The COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley has made a fourth round of grants, totaling $226,000, with health care and medical centers in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties receiving the largest portion of the new round as they battle the impact of the disease on the region with surging admissions to hospitals.
Grants were also directed to youth-serving organizations and to programs providing food access to those impacted by the crisis. To date, the Response Fund has granted more than $1.3 million to local organizations.
Local hospitals receiving funds include Holyoke Medical Center in Holyoke and Cooley Dickinson Hospital Health Care Corp. in Northampton.
Also receiving grants are the Brick House Community Resource Center in Turners Falls; the Center for Human Development, for its Family Outreach program in Amherst; the Community Adolescent Resource and Education Center in Holyoke; and Friends of Children in Hadley.
Since launching the COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts has raised $3.6 million from 350 individuals, families, foundations and companies in the region and outside of the region.
The Community Foundation will be conducting additional outreach to determine needs going forward for young people in the region.
The Response Fund was established to provide emergency grants to community nonprofit organizations serving the immediate needs of the most vulnerable populations affected by the pandemic in western Massachusetts.
The Community Foundation welcomes additional donations to the COVID-19 Response Fund for the Pioneer Valley. Gifts can be made online at: www.communityfoundation.org/covid19.
The Northampton Recovery Center has moved many offerings to a Zoom platform. Below is the online meeting schedule. Visit the NRC Facebook page or website, northamptonrecoverycenter.org, to see all available online meetings and find direct Zoom links to join in.
■Peer-led recovery meetings: Every weekday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
■Spirit in Recovery: Monday at 3 p.m., open discussion on what spirituality means to your recovery
■Adult Children of Alcoholics: Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., traditional 12-step group
■Addiction Recovery Education Access Services, known as AREAS: Tuesday at 1:30 p.m., a peer-led curriculum created by the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery
■Mindfulness Meditation: Wednesday at 4 p.m., guided meditation for anyone with an existing practice or new to meditation
■Peer Grief Support After Overdose Death: monthly on Thursday (visit website to see which Thursdays)
■Yoga Nidra: Friday at 12 p.m., guided, non-physical full relaxation practice
■Recovery Dharma, Saturday at 12 p.m., Buddhist-inspired approach to recovery
■Marijuana Anonymous: Saturday at 4 p.m., a traditional 12-step group
The Alzheimer’s Association Massachusetts/New Hampshire Chapter is offering free online and telephone support groups in the coming weeks to help all Massachusetts caregivers and their families. These groups create a safe, confidential, supportive environment or community and a chance for families impacted by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia to develop informal mutual support and social relationships.
Coming virtual support groups include:
■Caregiver group for those living at home with their loved one with a diagnosis
■Early Stage Caregivers
■Caregiver group for those with a loved one in a facility that they cannot visit due to COVID-19
■General Telephone Caregiver Support Group
For a complete list of upcoming support groups, or to register for a support group, visit alzmassnh.org/virtual-programs. In addition, the Alzheimer’s Association free, 24/7 Helpline, 800-272-3900, offers around-the-clock support for caregivers and families impacted by Alzheimer’s and all dementia.