For over half a century, Construct has worked to offer housing to Southern Berkshire County — from affordable homes and apartments to beds for those transitioning out of homelessness. In January, Joey Lindstrom took charge of the nonprofit as its executive director. He said the federal Low Income Housing Emergency Assistance Program funding was flat in the most recent budget, and there were major delays in funding due to the government shutdown.
“As a result of this, the resources available to households in need are not increasing, while costs very much are, and while lower temperatures than what we've seen in recent winters are causing people, in some cases, to burn through their fuel and their propane more quickly than they otherwise would," Lindstrom told WAMC.
The freshly minted executive director is now helming Construct’s 19th-annual Warm Up The Winter fundraiser.
“The vast majority of the money that comes in through this fundraiser goes directly to the people who call us with assistance," said Lindstrom. "It's not tied to any particular properties or developments. We are taking this these resources and getting it to the people who need it so urgently.”
Construct’s goal for the campaign is to raise $150,000 to assist as many Southern Berkshire households as it can in a time where paychecks aren’t keeping up with an ever-increasing cost of living, and housing prices remain at a premium. Between 2020 and 2024, US Census data puts the Massachusetts median household income at around $104,000. During the same time period in the Berkshires, it sat at $76,000.
“We're hearing from people who are facing rent arrears and need rent assistance, we're also hearing from people who need the help that we can offer with utilities and with fuel assistance, and from time to time, we're also hearing from people who are in more emergency situations and are looking for some type of temporary shelter or transitional housing due to a situation of homelessness,” said Lindstrom.
In every sector, the needs are increasing.
“In 2025 we served on utility assistance, 73 households that included 190 individuals," Construct's executive director explained. "And that was up from, in 2024, we served 26 households, including 67 individuals. With the emergency hotel stays — which are partly funded through the Warm Up The Winter funding — in 2025 we served 29 households, in 2024 we served 17.”
The Southern Berkshires’ experience of the statewide housing crisis comes to the fore in the winter months, where shortcomings in public transit and reliance on private entities can put households in precarious situations.
“Especially in a rural area or in small communities where a lot of the housing stock is older, is that some of the utility shut off protections that exist in winter do not apply to people who heat their homes through oil or propane, because the actual heating material has to be delivered and has to be ordered, in many cases, by the gallon and so forth," said Lindstrom. "So unlike conventional heating or utility protections that would exist, many households in our region don't have access to that, and so for us, it's really important that we continue to build up this resource and make it available for those in need.”
That vulnerability has been felt throughout the Berkshires in a winter that has seen temperatures pushed to almost 30-below zero, factoring in wind chill. In addition, as WAMC has reported, Superior Plus Propane has failed to reliably refill heating supplies for Western Massachusetts customers like Beth Duff, of Becket.
“Understand- we rely on this for heat," she told WAMC. "We rely on it for cooking. [Superior Plus is] very big on the [website] to make sure that your driveway is plowed and a path to the tank is cleared, and both of those we've covered. I also should mention we have a generator that runs off the propane. If we have an electric outlet outage, the generator is probably going to burn through that propane pretty quickly, and then we'll have no electricity and no heat. So yeah, it's very concerning. and I just feel that they have not been responsive."
Lindstrom says all of these conditions underscore how vital Construct’s mission is to Berkshire County.
“We need housing in order to continue to develop our economy and in order to safely and stably promote healthy and happy living for the families throughout the Berkshire region,” he told WAMC.
The climax of Construct’s Warm Up The Winter fundraiser will be a benefit concert at Barrington Hall in Great Barrington on Thursday, March 5.
