2nd Street to Hold Ribbon Cutting and Open House

12:55PM / Sunday, September 22, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — In celebration of its newly expanded, more welcoming client service center, Second Street Second Chances (2nd Street) will hold a ribbon cutting and open house on Monday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m., at 264 Second Street, Pittsfield.

The event is free and open to the public.

Housed in the former Berkshire County Jail and House of Correction, 2nd Street opened in 2022. At that time, 2nd Street occupied space on the second floor, consisting of an open area with workstations for community resource navigators and an administrative assistant, a few work terminals for clients, a small office for the executive director and a space for workshops and meetings.

Now, 2nd Street's space has expanded from 1,500 square feet to 4,600 square feet. The remodeled space encompasses the first floor, including the building's rotunda. The area accommodates two offices shared by two community navigators each, plus an office for private meetings with representatives of legal aid, housing services, mental health counseling and other individual sessions. The new office space also includes a large room with client workstations used for workshops and meetings, as well as attractive common areas. The second floor will continue to be used for administrative functions and additional meeting space.

"As 2nd Street began to grow, we realized we needed to expand in order to serve our clients more effectively," said 2nd Street Executive Director Lindsay Cornwell. "The open space was challenging for client privacy and confidentiality. Now, we can hold private meetings, and we have much more room for our everyday operations. We are thrilled with the new space."

The newly designed common space includes an installation of "Insight Out," an exhibition of visual art created by presently or formerly incarcerated individuals in Berkshire County. Berkshire Museum, which displayed the exhibition last fall, reinstalled the artwork into the new space.

The event also serves as the launch of "Using Our Outside Voices," a literary journal featuring works by currently and formerly incarcerated individuals from Berkshire County, and will include a reading by one of the contributing authors. Copies will be available at no cost to attendees.

The space occupied by 2nd Street, including the newly expanded portion, is provided by the Berkshire County Sheriff's Office free of charge, including utilities and maintenance.

"The Berkshire County Sheriff's Office is proud to support 2nd Street and its mission. The services they provide for formerly incarcerated individuals are critical to our mission of giving as much support as possible to those who are re-entering their communities," said Sheriff Tom Bowler. "We couldn't be more pleased with the expansion of the 2nd Street space and with the work 2nd Street is doing."

iBerkshires.com Text Ads

Greylock Youth SummerFest

Come join in on the wealth building fun! August 3-8. Click for event details. Insured by NCUA.

www.greylock.org

rk MILES Blding Materials

Are You Ready to Update Your Home? Start With rk MILES. 4 Locations (800)670-7433

www.rkmiles.com

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

View Full Story