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The Center is an agency of the Hampshire County United Way. It receives generous funding from the Town of Amherst and the Department of Mental Health.
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Amherst Survival Center
1200 North Pleasant Street
PO Box 9629
North Amherst, MA 01059-9629413-549-3968
email: ASC@rcn.com
When
AdministrativeSchedule
Weekdays 9 am-3 pm.
Also Thursday 3-7 pm.
Public Schedule
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 11 am-2 pm.
Lunch at 12 noon.
Also Thursday until 7 pm
Wednesday CLOSED
Who
Primarily for people from :
Amherst, Belchertown, Deerfield, Hadley
Leverett, Pelham, Shutesbury, Sunderland
Since its start in 1976, the Center has been a welcoming environment where families and individuals come together to share material resources, information, companionship and support. People of all backgrounds and abilities are invited to make use of our services, to volunteer, to come for lunch, just to drop in and say, "hello." ASC is a nonprofit agency supported by contributions from many community friends. Most donations come from individual donors. Local grocers and businesses, community and religious groups, and individuals provide goods and services as well as financial support.
* Free Medical Clinic Monday 11:30-1:30 (Dr. Lowry) and Thursday 5-6 (Dr. Clapp)
* Salvation Army Services Tues 1-1:30 or by appointment - vouchers for basic needs, prescriptions, clothing, etc.
* Case Manager available Thursday 12-5 to work with homeless consumers. (Eliot Human Services)
* BAKED GOODS and FRESH
PRODUCE are collected Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, courtesy of Bread
& Circus, Stop & Shop, Atkins Farm, Henion Bakery, and Trader Joe's.
DISTRIBUTION starts at 11 am on those days.
* LUNCH is from 12 noon to 1 p.m., Mon., Tues., Thurs., and Friday. Call 549-3968
ext 203 for details.
* Our FOOD PANTRY provides nutritional staples to eligible families and individuals.
Please, contact us for details, 549-3968 ext 204.
* CLOTHING & HOUSEHOLD GOODS: Everyone who comes to the Center may select
clothing, house wares, and personal items. We try to accommodate emergency requests.
549-3968 ext 206.
* DROP-IN CENTER: The Center provides a friendly, supportive environment for
a wide variety of people including those who feel isolated because of circumstances
of disability, poverty, and cultural differences.
* INFORMATION & REFERRAL SERVICES: Our staff can help find the right person
or program for you in your particular situation.
We gratefully accept financial
donations,
but we also rely on contributions of goods and services.
DONATIONS
Toys are no longer accepted due to the 2007 recalls.
We welcome clean and usable:
* Season-appropriate clothing
* Linens
* Dishes
* Cookware
* Small appliances in good working order, and not damaged.
* Fresh, frozen, canned, and dried food.
* Furniture: Although we don't have space for furniture or large appliances, we do have a program that matches people who have large items to donate with people in need of those items. Please contact us to set up a match.
PLEASE
VOLUNTEERS
We are always looking for volunteers to sort clothing, prepare lunch, pick up food donations, enter data, assist with the regularly scheduled jobs, or help with an unexpected need. People with computer proficiency, fundraising, and carpentry knowledge are especially needed.
Are you interested in helping out? We want to hear from you. To talk about volunteering individually or with your group, please call our Assistant Director, Tracey, at 549-3968, ext. 205.
The ASC is a little over two miles north of the Amherst Common. Or, if you are coming by car from the vicinity of Hadley, take Route 9 to Route 116 north (near Staples). At the first light turn right (North) onto Meadow Street. Go almost half a mile, then turn left onto North Pleasant St. Before the fork in the road go left into our parking lot near the children’s play yard. We are in the basement of the brick building and our entrance is on the south side of the building.
These three buses stop near the ASC:
Sunderland / South Amherst #31 schedule
Pine Street / Mill Hollow - UMass #33 schedule
South Deerfield / UMass #46 schedule
We provide not only food and clothing but community, companionship, and relief from isolation that too often plagues our elderly, disabled, poor, and people in transition.
The food pantry offers once a month food boxes for people striving to make ends meet; a free store for clothing donated by the community; a noon meal which usually includes high protein vegetarian as well as meat dishes; daily distribution of day old bread, fruit and vegetables. These services are on weekdays, except Wednesday.
We also provide an opportunity for people of all ability levels and backgrounds to volunteer.
The Amherst Survival Center was started in 1976 as a center for people who are unable to make ends meet. A welfare mother named Jane Holappa had a vision and determination, and what you see today is what has grown out of that dream.
Our basic mission is to provide a place where the vast surplus wealth of our community can be harnessed, harvested, and recycled into the hands of those who need it most. See below for more info.
Everyone is welcome to volunteer, regardless of ability levels or background. We are always looking for new volunteers to sort clothing, prepare lunch, pick up food donations, enter data, or do one of the regularly scheduled jobs or help with an unexpected need. People with special skills such as computer proficiency, grant-writing, events organizing and carpentry are always encouraged to volunteer. Those with strong backs and/or moving vehicles(light trucks, vans, etc.) are also needed. Are you interested in helping out by lending your talents? We want to hear from you. To talk about volunteering individually or with a group, please call our Assistant Director, Dennis, at 549-3968, Extension 205.
Volunteers, High Protein Food, Fundraising. Donations of Goods, Services, & Money.
For a food box you need to bring a picture identification and a proof of address. Picture ID could be a Mass ID, Drivers License, Passport, or Welfare Card with a photo on it. Proof of address can be a Rental Lease, Mass Drivers License, Library Card, or Passport.
PLEASE BRING
DONATIONS during our administrative hours. Tax receipts can be provided.
AFTER-HOURS DONATIONS of clothing may be put in the blue bin on the north side
of the building.
PLEASE never leave anything on the ground OUTSIDE the center's building.
We CANNOT use:
* Toys due to the 2007 recalls
* Packaged food that has been opened
* Mattresses
* Clothing that is ripped, stained, or unusable
* Appliances that are in need of repair
* Car seats
We have a community bulletin board that lists large items. For example, folks who need a bed post this on our board and call in regularly to see if we have located their wanted item. Anyone who has furniture to donate simply lists it on our bulletin board and a match is soon made. Let us know what you need. The late May and early April Trash to Treasures events are fundraisers selling donate furniture at reasonable prices. The location is the Amherst Town Common.
When, and only when, we have surplus, we donate to support local agencies within our community. In the past we have been able to send pants to homeless shelters and out of season shoes to Nicaragua following the hurricane Mitch aftermath. If you have a special request, you are welcome to sign up for this program. Again, items are available on a surplus basis only.
Annual Appeal and other
gifts
Respond to the annual appeal, designate ASC when you contribute to UMACC, COMECC (for MA state employees) or United Way, and/or think of ASC when writing your will or making your estate plans. OR celebrate a special occasion by asking your friends to give checks to the ASC in your name in place of gifts.
Trash to Treasures
This is a giant furniture sale on the Amherst Town Common in early September. Furniture is donated by, and sold to, the community. Volunteers will pick up your furniture for a small fee. Call 549-3968 ext 206 a few weeks ahead to arrange a pick up.
Donating goods
info
A chart of the value of donated goods is at www.satruck.com/valueguide.asp
The Mission
To provide a welcoming community where families and individuals who are struggling to make ends meet can come for food and clothing, for companionship and relief from isolation, and to share their material resources, information, concerns and frustrations. No one is turned away. An equally important function of the Center is to help people move beyond a condition of need, to help them to help themselves and each other.
Volunteering is encouraged among all who want to play a bigger part in the cycle of giving and receiving that defines the Center.
A Little History
The Amherst Survival Center was started in response to a growing phenomenon of homelessness and poverty in central Massachusetts. Increasing unemployment, cuts in welfare spending, and the closing of institutional state facilities with the subsequent transfer of residents into the community were major factors that contributed to this growing population. As they had historically, people in need turned to the local churches. The response was forthcoming, as had been in the past. But by 1975 the complexity and duration of the situation was apparent, and at a meeting at town hall the Survival Center was created in response to this need. Initially it consisted of a telephone and storage space in the basement of a house, thereafter moving to Jones Library. Five months later the Town of Amherst provided space in the brick school at North Amherst Center, where it exists today with a much-expanded program.
In 2001, the 25th anniversary celebration honored founder Jane Holappa.
