This week, CISA and partners launched the CISA Emergency Farm Fund, a revolving loan fund designed to help farmers recover from Hurricane Irene. The Fund will offer quick, zero-interest loans to assist farmers and farm businesses in the aftermath of the storm and flooding. Thanks to an anonymous donor who has put up a $50K match, CISA hopes to raise at least $100K for the fund, which will help farmers now and in the future.

CISA’s partners, Whole Foods Market, Equity Trust, and the anonymous donor, have made the launch of the Emergency Farm Fund possible. But a much wider circle of community support was also critical to our efforts. In the days following Hurricane Irene, a wide variety of people called the CISA office, asking how they could help farmers whose crops or land was damaged by the storm. Callers volunteered to help with clean-up or spread the word for impacted farmers. Several people suggested that a revolving loan fund could help farmers survive this and future emergencies.

Springfield Residents Urged to Show up and Be Heard at Neighborhood and Citywide Meetings

Rebuild Springfield Planning Meetings begin week of October 11
Springfield, Mass., October 6, 2011-Rebuild Springfield, an initiative of DevelopSpringfield and the Springfield Redevelopment Authority, kicks into high gear with the first series of three neighborhood meetings during the week of October 10th, followed by a citywide meeting on Saturday morning, October 15th. Residents and stakeholders are asked to help create a vision for Springfield that will ultimately help form the master plan for both the tornado-impacted and related areas of the City of Springfield.