CVCAC Opens Outreach
At Hillside in Chelsea

A new outreach office for Community Action has been established at the Hillside Homes Family Center in Chelsea, sharing office space there with Head Start.

The office will be staffed by Amy Perez on Monday mornings to coincide with the time that the Agency of Human Services outposts economics services staff to Chelsea.

The office will also be used by Shannon Tzrinske to provide housing services by appointment on Wednesday afternoons.

The towns of Chelsea, Tunbridge, and Vershire will be served via this office. Residents from those towns may also utilize the Randolph office at Ayers Brook Center for assistance that can’t wait for Monday.

Providing services from the Chelsea office is an attempt to bring services closer to people at a time that transportation costs are soaring.

Amy Perez has participated in the monthly CARE (Chelsea Area Resource Exchange) meetings convened by Cornelia Cesari, Orange County Parent Child Center. The group works together to address the needs of people in the community.

Through CARE, Perez participates in discussion about what to do with the CARE grant.  They are hoping to leverage funds by addressing multiple problems.

A youth program is under development—the group wants to pair youth with mentors who may teach them a skill. Additionally, the youth would volunteer for elders and anyone else in need, thereby creating a bond between young and old.

Other plans include creating activities to strengthen families, and work on transportation issues in many different areas. 

Perez also shares information between CARE and the Randolph Area Resource Exchange, a newly formed group of service providers working to solve housing issues in the greater Randolph area.

She has also worked with the Chelsea Town Clerk and the food shelf director in Tunbridge to explain how CVCAC might help their communities and also to discover the needs of the community.  She and Carol Flint met with the co-directors of the Orange County Parent Child Center to market services that might be useful to Reach Up participants served by the OCPCC. She is currently in discussion with the pastor of the United Church of Chelsea and their food shelf coordinator to work out ways to share resources for those in need.

Accounts are active at two small stores in Chelsea. The stores provide groceries, diapers, kerosene, and diesel fuel.

"This will enable us to provide immediate, discretionary assistance for families in crisis," Perez said.

She can be reached at aperez@cvcac.org or by calling 685-3178.