October 1, 2024
Spectrum News
2nd Street Second Chances expanded its facility to help welcome new clients.
What You Need To Know
2nd Street Second Chances works with current and formerly incarcerated individuals.
They help people by giving them different resources to help them succeed.
They recently expanded their facility.
The expansion helps with their growing need and to make it a better environment.
The space recently expanded their operations from 1,500 to 4,600 square feet to help meet the growing need for their services and make it a better environment.
“We tried to do a little bit of a revamping, revibing, creating a more comfortable welcoming space. Obviously it is an old jail so it has some history behind it. People were familiar with this space as being a jail so we wanted to change the vibe here basically to make it more welcoming and less intimidating for our clients to come,” said 2nd Street Second Chances Executive Director Lindsay Cornwell.
The nonprofit assists people with mental and medical health, job training, legal services, housing and more. The Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office will start funding 2nd Street’s $900,000 annual operating cost.
“We were able to show the state, ‘hey this program is making a difference, this program is tying into community safety, it’s helping people stay out of jail, it’s saving money in other ways, and that actually was helpful in us being able to be funded by the sheriff’s department,” Cornwell said.
Tiffany Brouillette used their services years after being released and is now an intern at 2nd Street Second Chances.
She wishes the program had been around when she was originally being released from custody.
“There was many times when I got out of jail and had nowhere to go, and I was homeless, no family, and I would go back to the streets, you know? I would go back where I knew best. I always say I wish this place was here 10-15 years ago,” Brouillette said.
Brouillette started as a client two years ago and appreciates the love and support she has been given from Second Chances, who she says never turns anyone away.
“This place I’ve never seen anybody turned away. People come here all day long and they get help, you know what I’m saying? And if it wasn’t for them here to advocate for people in the community, then this community would not be succeeding the way it is,” Brouillette said.
2nd Street Second Chances recently reached 1,000 clients served since opening in July 2022 and is starting a mentorship program for incarcerated individuals.