Since 2019, western Massachusetts has been served by 413CARES.org, a database of resources in several important categories including, but not limited to: food, housing, transportation, caregiver support, mental health, substance use, reentry, digital resources, and mentoring.
In 2023 they launched a campaign to grow awareness and invite organizations and agencies to create accounts and enter programs (or, for agencies with programs already listed, to “claim” them and manage their information regularly).
This effort has been working, and they have seen significant increase in engagement from both organizations who contribute their program information and users who search the database and make referrals.
Their community education campaign, funded by a grant from Baystate Health, is still active, and they have collected data on how the database is being used.
COA staff in W. MA can use this and ensure that their COA’s programs are listed so that residents of their regions can learn about them when needed! I suggest giving it a whirl to see how many programs come up when you type in a key word!
There are many ways to learn more about this resource, including video tutorials and scheduling a training.
Give it a whirl!
