Great Barrington — Literal ties to the community are what has kept Construct, Inc., the Great Barrington non-profit dedicated to helping those in need to rebuild their lives, remain strong for more than four decades. This year’s 28th annual walk, on Sunday, September 25, invites the community to STEP UP to honor Cara Davis and her 26 years at Construct preventing homelessness and providing emergency services to hundreds of families in the Southern Berkshires. The event that will begin at Berkshire South Regional Community Center and end at the Great Barrington Fair Grounds, will mark Davis’ last as Executive Director; she is slated to step down at the end of November, after more than 26 years of service to this venerable South County organization.
On Thursday afternoon, just days before the organization’s big event, the climate at 41 Mahaiwe Street in Great Barrington was surprisingly quiet and organized., Davis, a humble woman with kind eyes and a warm smile, ushered me across the expansive front porch at one of two transitional housing units while the quiet rush of traffic on Route 23 could be heard in the distance. A stack of empty waxed produce boxes, waiting to be refilled by Gideon’s Garden at Taft Farms, was piled in the foyer. When asked about what will be the end of an era for her at Construct, Davis chuckled. “A founder needs to found [an organization] and move on,” she says, recognizing the importance of making room for both “diversified energy and creative imagination,” integral elements to the leadership position of any organization if it is to remain vital and organic. Davis, who founded the current programming at Construct, including transitional and crisis services, will serve as Executive Director until the end of November; she is currently training Jane Ralph, over the course of a two or three month overlap, as part of the organization’s succession plan.
Construct began in the late 1960s as a local study group of clergy and lay persons that met to examine south Berkshire County community issues. Group members soon identified affordable housing as a critical need. Amid the prosperity and singular culture of the Berkshires, it was clear that affordable housing was beyond the reach of many residents and workers, especially minorities. By 1970, the group had incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit under the name of Construct Inc. The organization quickly focused on buying and improving rundown properties and, at no profit, renting units to low-income tenants and selling houses to first-time homeowners. Over the next decade, Construct’s name increasingly became synonymous with help for housing in the region. In 1989, current Executive Director Cara Davis arrived at Construct with a vision for comprehensive transitional shelter programs for people who were homeless or in need.
“It is usually a housing issue that brings someone [to Construct], and then we decide what to do,” says Davis. Under the umbrella of housing issues falls a house needing improvement, a home needing to be brought up to code, an individual finding himself almost out of housing to a house being in foreclosure, a home without heat, or a furnace that is about to break down. Perhaps it has been the creation of transitional housing for men, and the women’s house next door, that have been some of Davis’ proudest accomplishments. These projects — truly brought to fruition by a “community effort” done almost entirely by volunteers — have, by Davis’ estimation, “made a difference in a lot of people’s lives who have come through here.” The transitional housing, which can accommodate five men and five women at any given time, might serve 30-40 individuals over the course of a year. Often there are no rooms available, so there is a huge wait list all the time. The average stay is about 6-7 months long, so the turnover is not quick. On the housing development front, Pinewoods stands out for Davis. The experience working with the Town of Stockbridge, the Stockbridge Land Trust, and the project’s development partners was a “big, bold undertaking for [Construct].”
When asked about the community’s awareness of homelessness in Southern Berkshire County, Davis has two answers. She cites board members, who report running into individuals, who remark, “How can there possibly be homelessness in South Berkshire [County]?” On the other hand, Davis trusts “there is enormous awareness of Construct…and a tremendous contributing base of people” largely fueled by the “interfaith community.” Davis goes on to make a correlation between local awareness and word of mouth. As a result of the Berkshires falling outside of traditionally urban areas, “our homeless are invisible, hidden” says Davis. Furthermore, “what [tourists] see is this beautiful community, that appears to be so affluent.” What often goes unnoticed are the myriad individuals who work in the service and hospitality industries, at entry level jobs, who are struggling. The housing here is expensive and the jobs don’t pay enough to retain that housing. Add to that other complications, running the gamut from illness, accidents and addiction to mental illness, divorce and death, scenarios “that knock people off their economic and stable centers and [causing] their housing [to be] at risk” Davis says. Unfortunately, much of this goes unnoticed as it is such a beautiful community.
Davis, originally from Aurora, Ohio and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania,
came to the Berkshires with her then husband, Church Davis, who grew up in Pittsfield. Davis shares that she, “originally came back to the Berkshires to create a vineyard with [her husband’s] family….[where] they planted ten acres of grapes” on what was an old family homestead in Lee.
Much to their collective dismay, “they were French hybrid grapes, [there was] not much of a market, and the wine was headache material.” Add to that the fact that raising children required jobs, neither which proved terribly conducive to life on a vineyard. Some might claim that Davis’ failed venture as a vintner was the boon of so many. Her years of accumulated information, wisdom and experience… “from doing this work for so long” has gotten Construct to a point where it could go to the next level of capacity, although Davis admits to not knowing exactly what that is.
Davis is clear, however, as to the challenges facing the South Berkshire community on the eve of her departure from Construct: “Without jobs that pay a living wage, without jobs with upward mobility…it’s really hard, it’s impossible” she trails off. Davis cites the need for economic development, insofar as needing a base other than the tourism industry, to sustain the area. She harkens back to a time when manufacturing used to be the place where individuals could get good jobs to support their families; there was opportunity “to be loyal to jobs, and move up from being on the line to being a foreman to a manager.” Today, Davis points out that many “folks who are creative and hardworking” fall into self-employment and entrepreneurial kinds of endeavors — building, lawn care services, housekeeping and snow plowing — where there is ostensibly more opportunity. Unfortunately, when there is a bad season or a turn in the economy, it is really hard on this self-employed population who, ironically, do not show up in the unemployment figures. This past winter, recalls Davis, is an excellent example of the conundrum that abounds locally: “A light winter means everyone has enough fuel in their tanks, but the entire group who is dependent on winter occupations was out of work.” And therein lies the crux of the burden.
Davis, in looking ahead to November, says she will miss her staff, one she describes as “loyal and long term.” So many of them, “helped to create this with me” she says, glancing around the tranquil meeting space where we sit. “Most importantly” she notes, “I will miss the people we work with [who] are so diverse” she says, her voice trailing off. “I am in awe of their resilience, their sense of human dignity…[and the fact that] they hate like heck to have to come and ask for help.” Sunday afternoon, as the community rallies around Cara Davis, the “thank you’s will be reciprocal; Davis looks forward to her chance to say thank you to the myriad individuals, walkers and volunteers who have made her 26 years at Construct possible. “Being with people in crisis is a very, very profound experience and I honor that,” she explains. “It’s always a privilege and an honor to sit and talk with [the population Construct serves] to try and come up with solutions,” she adds. And so, in this vein, it will be a reciprocal honoring. “Everything I know I’ve learned from the people who have come here for help, [individuals] trying to make it in this community,” she says.
And just like that, it comes back to community ties. Leaving the building, strung from a rope between newel posts on the front porch, hangs a panoply of colored fabric scraps. At first glance, they are faded and weather worn. Upon closer examination, each bears a message, penned by community members at the annual walk. The messages of hope, literal community “ties,” are secured to the veritable clothesline so that those who come to Construct, in need of support, might “feel held by the community” and “feel empowered or inspired or comforted” as a result. Upon leaving I observe Davis, as if in a reverie, inspecting the messages, so many of which are faded and nearly illegible. “Love” she reads, “Stay strong!” she calls out. “You are important,” she adds, reading from another remnant. “[The messages] keep getting renewed” Davis gushes, “and my work has been transient, too.” Fluttering away, in the late September breeze, are gorgeous pieces of art that are transient, just as we all are, poised as a fitting reminder of the important work being done at Construct, not only by Cara Davis but also those who will succeed her legacy.
