National Adoption Month

National Adoption Month

November is National Adoption Month and Connecting Point Contributor Carolee McGrath talks with Marla Ruth Allisan, Director of Full Circle Adoption, Erin Cronie, and Erin’s adoptive mother. Together they discuss the adoption process and the benefits and challenges a...

Hear Our Stories

Last summer a group of young teen mothers from Holyoke participated in a program called Hear Our Stories: Diasporic Youth for Sexual Rights and Justice.  The program was funded by the Ford Foundation and is the result of a partnership between WGBY, UMass Amherst, The...

Maternity & Paternity Leave

Kevin V. Maltby is an associate with Bacon Wilson, P.C. and a former prosecutor for the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office. He recently wrote an article about Massachusett’s Maternity Leave Act (MMLA) and what employers and employees should know about...

Making It Here: Simple Diaper & Linen

Angie Gregory founded Mother Herb Diaper Service in 2009, after the birth of her second child. Jessica Montagna joined as an official worker-owner in the late summer of 2011, together they run what is now called Simple Diaper & Linen at their new commercial space...

Combating Obesity in the Berkshires

Amanda Chilson, Project Coordinator for Mass in Motion/Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, talks about childhood obesity in Berkshire County—especially in rural communities. They are utilizing grants from Mass in Motion to fight the epidemic in schools, at home,...

Holiday Travel with Kids

Rania Kfuri gives us her tips for traveling around the holidays with kids in tow. She started Free Like Birdie, which makes traveling accessories for families, after traveling with her kids and will give families some useful tips/things she’s learned along the...

Project Baby Springfield

Julie Pimental of Project Baby Springfield, a working group of Springfield’s Department of Health and Human Services, talks about the Pioneer Valley having a higher infant mortality rate than other communities and the state as a whole. Project Baby Springfield aspires...