CIF Committee Recommends $500,000 in Awards to Area Nonprofits

The town's Community Impact Fund Committee has recommended the distribution of the following funds to area nonprofits:

·      Railroad Street Youth Project, $162,000 for community work to educate and mentor youth in the community.

·      Rural Recovery Resources, $100,000 to support the addition of a bilingual recovery coach.

·      Volunteers in Medicine, $56,000 to support substance abuse counseling work, which also received CIF funding last year.

·      Great Barrington Police Department, $182,000 over two years to help fund a Co-Responder Program, which adds a mental health professional to respond with police to calls, when needed.

Funds are received annually by the town from cannabis-related businesses, and the CIF Committee recommends how the funds are allocated, with priority for organizations addressing health-related impacts of cannabis businesses in the community. Presently five such businesses operate in town.

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