New in GB? Zoom In to Learn About Your New Hometown

New residents in town are invited to join in a series of upcoming town-hosted get-togethers, via Zoom, and in person when feasible, to get to know their new hometown.

The outreach effort came about as a public-private initiative involving Town Hall and leaders in local business and nonprofits who have established the “Welcome Project.”

“Our town has welcomed lots of new residents in the past year, both homeowners and renters, and the isolation of Covid-19 makes it hard to connect,” said Town Manager Mark Pruhenski. “We also think new residents might be interested in learning about day-to-day life in the community, town operations and resources in the area.”

The town has created a “New Residents” page on its website, which includes a sign-up link for e-alerts about upcoming gatherings. By using property records to help identify properties that have changed hands, the town has mailed more than 100 letters to new residents.

New renters are harder to identify but are also encouraged to join upcoming meetings.

Robin Helfand, owner of Robin’s Candy on Main Street, was among several business people who collaborated with Town Hall on the outreach project, along with local business owner Richard Stanley. They are part of the Welcome Project within the Community Development Corp. of Southern Berkshire.

“Joining an upcoming meeting will give us an opportunity to learn how we can help new residents, their businesses and families to thrive in Great Barrington,” said Helfand, Welcome Project co-founder.

“While meetings will initially be held via Zoom, we soon hope to eventually meet people in person,” said Pruhenski.

Anyone wishing to sign up for meeting alerts by phone is asked to contact Pruhenski’s office, (413) 528-1619 ext. 2900.