ABOUT US

SERVING THE BERKSHIRE IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY

BASIC LOGO

WE ARE BASIC

B-A-S-I-C stands for Berkshire Alliance to Support the Immigrant Community. BASIC was formed to support the Berkshire immigrant community shortly after the 2016 presidential election. Ilana Steinhauer, Neil Hirsch, and John Nelson organized the initial meetings. They sought to bring together the agencies that serve immigrants in Berkshire County. BASIC is currently the only convener that meets across sectors with the focus on immigrants in our community.

READ OUR STORY

WE STRIVE TO

  • Be free or reasonably-priced
  • Be welcoming and sensitive to the distinct needs of immigrants
  • Serve clients confidentially, respecting privacy and prioritizing safety
  • Accommodate the language needs of immigrants
  • Create spaces where immigrants feel seen, heard, and valued

WHO WE SERVE

ALL IMMIGRANTS

  • New to the Berkshires or here for decades
  • Undocumented or documented
  • All income levels, including no income
  • All languages
  • All ages

Every immigrant is welcome!

Dinner part in a large space with lots of people

BREAKING THE ICE

In 2020 BASIC sponsored Breaking the Ice which brought together 200 immigrants to discuss their experiences as immigrants in Berkshire County. A report from that gathering can be found here.

THE PANDEMIC

During the pandemic we worked to make sure we weren’t duplicating services and that we each let our clients know of all the available resources in the community. Since then, we did a mini survey of organizations that serve immigrants to see where there might be duplication and where there were gaps. Out of that work we formed several subcommittees.

COVID highlighted inequities that we all knew existed, and now we must ensure we are continuing to work towards a community where immigrants can thrive.  Our collective work becomes more powerful when we collaborate, communicate, and advocate together.

BASIC MEETINGS

Our BASIC meetings are held monthly on the first Tuesday of each month at 1pm via Zoom. Typically, we have about 15 agencies participate and the meetings last one hour. We have a listserv with about 100 members where we share information we think is important for the immigrant community.  We have no formal structure or legal entity, but have been able to get a lot of work done without either.

Please feel free to use the Contact Form if you’d like more information about the group.

Our special thanks to Pastor John Nelson for leading the initial effort towards building this website.