National Public Health Week is the first week of April. Public health is so much more than access to health care. It's about creating healthy communities where everyone can thrive! This means having strong support systems, access to mental health resources for youth, promoting gender equity, addressing climate change's impact on health, and fostering healthy relationships. Join Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts for an event series to explore these topics and see how we can all work together for healthier communities!

Volunteer Fair 2024 on April 25th at the Northampton Senior Center

Thank you to our returning COSA members!

Your generous support makes all of our work possible.

Safe Passage

Community Action Pioneer Valley

Roger Anderson

Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity will be building an energy-efficient, two-story, three-bedroom, single-family home on Woodland Drive in Northampton, MA. The home will be located in the outskirts of the city of Northampton in a suburban residential neighborhood near the intersection of Woodland Drive and Westhampton Rd (Rt 66). This modest home will be approximately 1,300 sq feet, energy efficient, and built to ENERGY STAR standards.

The Massachusetts Public Health Association is heading to the State House for their 2nd Annual Public Health Lobby Day. Last year they introduced their 2023-2024 policy priorities that promote equity through fundamental building blocks of good health: transportation, housing, food, clean air, drinking water, overdose prevention, and public health protections. This year, they will gather to get these items across the finish line during this legislative session.

Trans Day of Visibility Resource Fair happening on Friday, March 31st from 4-7pm at CitySpace in Easthampton. This resource fair will feature community based organizations providing information, resources, free goodies, connections to staff and supports; a gender affirming clothing swap; art and other creations for sale by community members; pop-up workshops led by trans, nonbinary, and gender expansive community leaders; and some refreshments!

May 15: Workplace Equity Series Begins - Talking Not Tokenizing

May 21: May Breakfast Strategic Planning Needs a Redo

May 22: Workplace Equity Series The Legislative Impact on Equity

May 29: Workplace Equity Series Equity in Mental Health

June 5: Workplace Equity Series Examining a Gender Inclusive Workplace

June 12: Workplace Equity Series The Future of Equity

June 26: Workplace Equity Series Cohort Plan Creation

Reading this week.

WBUR: Massachusetts Senate passes bill to make child care more affordable

KFF Health News: Adult children of immigrants make outsized contributions to the US health care workforce

AP News: A new kind of hospital is coming to rural America. To qualify, facilities must close their beds

New jobs in the Valley.

Office of the Northwestern District Attorney

Administrative Assistant to Director of Domestic and Sexual Violence Projects

Community Action Pioneer Valley

Healthy Families Home Visitor - $2,000 bonus

Mark your calendar.

Mar 26: IECMH Roundtable at 10am with Embrace Race on Zoom

Mar 27: Human Service Forum Advanced Employment Law

Mar 27: MA Fair Housing Center Screening of Roxbury - Housing Justice Panel Discussion

Mar 27: Hunger-Free Campus Advocacy Day in Boston

Mar 28: The Truth School Flipping the Hierarchy

Mar 29: STAT free webinar Championing the Patient Voice in Healthcare

Mar 30: The Truth School Activism for Introverts

Mar 31: Translate Gender Trans Day of Visibility Resource Fair

Apr 01-30: Massachusetts Youth Count 24 for Homelessness

Apr 03: Human Service Forum Culturally Responsive Supervision

Apr 04: MassHire CORI Expungement/Sealing Clinic and Job Fair

Apr 04: Urban Institute Punishment Beyond Mass Incarceration

Apr 04: The Truth School Cultural Humility

Apr 05: Cancer Connection Bed-In at Greenfield Savings Bank, Northampton

Apr 5: Stavros Go On, Be Brave Documentary Showing

Apr 06: Amherst Survival Center Empty Bowls Event

Apr 06: SING! A drag show to benefit Cancer Connection

Apr 06: The Truth School Electoral Politics

Apr 07: The Truth School Dream a New Dream

Apr 08: AEI Social Media and the Fragmentation of American Life

Apr 10: Autism Connections Autism Conference in Springfield

Apr 10: 18th Annual Fair Housing & Civil Rights Conference at WNEU

Apr 10: Forbes Library and Kestrel Land Trust "Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty"

Apr 11: Children's Advocacy Center This Little Light of Mine Event

Apr 11: Trauma Informed Hampshire County Network Meeting on Zoom

Apr 11: PHIWM Using 413Cares to Strengthen the Local Safety Net

Apr 11: PHIWM Overview of Youth Mental Health

Apr 13: Northampton and Greenfield Police Departments Gun Buyback Day

Apr 18: The Truth School The Nuts and Bolts of Electoral Campaigns

Apr 23: PHIWM The State of Gender Equity in Western MA

Apr 25: PHIWM Advancing Climate Justice and Health Equity

May 02: MA Public Health Association Lobby Day

May 05: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County Daffodil Run

COSA Meets on second Tuesdays @10am

Apr 09: Presentation from COSA's JEDIB Committee

May 14: Monthly Meeting