Berkshire County — The Berkshire Alliance to Support the Immigrant Community (BASIC) has started a new website with resources for immigrants.
The website includes multiple sections including a directory of resources for local education programs, health and safety, immigration and legal issues, and various family assistance resources. Also included on the website is a bulletin board with articles on immigration, including articles on understanding immigration statuses, understanding legal rights, and details on organizations with continuing education programs. The website also has a calendar that includes programs and events of interest to immigrants.
BASIC itself was formed in 2016 to bring together agencies that serve immigrants in Berkshire County. According to the website, BASIC is currently the only convener that meets across sectors with a focus on immigrants in Berkshire County.
Leigh Doherty is the Executive Director of the Literacy Network of South Berkshire and said that to get the website together, she worked together with Emma Lezberg from the Berkshire Immigrant Center and Becky Meier from Berkshire Community College’s adult English to Speakers of Other Languages program. “BASIC is made up of local people and organizations that care about the lives of immigrants in our community,” Doherty told The Berkshire Edge. “There are so many wonderful organizations that help immigrants in different ways and we all meet together once a month. It’s good for all of us to partner together.”
Doherty said that the website is multilingual and can be accessed in multiple languages. “I do think that the Berkshires is outstanding when it comes to our nonprofit offerings and our services,” she said. “It’s very impressive what is available here in Berkshire County when it comes to resources.”
Doherty said that an anonymous donor paid for the development of the website, which was created by Bostrom Graphics of California. “We are just a group of colleagues that want everything to be together when it comes to resources for immigrants,” she said. “The Berkshires does a wonderful job of welcoming immigrants, and we created this website to up our game even more. We are all very proud to be a community that welcomes our neighbors from around the world.”
Doherty said that BASIC plans to continue to grow this year with its services to immigrants. “We hope to have social media pages at some point this year,” she said. “There have also been discussions on events this year. We are always growing.”
For more information about BASIC go to its website.
