October 1, 2024
The Berkshire Eagle
People stand outside the former jail building on Second Street in Pittsfield, which houses renovated spaces for 2nd Street Second Chances. The program helps to serve the formerly incarcerated.
PITTSFIELD — When a person walks into 2nd Street Second Chances, there’s a good chance they may encounter Jason Reilly.
Reilly is one of four “community navigators” at the organization, where he helps residents reestablish themselves after they’re released from jail.
It’s a boots-on-the-ground job. On Monday, Reilly recounted the story of one man he supported early in his tenure. He remembers driving the man to a job interview, which ended up with him finding employment as a recovery coach. He adopted a dog, and adjusted.
“He was motivated, and I was more of a support person, pointing him in the right direction,” Reilly explained.
People took of tour of the Rotunda, one of the renovated spaces at 2nd Street Second Chances at the old jail in Pittsfield. The organization, which provides services to the formerly incarcerated, has significantly expanded its footprint in the facility.
Since the organization launched in 2022, employees have connected over 1,000 people with services to help them the ease back into community life, officials there say. According to Sheriff Thomas Bowler, 11 percent of them ultimately reoffended, a recidivism rate well below the countywide rate of 36 percent.
“It may be as simple as a ride to an interview or, as difficult as finding affordable housing in today’s economy,” Bowler told more than 100 people gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside the old jail.
Executive Director Lindsay Cornwell speaks during Monday's event celebrating the expansion of the 2nd Street Second Chances facility in the old jail in Pittsfield. She said the organization's mission is to offer "compassionate, non-judgemental care" to every person who walks through the door.
Also announced on Monday, the Sheriff’s Office will begin funding a large portion of 2nd Street’s $900,000 annual operating costs, which Gold expects may amount to approximately half of the organization’s expenses next fiscal year. Bowler said his office will fund the costs from its operating budget.
That means much of the funding for 2nd Street that now comes from private philanthropy and donors will shift to public dollars. Gold said it comes after 2nd Street proved its model of supporting reentry by bringing essential services under one roof.
The organization got off the ground with a $700,000 allotment of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funding, Gold said. It has also received major donations from over two dozen organizations and individuals, and money from the state’s Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program.
Tiffany Broulette is embraced by Sheriff Thomas Bowler during a ceremony at the former jail building in Pittsfield to celebrate the renovated spaces for 2nd Street Second Chances, a program that provides services to the formerly incarcerated. From left are Executive Director Lindsay Cornwell, board President Mark Gold, Broulette and Bowler.
It’s the type of support that Tiffany Broulette, once a client and now an intern with 2nd Street, said made all the difference when she was building her life after trauma and incarceration.
“I won’t say every day has been butterflies and rainbows,” she said, “but I will say, for the first time in my life, I’m not in a dark place.”