There is a small, all-volunteer organization in our community that you may never have heard of — the Foundation for Community Justice.

Franklin County is well known for its incredible organizations and spirit of community volunteerism. This organization was started more than 20 years ago by community leaders to help the region heal from trauma. Our mission is to help our neighbors with tangible support and encouragement in their time of need, through small grants that can make a big difference.

These range from supporting people recently released from jail with gifts of basic needs before social services kick in such as a gas card to get to a job or medical appointments or to pay for getting an ID. We also have supported individuals through police referrals to help people repair property damage when no one has been charged. Another focus is to offer educational programs that unite community members, or offer some joy to local families in need.

As a nonprofit organization, we are grateful for individuals who donate to support our mission, and for grants received in partnership with other organizations like the Opioid Task Force, which has given the foundation money for camperships for the last two years. Last year we helped 17 families send children to summer camp; this year we funded awards for 103 children to go to camp!

One of the mini-grants we provided that illustrates how small funds can make a big difference was for someone that needed to have follow-up drug testing to maintain custody of her children. Her initial test had come back positive. She knew she was sober, but the testing site doesn’t retest upon request. We paid for another test and it was negative. She was able to keep her family intact.

Another example of our grant-making was to pay for books for a program called “Changing Lives through Literature” where District and Superior court defendants are joined in a book reading club with probation officers, judges and faculty members from Greenfield Community College. It has truly changed lives. Participants treated each other as equals, and everyone felt heard. They had conversations with each other they never dreamed they could have. Many went on to continue their education after this experience.

We are a fully volunteer-run organization with no paid staff, and have been working together to fulfill our mission for more than 20 years. Current board members are Anne Diemand Bucci, Andrea Carlin, Josephine Burnett, Ricky Baruc, Lucinda Brown, Court Dorsey, Sherry Guyer-Woods, Susan Mailler, John Paganetti and Jamie Woods, representing many experiences and communities across the region.

We would love to invite those interested in learning more about the Foundation for Community Justice to a special event held at Diemand Farm in Wendell on Aug. 13 from 3 to 5 pm. The foundation is having a community gathering with live music by local band 2 Car Garage. There will be snacks and “Stories from the Porch,” where attendees will learn about the foundation and listen to community members who have been involved in all aspects of the group.

To learn more about our event and to RSVP, visit healingfranklincounty.com or call Anne at 413-522-4453.

Anne M. Diemand Bucci of Wendell is board president at the Foundation for Community Justice and owner of Diemand Farm in Millers Falls.

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