Questions for Marie Harpin
Northern Berkshire Community Action

Marie Harpin is the Area Director for the Northern Berkshire Community Action. She serves on the North Adams City Council, and is Chairman of the General Government Committee for the City of North Adams. She's a Deputy Sheriff, Winner of the 2002 Who's Who award, and a 1998-1999 Woman of the Year. She's on the Board of the North County CDC, a member of the Habitat for Humanity Search Committee, and she serves on the Mayor's Fair Housing Board. In the past, she's served on the boards of the Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition. She's a mother of 6, a grandmother of 13, and a true friend of the community.

What does the Northern Berkshire Community Action do? Northern Berkshire Community Action works with the low income population of North County. We provide an emergency food pantry, fuel assistance, reassurance calls to the elderly, holiday gift and food programs, a summer camp for children, summer trips for the elderly and children. We also network with all other organizations for emergency housing and other services, and we have a prescription program, which we manage with the North Adams Regional Hospital emergency room.

Describe a recent accomplishment of the Northern Berkshire Community Action Our goal is to help stabilize families in need. To this end, we ran a first-time home buyers group in May and June. The program was very successful, and already has shown positive results. Six of the 25 families who participated have already purchased homes, just a few months later.

How can the community support Northern Berkshire Community Action? Everything we do is community-supported. We need financial support, as well as donations of food, clothing, school supplies and other items. Also, we really need volunteers. Volunteers can help us with our Tuesday food distributions, where we provide bags of food to needy individuals and families. We also always need help around the holidays - either cooking meals, or helping with the implementation of our holiday gift drive.

Tell me about your relationship to the Northern Berkshires. I was born and raised in North Adams, and I've spent almost my entire life here. I raised 6 children here, 4 boys and 2 girls. Of the 6, five still live in the area. I'm now a grandmother to 13 children, nine of whom live locally. I've seen many, many changes here, and I'm seeing even more now. The changes that are taking place in North Adams today are fantastic. They're just mind-boggling. We're no longer just focused on Sprague Electric, or a single business that employs the whole town. Now, we're diversifying: focusing on the arts, entertainment, and small businesses. It's terrific; the only place for North Adams to go is up!

If you could do one thing for the community, what would it be? My dream would be to create enough suitable, affordable housing for all working poor and low income people in the Northern Berkshires.

What are the most satisfying parts of your job? I love going home exhausted, knowing that I did some good that day, and that when I get up the next day, I'll be able to start all over again!