Pool Childcare Girls Inc. Camp About Ways to Give Mission and History Touching Lives for Over 100 Years Home / About / Mission and History Our Mission We are a multi-service organization empowering children and youth, with a special emphasis on girls, to become responsible, confident and personally fulfilled individuals. Our History For nearly a century, Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center has provided guidance, support, and advocacy for girls and their families. As one of Berkshire County’s largest social service organizations, the Brigham Center has touched countless lives through its wide range of programs and services. The Brigham Center had its beginning on Bank Row in 1911 as the Young Women’s Home Association, with 37 girls in its first days. It re-located to East Street in 1924. Facilities were expanded, first with a gymnasium and tennis court. In 1929, Camp Witawentin became the first resident camp for area girls, later joined by Camp Stevenson, the day camp. With General Electric providing the lead gift, the present building was opened in 1958, with the attached swimming pool. The Brigham Center continued to provide strong home economics & sports opportunities for girls, learning that girls needed new skills for long-term economic security. Adding value to community and market meant stronger, smarter & bolder supports, training and education. During the 1970s, the Brigham Center responded to changing community needs by implementing counseling and childcare programs, programs for single and teen parents, & other social services. In the last decade, the Brigham Center has expanded to develop athletics and more programs for adolescent girls. The gymnasium & swimming pool were restored. What We Offer: Our Programs Are Our Products During 2008, Berkshire United Way implemented an enhanced method for assessing community needs, tracking progress and communicating results. BUW sought broad based community input to develop an aspiration for the county and identify community needs and priorities to be considered for BUW investments. The aspiration, “Making Berkshire County a community of hope and opportunity, where every individual and family can live, work and thrive” is both inspirational and achievable. With strong community guidance as well as leveraging resources with the quality work completed by the Berkshire Compact for Higher Education and the Berkshire Blueprint, BUW believes that the best way to support this aspiration is to invest in the following priorities and outcomes: Helping Children and Families Succeed: supported by efforts to Advance Health and Wellness: All children will arrive at kindergarten ready to learn and all young adults will successfully transition to work, higher education or training. Promoting Financial Stability and Independence: All individuals are empowered to define and achieve their goals for financial independence and career success. Meeting Basic Needs: Individuals move from a crisis situation, where their basic needs are met by the “safety net” of service providers, to independently meeting their own needs and, individuals demonstrate an increased ability to manage family resources to meet basic needs (food, shelter, and healthcare) and/or plan to address other financial priorities. While the Brigham Community Center in some way touches upon all priorities our primary focus is on Helping Children and Families succeed. We respond to challenges with solutions – strengthening programs and services for changing local needs – and by actively seeking to serve a wider population through outreach programs and partnerships. We use positive Youth Development practices to provide supports to young people as they build their capacities and strengths to meet personal and social needs. We provide services and opportunities to support children and youth to develop a sense of a competency, worth, connective ness and empowerment. This approach is not a way to “fix troubled kids.” Rather, it is about people, programs, institutions and systems that provide all youth, “troubled” or not, with the supports and opportunities they need to empower themselves. The Brigham Community Center has skilled program staff that can provide such services to its children, youth and families. Gladys Allen Brigham 1899-1997 With her tireless efforts to nurture, enrich and unify a wide range of community organizations, Gladys Allen Brigham epitomized community service in Berkshire County. We are proud to dedicate the Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center in honor of her countless contributions to the health and welfare of this community. While raising two boys and two stepdaughters, Mrs. Brigham joined and held leadership positions on the volunteer boards of the Visiting Nurse Association, Girls' League, House of Mercy (predecessor of Berkshire Medical Center), and Council of Social Agencies. She became the first president of the Junior League of Pittsfield and was recognized in 1949 as one of 34 outstanding League members nationwide. Professionally, Mrs. Brigham served the community for 18 years as Executive Director of United Way's predecessor organization, United Community Services, Inc. At the time of her appointment in 1948 she was one of only five women nationally to direct a United Way - type operation. During her tenure, UCS-supported agencies grew from 17 to 26 and annual contributions nearly tripled. In 1965, City Savings Bank named her the first female Massachusetts savings bank incorporator. After retiring in 1966, Mrs. Brigham returned to many of the boards she had left two decades earlier to lead UCS. When Pittsfield General Hospital and St. Luke's Hospital merged in 1967 to form Berkshire Medical Center, she served as the first president of the newly combined auxiliary. In 1973, she played a major role in a successful Berkshire County Historical Society fundraising effort that enabled the organization to purchase Arrowhead, creating a Herman Melville museum and Society headquarters. She served as program chairman for the organization through much of the 1970s. Mrs. Brigham was active in the First Church of Christ, Congregational, in Pittsfield for 75 years. A 1921 Mount Holyoke College graduate, she received one of 29 special Centennial Awards given to distinguished alumnae on the college alumnae association's 100th anniversary in 1972. 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