Berkshire Family and Individual Resources (BFAIR) is a national and state accredited human service agency responsive to the unique needs of people with disabilities and their families through:
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
The mission of the Berkshire Immigrant Center is to advocate for the rights of all immigrants by helping them navigate the complex U.S. immigration system with affordable legal services, local resources, and education.
Berkshire Immigrant Center provides its clients with tools to help them overcome financial and cultural barriers, with the goals of strengthening civic engagement and creating equal opportunity for all. Berkshire Immigrant Center supports changes to systems which are unjust to immigrants, and supports state and national immigration advocacy efforts.
The Center assists more than 700 individuals annually from more than 60 countries in several languages. Our Case Workers are accredited by the Department of Justice to represent clients with the US Citizen and Immigration Services and give legal advice to those seeking immigration benefits in the US and education on civil rights.
67 East Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413-445-4881
www.berkshireic.org
[email protected]
The Center for Learning in Action hires students to assist in various aspects of our office and program operations during the academic year.
Additional Information & Application:
http://learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/clia-office-assistant
In the name of Elizabeth Freeman and countless women who have struggled before us, and for the sake of their families and the generations yet to come, the Elizabeth Freeman Center commits to working toward a world free from violence and all forms of oppression.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/elizabeth-freeman-center/
This group is currently inactive.
Student Leaders: Julianna Veira ([email protected]), Helena Barber ([email protected])
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Colin Ovitsky ([email protected])
Meeting Time/Place: Wednesdays
Eph Buddies was created to facilitate friendships between the students at Williams College and members of our community who have mental and physical disabilities. We strive to support these individuals, provide them with additional resources and activities, and create for them a greater sense of social belongingness in our community. Most of our work is with the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) center and Berkshire Family & Individual Resources (BFAIR).
When available, the complete list of active Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) for the current academic year can be found on the Office of Campus Life website. If you would like to contact the student leader(s) of this organization, please email [email protected].
FemCo focuses on providing a safe space for folx with marginalized genders/identities to foster community and facilitate activism. This involves hosting activities, speakers, and workshops that are created with the intention to empower individuals and destabilize current structures of power.
The Friends of Milne Library works with library staff and the Board of Trustees to foster community awareness and support library needs. In order to help raise funds for the library, the Friends organize an annual used book sale, the proceeds of which go towards library needs.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/friends-of-milne-library
Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts (GSCWM) impacts over 12,000 girls and supports over 5,000 adult members in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Worcester and a portion of Middlesex counties. In Girl Scouts, we believe every girl can become a leader. Membership in Girl Scouts is open to girls in grades K-12; women and men over 18 can join as adult members. While most girls join for fun and friendship, they also find out about building character and self-esteem and serving their communities—core qualities of Girl Scouting.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/girl-scouts-of-central-and-western-massachusetts
A day of community service work by students, faculty and staff in venues around Berkshire County. This program is usually held on one Saturday in the fall (late September or early October) and another in the spring (late April), and is organized by Lehman Community Engagement.
This group is currently inactive.
Student Leaders: Taylor Jackvony ([email protected]), Kevin Mercadante ([email protected]), Jesse Rodriguez ([email protected])
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Fr. Gary Caster ([email protected])
Meeting Time/Place: Wednesday evenings, Griffin 3
We founded our group last fall as a means of fostering an active pre-medical community on campus. Our goal is to engage in local service projects aimed at understanding and assisting health care concerns in Berkshire County. Last year, our group hosted a community event in which doctors, nurses, and patients from North Adams Regional Hospital as well as Williams professors and other community members spoke to the Williams community about the impact that the closing of the hospital had on the area and about what Williams student and faculty could do to assist in re-establishing services at the hospital. We also hosted local doctors and alums to speak to pre-medical students on campus about their professions and about the many complexities of patient care. Next year, we hope to continue to host doctors in these informal Q&A sessions and to volunteer at a local free medical clinic.
Student Leaders: Giovanni DiRusso
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Seth Wax
Meeting Time/Place: Once a week 5:30-6:30 PM, Mission Dining Hall
InterFaith serves as a discussion group and mediating body for individuals and groups of various faith backgrounds and life philosophies on campus. We aim to provide a safe and intellectually engaging space for people of different worldviews to come together to discuss themes they may encounter form their different backgrounds. We also offer resources on and access to various forms of faith-based and faith-related community service and activism. Finally, we plan to collaborate with the Chaplain’s Office to facilitate discussion between various other groups of faith on campus.
This group is inactive as of the 2023-24 academic year.
Student Leaders: Matt Wisotsky (mjw7) & Gwyn Chilcoat (gac4)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Kris Allen
J@W provides opportunities for student jazz musicians at Williams to meet and play with other musicians and to stay informed of informal performances around campus. It also organizes events and invites guest artists independently of the music department, with an emphasis on engaging students with one another and with the broader jazz community.
When available, the complete list of active Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) for the current academic year can be found on the Office of Campus Life website. If you would like to contact the student leader(s) of this organization, please email [email protected].
Lehman serves to promote, foster, and maintain a spirit of service on campus by organizing and supporting many different community-oriented service projects. Our biggest projects are our Fall and Spring Great Days of Service which engage the wider campus in many projects. We also host other smaller ongoing and pop-up projects including Winter Study Service Week, meal and clothing donations drives, and volunteering at local schools, senior homes, homeless shelters, hospitals, and farms.
The MS Support Foundation provides education, support and resources for those individuals affected by Multiple Sclerosis as well as families and healthcare providers who are dedicated to improving the lives of those afflicted.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/ms-support-foundation/
The mission of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition (nbCC) is to improve the quality of life for people in northern Berkshire by organizing, supporting, and empowering the community.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/northern-berkshire-community-coalition
When available, the complete list of active Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) for the current academic year can be found on the Office of Campus Life website. If you would like to contact the student leader(s) of this organization, please email [email protected].
The Williams College Rape and Sexual Assault Network seeks to support all survivors and those affected by the entire spectrum of sexually violent behavior through training members to connect survivors with appropriate services and bettering the campus community through events and workshops.
This group is currently inactive.
Student Leaders: Annie Vanagenen ([email protected]), Allie Holle ([email protected]), Kara Sperry ([email protected]), Julia Diaz ([email protected]), Katherine Rosen ([email protected])
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Christi Kelsey ([email protected])
Meeting Time/Place: Sundays, Paresky
Reclaim Childhood is a non-profit organization based in Amman, Jordan that seeks to empower refugee girls and local women through sport and play. Reclaim Childhood operates regular after-school sports leagues and a month-long summer camp for girls ages 6 – 18, and coaching clinics for local adult women. On campus, we try to devise creative ways to raise money for the organization through dining hall dinners, athletics, and other events. With the money we raise, we send it to the organization which in turn purchases athletic equipment for the girls, as well as funds the summer camps for them. In addition to working during the school year, some of our members have spent their summers in Jordan working as camp counselors at these camps.
This group is currently inactive.
Student Leader: Cooper Bramble
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Shawna Patterson-Stephens
Meeting Time/Place: Wednesday at 6 PM, Paresky 220
Student’s for Education Reform is an organization that is committed to improving the state of education in the United States. We advocate at the state, local, and national levels, pushing for positive legislative change and raising awareness for important educational issues. At the college, we work to increase understanding and foster discussion about education related issues by holding events, bringing in speakers, conducting school/school board visits and holding dinner meetings.
The Mount is a National Historic Landmark and cultural center that celebrates the literary, artistic, and humanitarian legacies of Edith Wharton.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
The Nutrition Center‘s mission is to inspire a healthy relationship with food through counseling, nutrition, and culinary education.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/the-nutrition-center
The Medical Reserve Corps is a community-based, civilian volunteer program that helps build the public health infrastructure of communities nationwide. Berkshire and Franklin units were among the very first to be founded following the events of September 11, 2001. Each MRC unit is organized and trained to address a wide range of challenges from public health education to disaster response. Please consider this a resource for keeping yourself, your families (including your pets), your businesses and your communities safe. Volunteers are always needed and there are service opportunities for everyone.
Berkshire MRC (BerkshireDART)
c/o Fairview Hospital
29 Lewis Avenue
Great Barrington, MA 02130
www.wmmrc.org
www.wmdart.org
Contacts:
Christy Lemoine ([email protected], 413-539-0129), Volunteer Coordinator
Corinne Mckeown ([email protected], 413-539-4115), Director
We join with families in a community where children’s ideas and the wonder of childhood inspire our common learning. We offer safe, nurturing care that supports play, learning, and the work of children while recognizing the strengths, diversity, and uniqueness of all who learn and teach here. Our teachers foster multiple ways of learning and development of skills that will support our children in the future, whether in school or in the world beyond.
Additional Information & Current Opportunities:
learning-in-action.williams.edu/opportunities/williams-college-childrens-center
When available, the complete list of active Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) for the current academic year can be found on the Office of Campus Life website. If you would like to contact the student leader(s) of this organization, please email [email protected].
WOC leads weekly outdoor activities for the school community, lends gear for community members to go on their own adventures, and hosts large all-school events throughout the year. The board includes about 20 students who work to make the outdoors a more fun and accessible place for everyone on campus.
This group is inactive as of the 2022-23 academic year.
Student Leaders: Abby Matheny (acm5) & Kerryann Reynolds (kmr4)
Faculty/Staff Advisor: Allie Clark
Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society’s primary fundraiser. We plan and execute multiple fundraisers throughout the year to raise money and fight cancer.
When available, the complete list of active Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) for the current academic year can be found on the Office of Campus Life website. If you would like to contact the student leader(s) of this organization, please email [email protected].
We are the gardening club at Williams. We maintain Parsons Garden in front of Parsons House with weekly work meetings where club members can come and do some relaxing gardening work. We also host events open to the Williams community where we cook food we grow in the garden. We also partner with various other clubs to hold events to involve different parts of the Williams community in the garden club.
Student Leaders: Geff Fisher ([email protected]), Jensen Pak ([email protected]u), Robert Hefferon ([email protected]), Evelyn Mahon ([email protected])
Faculty/Staff Adviser: Ben Lamb ([email protected])
Meeting Time/Place: Monthly, First Congregational Church
Our organization aims to provide an opportunity for Williams College students to learn and practice woodworking and related handicrafts in a safe and educational environment. We also aim to engage with the community through woodworking-related service projects with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. The club offers a place for students to create and work with their hands in a way that may not be included in their normal academic schedule, and a chance to engage in community service projects using the skills they have acquired through club activities.