DIAL/SELF is a community-based non-profit agency that has been serving the youth and communities of Western MA since 1977. It provides a wide array of services that foster youth empowerment and community service. Over the course of the last four decades, more than 40,000 area youth have been served by the agency in Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties and the North Quabbin region. Its mission is to help young people become independent by connecting them with housing, employment, education and civic opportunities. Services and opportunities include drop-in sites, street outreach, help with basic needs like food, hygiene, help navigating educational and work goals, and help with housing, such as emergency shelter, family reunification, kinship housing, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing. 

DIAL/SELF has case managers and outreach staff that are available in Franklin and Hampshire County, and DS AmeriCorps members each year also serve at schools and agencies in Hampden County.

It is currently fundraising to continue construction on its Northampton Teen Housing location in Northampton MA, located near Smith Vocational High School. This location is conveniently located near an urgent care facility, a bus route, and multiple schools. The building (shown in an architect’s rendition, below) will be adjacent to DIAL/SELF’s recently renovated four-bedroom / two-apartment building.

This additional building will consist of four single-bedroom efficiency units, as well as a program space for staff to work with youth. The primary goal for this building is to expand the housing options for homeless and at-risk youth in Hampshire County. The apartments will be fully furnished with three-month auto-renewing leases, and rent will be based on what the youth are able to afford. These three-month auto-renewing leases will provide youth with greater flexibility than a traditional one year lease.

For more information visit http://www.dialself.org/NorthamptonTeenHousingProject.html