The Children’s Trust, the state’s child abuse prevention agency, announced that it awarded Square One in Springfield with the Community Partnership Award at its annual A View from All Sides conference. The Community Partnership Award recognizes an organization that has demonstrated a commitment to the mission of the Children’s Trust.
Square One’s programs include early education and care, where it serves 500 infants, toddlers and preschoolers each day; and family support services that impact over 1,500 families each year.
In June, the Children’s Trust partnered with Square One to launch the state’s first Financial Support Program for young, first-time parents. The pilot program provides cash assistance to parents enrolled in the Children’s Trust’s Healthy Families program in Springfield. Program participants receive $500 per month for the first 15 months, then three additional monthly payments of $550, $650, and $750, respectively, for a total of 18 months. Participants who enroll in the financial assistance program while pregnant receive a lower monthly stipend of $100. Upon the baby’s birth, parents are then eligible to receive regular monthly payments to help support the transition to parenting and the baby’s first months. The Children’s Trust also offers optional financial skill-building courses to program participants.
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MassDevelopment and Mass Cultural Council, two state agencies that jointly administer the Cultural Facilities Fund, recently approved a $149,000 CFF grant to the Ventfort Hall Association in Lenox.
Accelerating deterioration of some of the mansion’s key structural elements require attention. This grant will be used for rebuilding and restoring the four chimneys on the east and west sides of the roof ridge.
Located in the Lenox cultural district, Ventfort Hall attracts more than 11,000 visitors each year. Since rescuing it from destruction in 1997, the Ventfort Hall Association has maintained and continues to restore the estate, a museum dedicated to the history of the Gilded Age. The Cultural Facilities Fund is funded annually through the Governor’s Capital Spending Plan.
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Monson Savings Bank was a Silver Sponsor of this year’s Junior Achievement of Western Massachusetts’ Stock Market Competition.
The event is the largest single-day Student Stock Market Competition in North America.Student teams are “given” a million dollars to invest in over 50 fictitious stocks. Their goal is to build the highest portfolio net worth in 60 “days,” with trading days lasting just 60 seconds.
Monson Savings Bank donated $1,500 in support of this event. This donation supported five teams of five students in the competition, as well as the overall event.
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For the fifth year in a row, Big Y has been awarded as a Forbes Best-In-State Employer for 2023. Forbes America’s Best-In-State Employers have been identified across all industries based upon an independent survey of employees who anonymously recommend their employers for this award. Employees are also asked to give their opinions on a series of statements surrounding work-related topics such as working conditions, salary, potential for development and company image regarding their current employer. Big Y’s award spans 25 different industries.
Big Y has also been named as Forbes Best in State for Diversity, Forbes Best Employers for Women and Forbes America’s Best Large Employers.
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Thirty-four team members at River Valley Counseling Center in Springfield received nearly $1.8 million in student loan forgiveness this year through the MA Repay Program and the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program.
In exchange for loan repayment through the MA Repay Program, each recipient has to work for at least four years in their field at one of the state’s approved organizations. For the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, recipients must serve at least two years at an approved NHSC site in a Health Professional Shortage Area. River Valley Counseling Center is an approved site with both of these programs.
