SU FYI

1. From: Dawn Odell Lemon, Program Manager, Berkshire Community Development

On Thursday, July 25th Gov. Maura Healey announced some $39 million in Community Development Block Grant awards to 65 communities. Among the awardees: Great Barrington, Egremont and Stockbridge: $1,375,000 for the purpose of rehabilitating 16 housing units. The next step is the procurement process. We are continuing to accept pre-applications and are hopeful that we can start up (provide Full Applications) to all residents who have filled out a pre-application form before Thanksgiving.

Editor's note: To date there are 57 applications — 33 from Egremont, 21 from Stockbridge, and 3 from Great Barrington

2. Tri-Town Health Department, James J. Wilusz, RS, TTHD Executive Director and Charles Kenny, MD, SBPHC Medical Director

Reminder of COVID Safety Protocols

The Tri-Town Health Department (TTHD) and Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative (SBPHC) have noticed a recent uptick of positive COVID cases in several south county towns in the last month. With the summer swing in full effect, there are a lot of ways to be exposed to viruses during vacations, travel, camps and other fun summer activities!

Keep yourself and your family from getting sick this summer and fall by following these tips on how to stay healthy:

Wash your hands and maintain good hygiene. Good habits are always the first defense for COVID, flu and other illnesses.

Get tested for COVID before and after travelling or after you feel that you may have been exposed. Free test kits are available at Tri-Town Health Department and other BOH offices in the region.

Stay at home if you are not feeling well then mask if you feel it's appropriate to protect yourself or family members. Follow recommended CDC guidelines. https://www.cdc.gov/covid/prevention/index.html

Stay up to date on your vaccinations. SBPHC will be starting their fall clinics in early October with the updated formula of COVID vaccine plus senior and regular dose flu for everyone 6 months and older. For more information on vaccine clinics in South County, including how to get help with registration and request an in-home vaccine, please visit www.southernberkshirehealth.com. For more information on COVID 19 please visit www.tritownhealth.org, www.southernberkshirehealth.com and www.mass.gov. For general information about exposure, test kits, and vaccination access please contact your local Board of Health.

3: Check out the upcoming OLLI course that Michael Canales and Patrick White are teaching beginning in September 20: Understanding Local Government. https://berkshireolli.org/F101LocalGovernmentFall24.

Photo: Lionel Delevingne