The American Rescue Plan Act, signed into law by President Biden in March 2021, sent $40.6 million in pandemic relief funds to Pittsfield. The money was to be fully allocated by the end of 2024, and to date, the city has spent almost 70% or just over $28 million of the funding.
Pittsfield’s Special Project Manager for the ARPA funds Gina Armstrong presented a quarterly update on the money and its use to the city council at its March 11th meeting.
One commitment of the funds went to the city’s health department, for projects including hiring a state certified community outreach worker for the first time in Pittsfield’s history.
“That is more important than ever, [and] also had expanded many wellness and health education programs, very important for our youth and our older adults as well, such as becoming a certified car seat technician where the outreach and events are provided so families can ensure that their children are properly secured in their vehicles," Armstrong explained to the council. "And also introducing the Matter of Balance program for city residents, for those who really need a fall prevention program.”
Another public health investment concerns expanding Pittsfield’s vaccination program.
“The vaccination capacity outreach initiative made significant improvements in the health department's ability to increase our vaccination rates and to focus on decreasing the health disparities among our Hispanic population,” Armstrong continued.
Given the Trump administration’s moves to freeze and cut already allocated federal funding, Ward 1 City Councilor Kenny Warren offered a warning to the Pittsfield staffers tasked with managing the fund.
“I'm getting more and more worried as we go forward," he said. "I've talked about the clawback- I'm also now worried about the future of canceling of contracts that have money in them. Some of the paperwork I've seen, while done with good intentions and would normally pass muster of anybody reviewing it or auditing it- I'm worried that they're not quite tight enough, that the feds will find an excuse. Now, I'm hoping I'm wrong, I've been wrong many times up here, and I look forward to being wrong on this. I don't want them. We need that money, and we're spending it for some very good purposes, but I'm worried. So, I just want to be on record that we need to be very diligent and careful.”
Armstrong updated the council on city projects currently under way.
“They're finishing work on two of our fire stations, finishing up new windows and flooring," she said. "Clapp Park bathroom demolition is scheduled for spring, as soon as weather permits. The Taconic High School track replacement is scheduled to be completed this June. And also, the Berkshire Athenaeum will have all new carpet and flooring replacement to be completed in June as well, and also parking lot repaving sometime this spring or summer. The total allocation for those four projects is $1.4 million”
Pittsfield dedicated a tranche of the ARPA money to community groups within the city, with most of the more than $9 million already disbursed to 37 different organizations.
One is Soldier On, a nonprofit that works to end veteran homelessness. With $130,000, the organization hired a care navigator.
“The care navigator primarily serves veterans that are living in permanent and transitional housing, and they have helped to do health education and wellness seminars and a lot of care coordination," said Armstrong. "Our veterans during the pandemic really were not getting that the health care that they needed, and so by creating this position, they were trying to catch up and help support veterans with the critical care that they needed on a quarterly basis.”
The Brien Center, which offers addiction and mental health services across Berkshire County, was granted $400,000 for initiatives including updating its electronic medical records system. Funding is also going to its transportation services.
“They were able to purchase two vans create a transportation program primarily serving their Community Behavioral Health Center patient clients and their adult clinical services clients,” said Armstrong.
The third project concerns the center’s plans for an expanded campus on Fenn Street.
“The former Mount Carmel church is owned by the Brien Center, and they have completed architectural planning and schematics to transform that space for trainings, meetings, activities, and services for all of the Brien Center programs," Armstrong told the council. "The parish hall there has designs to convert the space for a 10-bedroom group living program. And the third building at the Fenn Street Campus currently is the place for child and adolescent services, and the plan will create new space at that building for therapeutic services, enrichment activities, and counseling to improve overall services for youth.”
Other Pittsfield projects funded through ARPA include initiatives by the Affordable Housing Trust, countering negative economic impacts of the pandemic, and improvements to Pontoosuc Lake Park.
ARPA money must be fully spent by the end of 2026.
