AMHERST — Lev BenEzra, who has overseen the Amherst Survival Center since January 2019, will depart this fall to helm Community Action of Pioneer Valley, the nonprofit antipoverty agency located in Greenfield.
“This is an incredibly exciting opportunity, deeply challenging and with significant responsibility, but it’s also a joy, and an incredible honor,” BenEzra said.
A Greenfield resident, BenEzra will begin her new job on Oct. 27, succeeding former Northampton Mayor Clare Higgins in the role at the agency that aims for “keeping our neighbors fed, warm, supported and connected.” For more than a decade, BenEzra was the youth and workforce development director at Community Action.
Charity Day, who chairs the board of directors for Community Action, said BenEzra’s combination of external leadership experience and familiarity with Community Action positions her well to build on organizational strengths, while guiding the nonprofit through new opportunities ahead.
“Her demonstrated commitment to equity, collaboration, and community aligns with our values and mission,” Day said.
Community Action is a nearly $50 million organization with 275 employees.
BenEzra was hired to lead the Amherst Survival Center after previous Executive Director Mindy Domb was elected to the state Legislature in November 2018.
After nearly seven years in Amherst, and navigating the center through the pandemic, the Sunderland Road site is now serving about 1.5 million meals to 11,000 people annually and depending on more than 300 volunteers.
“I am unbelievably appreciative of this community and the way this community rallies around and takes ownership of the Amherst Survival Center,” BenEzra said.
In a written announcement about her move sent to friends and supporters at the Amherst Survival Center, BenEzra calls her time in Amherst “one of the greatest honors of my life.”
“Each of you reading this has played a role — whether volunteering your time, sharing a bit of yourself over lunch, offering a collaborative partnership, making a financial gift, telling a friend about the center, offering feedback as programs changed, hosting a food drive, the list goes on. … I am deeply proud of what we have accomplished together and have every confidence that the center will continue to thrive in the years ahead,” she wrote.
She said the North Amherst site has continued to operate, as it has for nearly 50 years, first and foremost as a community center, with a shared humanity and a respect for each person.
“We know how critical connections and community are in combating the effects of economic insecurity,” BenEzra said.
The idea of wraparound services and providing a one-stop shop includes free meals served four days a week, groceries provided from a pantry, services for the unhoused, walk-in medical clinics and a resource center with everything from fuel assistance applications to Eliot Homeless Services consulting.
The center has also expanded, with deliveries to 1,000 people per month, improved language access to communicate with and build relationships with all guests, and better meeting dietary and cultural needs.
The annual pre-Thanksgiving meal, now known as Celebrating Native American Heritage & Giving Thanks to Our Community, has continued, with an opportunity to dine in or take out, and the center will soon will be opening a Campus Food Pantry on the University of Massachusetts campus that will dramatically increase food access for UMass community and build capacity at the main site.
Demand is 70% higher every month than during the height of the pandemic and challenges are ahead, with possible cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and federal cuts that are affecting the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts and curtailing a program for buying local produce from farmers.
BenEzra’s letter notes that she worked for Community Action for almost 11 years before coming to the Amherst Survival Center, “and I am incredibly excited to return, to deepen my impact and take on this new challenge. And, it is also bittersweet to leave. The center and this community have made a huge impact on me, one that I will carry with me. “
Community Action’s broad, deep impact can change lives, BenEzra said, serving about 30,000 people throughout Hampshire and Franklin counties, as well as the North Quabbin and portions of Hampden County. The agency is able to offer support to the whole person and for all ages, from Head Start and early childhood education, teenagers with leadership and workforce training, financial literacy, free tax assistance and the WIC program.
There are looming challenges, though.
“My first priority would be to assess and address impacts of federal funding and policy changes, and that I would be taking the time to listen and learn from everyone who’s there, the dedicated staff and volunteers, and the community partners, before setting internal organizational goals,” BenEzra said.
In a letter to the community, Jennifer Moyston, the board president for the Survival Center, praised BenEzra’s leadership.
“Under her guidance, the center has grown stronger, expanded its programs and deepened its impact in the community,” Moyston wrote. “We are incredibly grateful for her dedication, vision and the compassion she has brought to the center.”
Moyston also pledged that the center will remain a welcoming place for everyone in need and that an interim leadership arrangement will be created during the search for the next executive director.
“I have complete confidence in the team and the Amherst Survival Center is in a strong position, and that all of our programs and services are continuing and growing,” BenEzra said.