplement talk therapy by enriching our ways of looking, listening, and responding.
Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a model originally developed by Peter Levine for understanding and treating post traumatic stress disorder. It has been expanded to treat psychic/somatic/nervous system dysregulation more generally. SE provides perspectives and approaches that are especially helpful in our work with clients who are prone to either states of intense over-activation (anxiety, panic, terror, agitation, rage, etc.) or under-activation (freeze, numbness, emptiness, deadness, etc.). A central aim of SE is to facilitate the restoration and enhancement of the client’s intrinsic regulatory capacities, with the larger goal of bringing a more highly resourced self to the task of processing life’s ongoing experiences (including experiences in the therapy context). SE has particular relevance for people who are vulnerable to the triggering of dissociative states related to trauma.
This program is appropriate for all psychotherapists, those who are informed by psychodynamic, CBT, EMDR, or other approaches. No prior knowledge of SE is needed.

18th annual Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival
2024-04-11 19:00 - 21:00
Founded in 2004 and presented by the Springfield Jewish Community Center, the Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival proudly continues its tradition of showcasing award-winning films from around the world. Join us for a multifaceted cinematic exploration of Jewish identity, community and history!
Year after year, PVJFF presents critically acclaimed films that not only entertain, but also provide opportunities for reflection, discussion, and a deeper understanding of our complex, diverse world. Film screenings and accompanying programs aim to illuminate universal themes such as identity and belonging, conflict and reconciliation in the Middle East, social justice and civic engagement.

Pioneer Valley Jewish Film Festival
