The Democrat began at the Stockbridge town gym to present $31.5 million in funding to Massachusetts communities through the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program. The distribution includes $2.26 million to the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians, whose original homeland lies in what is now known as the Berkshires. The funding will go toward the community reclaiming over 350 acres of land for what the commonwealth describes as “tribally driven conservation and forest management strategies.”
“I know it's the first time that the state has funded this sort of collaborative effort, not only to ensure that these indigenous tribal lands are back in the hands of the of the tribe, but also the opportunity to make sure that we're thinking about the resiliency and sustainability of that particular parcel moving forward," said Driscoll. "It's a really moving day, we feel very honored to be able to share in a lot of hard work done in Stockbridge to get to this point.”
The Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians was forced out of Western Massachusetts in the 18th century by European colonists, eventually ending up in their current home of northeastern Wisconsin.
“We're overwhelmed, and we're appreciative," said Shannon Holsey, the community’s president. "But we always understood that it's about collaboration and relationships. Absent us physically being in the state of Massachusetts, we always retain a relationship with the state of Massachusetts, because our ancestors are still here. We still do 106 repatriation, we still do a lot of different things. But at the forefront of what [the] Lieutenant Governor just spoke of, it's also about stewardship and making sure that we retain the historical significance of this homeland and making sure we do whatever we can we can do in a collaborative way to protect it for future generations.”
Among the grant money going to Berkshire communities is around $710,000 to Great Barrington for improvements at Lake Mansfield and over $81,000 to Egremont for climate change mitigation efforts.
Driscoll’s second stop was a campus tour of Berkshire Community College’s Pittsfield campus.
“We started out in our interim library space, because our library is having some renovation," BCC President Ellen Kennedy told WAMC. "And then we moved up to our One Stop, which is a place for everyone to come and have one place where, in essence, we bring all the services to the students. So, and then we moved on from there to our Berkshire Science Commons, our Maker Space, and then on to our nursing labs, and to the renovations that happened in Hawthorn and Melville, and she could see our faculty in action as they were doing their professional development day. And then we made our way back, and she got to see our solar panels, because we do so much, we're really about sustainability on this campus, and she got to see some of that in action as well.”
Driscoll’s visit was in part an extension of the commonwealth’s rollout of MassReconnect, a new $20 million program that will allow residents without a college degree over the age of 25 and anyone seeking a nursing degree to attend community college for free. The lieutenant governor says the program’s mission is to fuel the Massachusetts economy by connecting as many residents as possible with high growth industries.
“We know healthcare is a real need throughout the state," Driscoll said. "But there may be particular regional needs, whether it's advanced manufacturing, we know we're trying to take on this climate crisis, we're going to have a lot of folks in clean tech. We just saw solar panels on the roof here. We know there are other industries like that that are still emerging, but we need a workforce and a talent pipeline to meet that. So, it will be regional based, and I think our community colleges are on the ground. They know what the needs are here, they work closely with career centers and workforce boards so we can make sure we're being strategic about the things we invest in.”
For her part, Kennedy was beaming after Driscoll’s tour, telling WAMC she’s confident that BCC’s role in the Berkshire community and economy had been well expressed.
“I think that our students, the uniqueness of our students, and that they come from all walks of life, and they represent a spectrum of age, diversity, everything," said Kennedy. "And I think [Driscoll] heard some really interesting stories while she was here today, and she could see the powerful impact of this opportunity for those students, how they expressed it.”
