Who funds Berkshire County ARC Inc?

Purchases for equipment library

Berkshire county arc has four day-habilitation programs that serve more than 150 people. Three of these programs have sensory rooms that individuals can access (alone or in small groups) to decompress, escape from over-stimulating social environments, enjoy a quiet, safe space, and engage in controlled sensory exploration. After all, everyone needs a "reset" from time to time. However, at this time all of the sensory rooms are inadequate, lacking well-designed tools and equipment to support the individual's effort to regulate their stress levels. The rooms require updates to structure and design to meet the needs of the individuals that they accommodate. For example, some individuals may be able to engage in actions that can result in injury when they are upset or over-stimulated, such as hitting their head against an un-protected wall.

The allocation fund campaign

General fund

Evening program started in the month of february 2023. It offers an unmet need for young adults who live with their families. The evening program provides support for families who may not have any supports during those evening hours, when daytime services end (approx. 2:30PM) and the parents/caregivers workday ends (approx. 6:00PM). The new program serves six individuals right now, with the support of two staff members. We can potentially serve 30 individuals, and hope to integrate activities with the community. Currently, the budget for this program does not allow for expansion or community activities. Activities may include music classes, a drum circle, art and dance classes, museum visits, sporting events, and more. Through these activities we teach communication, decision making, personal finance and managing money, social skills, working together, safety skills, advocating for oneself, and more.

Allocation committee to help those in need.

General fund

Exempt purpose

General support

New program startup

For the past 15 years we have offered a saturday program for school-aged individuals with disabilities,with a focus of children on the autism spectrum. The program works one-on-one with kids offering hands-on activities, in an effort to create strategies to help the child achieve in all areas of life: this can includesocial skills, sensory development, managing emotions, practicing patience, managing loss (as in a gamesituation), who to trust, understanding boundaries on social media, and more. The program has now been closed for more than two years asa result of covid.we are gradually starting it again, and realize we are attracting a wider range of ages and function levels, making it hard to conduct the program in one group. We see we will need two or three groups movingforward. This will require a staff member for each group, different levels of curricula, different levels of activities and supplies, different types of technology and software, etc.

Programs to support those with disabilities.

General fund

General support

Bcarc transitional enrichment program provides in person leaning for people with disabilities

General fund

Exempt purpose

General support

Operating support

1) four on-site day programs: center for development, nu-opps, socialdevelopment center, and the crossroads enrichment center. Together they offer programs toberkshire residents and bcarc individuals, totaling more than 180 people every day. These centers have been closed since the pandemic started. We are requesting funding to assist withcosts to open them again. We expect to open them to a limited capacity, on a rotating basis, andprovide services remotely for those who do not attend on certain days due to social-distancing rules. 2) another daytime program -- community-based day services (CBDS) servemore than 40 adults. These are adults who are looking to stay engaged with the community in a varietyof levels. This can include part-time work, volunteer work, informal activity groups, and more.

General fund

General support

Funding would continue to pay for an expert to train more staff with more depth and to train new staff for the charting the life course toolkit.

Exempt purpose

General fund

General support/capital campaign

To access a consultant with expertise in the area of training to format the training materials into useable training plans and to train their lead staff to implement the training programs (for the transitions program).

General fund

General support/capital campaign