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Date: 1/29/2020
HUNTINGTON – It Takes a Village, a non-profit organization that offers parenting resources and helps families to make essential community connections, has opened The Village Closet, its donation and distribution center in a space on the first floor of the Gateway Regional Middle School.
Mollie Hartford, co-director of It Takes a Village with Lisa Goding, said The Village Closet is full of new and used baby and kids clothing and supplies which are available to families. She said everything is 100 percent free with no income eligibility, and no residency requirements.
The Village Closet used to be located in the Old Berkshire Trail School in Cummington, but recently had to move from that space. Hartford said they had previously partnered with Gateway in presenting parenting workshops, and were close with the administration and pupil services.
“They offered us the space,” Hartford said. The Village Closet is stocked with new and used clothing, strollers, high chairs, linens, feeding supplies, bottles, books and toys. Hours are after school from 4 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays, or by appointment. The official opening is Feb. 13.
Gateway Superintendent David B. Hopson said It Takes a Village’s mission, to provide free postpartum and early parenting support and essential resources to families with babies and young children, is close to the needs in the community.
The Village Closet is in the same wing as the MS/HS preschool which is attached to the Chapter 74 Early Education and Childcare program. The Middle School is now located on the second floor of the building.
In addition to operating The Village Closet, It Takes a Village has a home visit program for families with babies under one year old. Hartford said families can get a volunteer from the hilltowns to come to their home in a neighbor to neighbor support system, available to anyone in the hilltowns
They also sponsor parent groups and workshops. Currently, they host parent groups in Ashfield, Cummington, and are starting up a group in Huntington later this spring.
In January, they hosted a workshop on Raising Resilient Children through Growth Mindset, led by Sean O’Neill, the Autism Specialist at the Gateway Regional School District, and Joyce Hanousek, the district’s Adjustment Counselor. Their workshops are free and open to the public, with food and childcare provided, and the information geared to parents and caregivers of children of all ages.
It Takes a Village is funded primarily by the United Way of Hampshire County and its longtime partners, the Hilltown Community Health Centers, Hartford said. More information on their programs may be found at hilltownvillage.org.