NBUW is governed by a 17-member Board of Directors who meet monthly. The organization is very low cost, with only one full-time and one part-time employee, and yet highly effective because of many volunteers working on committees in numerous areas including community needs, campaign, allocations, marketing, finance, planned giving and more.
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NBUW gathers funds for priority community programs through grant writing and local fundraising in constituent communities. These support major initiatives to improve outcomes for our member agencies. They also provide foundation funding for programs at 20 local health and human service agencies in Northern Berkshire. The local fundraising campaigns each year provide over $450,000 for North County programs. Approximately 12,500 Northern Berkshire residents are served annually by these programs.
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Examples of the crucial work enabled by NBUW funding in 2022-2023:
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2,842 Northern Berkshire residents received fuel assistance from Berkshire Community Action Council
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Elder Services delivered 600 meals to seniors in need in Northern Berkshire.
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1,701 parents and children participated in services in the Family Resource Center, a program of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition.
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86 Northern Berkshire children who were sexually and physically abused received mental health therapy at Berkshire County Kids’ Place
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50 Northern Berkshire residents received shelter at the Louison House, a homeless shelter
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2,435 youth participated in substance abuse prevention programming in schools provided by the Brien Center
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373 women took part in Berkshire Nursing Families’ lactation consultation services
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93 families took part in Child Care of the Berkshires programming
Northern Berkshire United Way
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Northern Berkshire United Way (NBUW) is an independent local agency founded over 80 years ago, dedicated to enhancing well-being in the communities of Adams, North Adams, Williamstown, Clarksburg, Cheshire, and Florida in Massachusetts, and Stamford, Vermont. NBUW gathers data on community issues and progress, evaluates agencies, and provides funds and other vital services to strengthen effective programs in priority areas of need.
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NBUW is a licensed affiliate of the United Way Worldwide, with rights to logo use, access to certain software and promotional materials, and required to observe the United Way Credo and strict non-discrimination code. NBUW pays to UWW each year a licensing fee equal to 1% of the net proceeds of each year’s local fund drive.
