Social Issues

Umass Dining: Community Spirit

In our ongoing Community Spirit showcase, Chef Simon Stevenson interviews Garett DiStefano (Director of Residential Dining Services) and Van Sullivan (Assistant Retail Dining Manager) of UMass Amherst Dining Services to talk about how the Amherst campus opened up...

City 2 City

Paul Robbins, Ron Ancrum, Pres., Community Foundation of Western Mass., and Vanessa Otero from the Latino Leadership Council will discuss work done locally by “City2City” to improve Springfield and trips group members have taken to North Carolina last year...

Soldier On

Soldier On is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies to provide veterans with both shelter and support within an environment that offers dignity, integrity and, most of all, hope....

Life with Monte

Monte Belmonte meets Daniel, who has been performing eye shocking yo-yo tricks to raise awareness and money for The Smile Train, an organization that is dedicated to helping the millions of children in the world who are born with a cleft lip and palate....

Dakin Animal Shelter

Leslie Harris, Exec. Dir. of the Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society will discuss the “do’s and don’ts” of giving pets as holiday gifts as well as their agencies recovery after damage done by the June 1 tornado....

Square One

Square One serves about 1,200 children in Hampden County every day with early education and child care programs and another 200 families through outreach social programs.  On June 1 they lost their entire building in the south end but managed to stay open, relocate,...

Higher Ground

Higher Ground was established as a nonprofit group on Oct. 21 and is dedicated to providing immediate relief for those affected by Tropical Storm Irene, preparing for future disasters, and creating more affordable housing in the...

Western Mass Enterprise Fund

Christopher Sikes, Executive Director of the Western Massachusetts Enterprise Fund will discuss that organizations work helping new business start-ups in the region — as well as WMEF’s decision to change it’s name to “Common Capital.”...

Veterans

Elise Forbes Tripp, author of “American Veterans on War: Personal Stories from WWII to Afghanistan,” Vietnam veteran Dave Bressem, and Charly Woehlke, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, discuss their experiences in the military and working with veterans...

Upcoming Charity Race

Republican sportswriter Bill Wells will discuss his effort to raise $50,000 dollars to fight a rare form of cancer afflicting a 7 year old girl from Wilbraham. The race – Seth’s Fat Ass 50K – is this Saturday in Forest Park in Springfield....

Unemployment (part 2)

Daniella Rhodes shares her story of being unemployed and living at “Friends of the Homeless Inc,” the largest emergency shelter for adult individuals in Western MA.  We will also talk with Konrad Ragowski, Manager of Member Services for Future Works in Springfield....