MORNING SESSIONS

8:30 a.m.    REGISTRATION AND BREAKFAST

8:50 a.m.    WELCOME
                   Clare Higgins, Executive Director, Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire, and North Quabbin Regions  
                   Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire and North Quabbin Regions

9:00 a.m.    WHERE DO WE STAND? THE SCOPE OF FOOD INSECURITY IN MASSACHUSETTS AND THE U.S.
                    Ellen Vollinger, Legal Director, Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)
                    Sarah Cluggish, Senior Advisor, Project Bread

9:30 a.m.    WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW? CURRENT STATEWIDE INITIATIVES TO ADDRESS HUNGER & HEALTHY FOOD ACCESS
                     Moderator:
                    Ellen Vollinger, Legal Director, Food Research and Action Center (FRAC)

                    Speakers:
                    Patricia Baker, Senior Policy Analyst Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
                    Maddie Ribble, MPH, Director of Public Policy and Campaign Strategy, Massachusetts Public Health Association
                    Frank Martinez Nocito, Assistant Director, SNAP Nutrition Education, MA Department of Transitional Assistance
                    Winton Pitcoff, Project Manager, Massachusetts Food Systems Plan

10:30 a.m.   BREAK

10:45 a.m.   MORNING WORKSHOPS   
                    See the "Morning Workshops" tab for more details

LUNCH AND KEYNOTE SPEAKER

12:00 p.m.   BUFFET LUNCH AND NETWORKING

12:30 p.m.     KEYNOTE SPEAKER
                     Deborah A. Frank, MD

                    "FOOD IS THE CHEAPEST MEDICINE: HUNGER AND HEALTH"

                    Introduction by:
                   Carol Tienken, Chief Operating Officer, The Greater Boston Food Bank   

Bio of Deborah A. Frank, MD
Dr. Frank is the founder and a Principal Investigator of Children’s HealthWatch. She graduated from Radcliffe College Summa Cum Laude in 1970. In 1976, she graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency at Children’s Orthopedic Hospital in Seattle, Washington from 1976-79. She served as a fellow from 1979-1981 under Dr. T. Berry Brazelton at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and later as the staff physician on the Failure to Thrive (FTT) Team there. In 1981, she founded the Grow Clinic for Children at Boston Medical Center, a national model for treating FTT. In 1998, she founded Children’s HealthWatch. A Professor of Child Health and Well-Being at Boston University School of Medicine, Dr. Frank has written numerous scientific articles and papers and has served on National Institutes of Health Scientific Study sections.

Dr. Frank has also appeared before the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate to give testimony regarding the food assistance programs and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. She has received numerous awards. In November 2010, she received the Physician Advocacy Merit Award from the Institute on Medicine as a Profession. In 2014 she was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps’ Embracing the Legacy Award, the American Medical Association Dr. Debasish Mridha Spirit of Medicine Award, and the Congressional Hunger Center’s Bill Emerson and Mickey Leland Hunger Award. Also in 2014, Dr. Frank was named to the National Commission on Hunger by Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

AFTERNOON SESSIONS

1:15 p.m.     AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS 
                    See the "Afternoon Workshops" tab for more details

2:45 p.m.     CLOSING REMARKS
                     Congressman James McGovern

                    Introduction by:
                    Jean McMurray, Executive Director, Worcester County Food Bank   

Bio of Congressman McGovern
Since his election in 1996, Congressman Jim McGovern has been widely recognized as a tenacious advocate for his district, a tireless crusader for change, and an unrivaled supporter for social justice and fundamental human rights.

Currently serving his ninth term in Congress, McGovern serves as the second ranking Democrat on the powerful House Rules Committee, which sets the terms for debate and amendments on most legislation; and a member of the House Agriculture Committee. In 2014, McGovern was named Democratic Ranking Member on the House Committee on Agriculture’s Subcommittee on Nutrition. The Subcommittee’s jurisdiction includes policies and statutes relating to nutrition, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and domestic commodity distribution and consumer initiatives. McGovern is also co-chair of both the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Over the past 16 years, McGovern has consistently delivered millions of dollars for jobs, vital local and regional projects, small businesses, public safety, regional and mass transportation projects, and affordable housing around Massachusetts. 

McGovern has also taken a leadership role in the fight against hunger at home and abroad, successfully expanding the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program, which helps alleviate child hunger and poverty by providing nutritious meals to children in schools in the world’s poorest countries.

Starting on February 5th, 2013, Congressman McGovern began a series of speeches focused on why we must "End Hunger Now." These speeches focus on important federal initiatives to increase food security and highlight successful programs around the state.

3:15 p.m.   WHAT DO WE DO NEXT? REPORTING PRIORITIES FROM WORKSHOPS AND NEXT STEPS   

Holly Kosisky, Coordinator of Asset Development and Community Collaborations, Community Action
Janna Tetreault, Assistant Director of Community Services & Asset Development, Community Action

The conference will conclude with the reporting of the list of priorities identified in each workshop as the next critical steps toward promoting the solutions explored throughout the day. We will also share ways to stay connected and access the presentations after the conference.

MORNING WORKSHOPS
10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 
You will be asked to rank your top 3 choices during registration. We will do our best to accommodate your first choice.

1) INITIATIVES TO INCREASE FEDERAL NUTRITION BENEFITS FOR LOW-WAGE WORKING FAMILIES, LOW-INCOME STUDENTS, AND UNEMPLOYED INDIVIDUALS
This workshop will focus on state-wide initiatives to improve access to Federal nutrition benefits for low income college students and low-income working families, as well as discuss strategies to manage the impact of the January 2016 Federal 3-month SNAP time limit on single unemployed individuals. 

Moderator:
Pat Baker, Senior Policy Analyst, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute

Speakers:
Lauren Arms Ledwith, SNAP Director, MA Department of Transitional Assistance
Sara Grow, Director of Advocacy and Development, The Open Door Food Pantry, Gloucester
Dr. Kathleen O’Neill, Director, Single Stop, Bunker Hill Community College

2) BRINGING HEALTHIER FOOD CHOICES AND NUTRITION EDUCATION TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
This workshop will explore innovative approaches to improving healthy food choices in public schools including farm to cafeteria programs and Project Bread’s Chefs in Schools program. We will also look at how USDA Child Nutrition Programs can support healthy communities and academic programming with healthier food choices in schools and beyond. 

Moderator:
Alicia McCabe, Massachusetts Director, Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry

Speakers:
Lisa Damon, Western Mass Program Director, Massachusetts Farm to School
Donna M. Lombardi, M.Ed, Director of Child Nutrition Programs, Worcester Public Schools
Guy Koppe, Administrative Chef, Project Bread

3) LOCAL SOLUTIONS FOR ACCESSING HEALTHY FOOD IN UNDER-SERVED COMMUNITIES
Many urban and rural communities do not have easy access to a full-service grocery store, let alone alternatives for healthy, local fare, such as food co-ops and farmer’s markets. This workshop will provide examples of local solutions to improve food equity and access in underserved communities through grass roots organizing, education, advocacy, and explore creative solutions such as urban farming and mobile markets.

Moderator:
Frank Martinez Nocito, Assistant Director, SNAP Nutrition Education, MA Department of Transitional Assistance

Speakers:
Karen Voci, President, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation
Nataka Crayton, TSS Coordinator, Urban Farming Institute, Farmer and Chef  
Liz Wills-O’Gilvie, Springfield Food Policy Council

4) INCREASING FOOD SECURITY BY INCREASING HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIC SECURITY 
This workshop examines how we can address the broadening wage gap in Massachusetts, thereby increasing household resources for food and other basic needs. Presenters will provide a greater understanding of economic injustices that are embedded in our labor practices and tax code, and participants will discuss a range of possible policy solutions.

Moderator:
Liz Sheehan Castro, Director, Worcester Food & Active Living Policy Council

Speakers:
Kurt Wise, Senior Policy Analyst, Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center
Helen Scharber, Assistant Professor of Economics, Hampshire College   

5) PROMISING PRACTICES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER  
Promising Practices provides an opportunity to have several short, intimate discussions with a range of innovative Practitioners from across the state. Local projects will be featured that are breaking new ground in increasing food security, access and nutrition education in our communities.

Conference attendees who select Promising Practices in the morning or afternoon session will rotate between tables at 15 minute intervals. Table hosts will share their work and lead a short discussion with the 6-8 people at their table. Participants will have the opportunity to network, compare notes, and gather new ideas to bring back to their communities.

Morning Promising Practices include:

Rachel's Table, Springfield
An organization dedicated to alleviating hunger and eliminating food waste in Western Massachusetts. They will be featuring their Daily Food Rescue, Gleaning, Teen Board and Foodraiser programs. 

Community Action's Center for Self-Reliance Food Pantry, Greenfield and Shelburne Falls
The Center for Self-Reliance is a food pantry serving the Franklin County/North Quabbin area. The free-choice pantry provides a wide range of traditional ‘pantry items’ plus fresh produce. The practices they will feature are their Farmers Market Coupon distribution, in association with the Free Harvest Supper Committee, and their crock pot cooking demonstrations, recipes and give-aways.

Regional Environmental Council, Worcester
REC is a grassroots environmental justice organization dedicated to building healthy, sustainable and just communities in Worcester and beyond for more than 40 years. They will feature incentive programs at community and mobile farmer's markets and youth employment and education in food security initiatives.

Growing Places, Leominster
Growing Places increases access to and affordability of fresh, healthy foods through hands-on education and training in community-based teaching gardens. They will share their efforts to address food insecurity by building the skills and confidence of low-income households to grow, harvest and use their own fresh produce.

Food for Free, Cambridge
Food For Free responds to local hunger by rescuing fresh food--that might otherwise go to waste--and distributing it within the local emergency food system where it can reach those in need. They will feature their practice of collecting surplus prepared food from universities and supermarkets and repackaging them into individual and family sized meals to distribute to those currently lacking access to healthy food or the ability to cook healthy meals from scratch.

Our Neighbors' Table, Amesbury
Our Neighbors’ Table provides hunger relief to the Lower Merrimack Valley through our prepared meals and food pantry programs. Their programs operate in our central location downtown Amesbury as well in four community-based locations and door-to-door home delivery programs. The programs that they will feature include their long-standing commitment to free-client-choice in their pantries, and to maximizing access to fresh foods. In five years, Our Neighbors' Table has nearly eliminated all canned foods from the preparation of theirmeal program, shifting to fresh or frozen meats, fish, and vegetables.

Church of the Holy Spirit Summer Food Service Program, Food4Kids, Orleans
Church of the Holy Spirit is the legal sponsor of the Federal Child Nutrition program (SFSP) under USDA. Food4Kids is the name of their sponsorship which for the last 3 years has served the rural area of the Lower/Outer Cape Cod from Chatham to Provincetown. They have grown from 4 sites to 14 sites during these 3 years. This program is an example of a faith/based federal partnership of the Summer Food Service Program which has successfully started and grown where no children were benefiting from it before. Many sponsorships nationwide start and fail because often the reimbursement is not enough to run the program. They hope that others can learn from their success.

The Somerville Mobile Farmers' Market, Somerville
The Somerville Mobile Farmers’ Market is a collaboration between the City of Somerville’s Shape Up Somerville office and local nonprofit Groundwork Somerville to help bridge the gap in healthy food access. The mobile market sources produce from within Massachusetts, including from Groundwork Somerville’s own urban farm, and offers a matching program for anyone using SNAP, WIC, farmers’ market coupons, or lives in the two housing developments in Somerville.

Target: Hunger North Berkshire
Target: Hunger will share their unique community organizing process involving multiple agencies, individuals, and municipal government. It has resulted in numerous programs and initiatives that tackle food insecurity from many angles.

Just Roots, Greenfield
Just Roots' goal is to increase knowledge about and demand for local food in Franklin County. The Greenfield Community Farm is the centerpiece of their work. They will be featuring their Just Soup initiative and the Donor Supported Shares program.

Bill Emerson Food Donation Act Awareness Campaign, UMass Amherst
The Bill Emerson Food Donation Act (BEA) allows for the donation of excess edible food to non-profit agencies. This campaign seeks to highlight the bill through outreach to restaurants and other businesses to promote donation of food that is going to compost instead of feeding people.

A complete list of all Promising Practices will be available the day of the conference, along with a list of table numbers where they will be located during the session.

AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS
1:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. 
You will be asked to rank your top 3 workshops choices during registration. We will do our best to accommodate to accommodate your first

1) INITIATIVES TO INCREASE ACCESS TO FEDERAL NUTRITION BENEFITS AND INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS FOR ELDERS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
This workshop will provide an overview of key food programs that benefit elders and people with disabilities. We will discuss the barriers many face accessing benefits and best practices to overcome these barriers. The workshop will highlight the federal SNAP (food stamp) Program and Community Supplemental Food Program, as well as the innovative ABCD Food Dollars program to boost financial resources and the Community Servings Food Is Medicine initiative to increase access to healthy food for this population.  

Moderator:
Nicci Meadow, Director, Elder Services, ABCD Boston

Speakers:
Brittany Mangini, Manager of Federal Food Programs, The Greater Boston Food Bank
Barbara Rougier, Manager of Federal Food Programs, ABCD Boston
Jean Terranova, Director of Food and Health Policy, Community Servings, Boston

2) MAXIMIZING THE USE OF SCHOOL MEAL PROGRAMS
This workshop will provide an overview by Project Bread of the importance of federal school nutrition programs as a sustainable approach to alleviating hunger in Massachusetts, with a specific focus on the under utilized School Breakfast and Summer Food Service Programs. The Chicopee School system will highlight how they use Breakfast in the Classroom effectively in their community and the Eos Foundation will present how their commitment to funding Universal Free, After the Bell, Breakfast in the Classroom makes a difference in food security.  

Moderator:
Christina Maxwell, Director of Programs, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts

Speakers:
Ashley E. Krebs, M.Ed., RD, LDN, Director of Child Nutrition Outreach, Project Bread
Joanne Lennon, Director of Food Services, Chicopee Public Schools
Christy Mach Dubé, Director, The Eos Foundation

3) ENGAGING HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND INSTITUTIONS IN FOSTERING ACCESS TO HEALTHY FOOD AND IMPROVED NUTRITION
This workshop will give an overview of three innovative initiatives currently underway across the state: Wholesome Wave’s Fruit Vegetable Prescription programs and the health and behavioral outcomes that can result; the HealthLeads program at Massachusetts General Hospital, which identifies patients with unmet needs, such as food insecurity, and links them to community resources; and the Farm to Health Initiative in Worcester, which brings together UMass Medical School students, Family Health Center of Worcester physicians, and the Community Harvest Project to reduce rates of food insecurity.

Moderator:
Jay Lord, Co-Director of Just Roots, Greenfield 

Speakers:
Ashley Damewood, MSc, COPE Program Officer, Partners in Health 
Seth A. Berkowitz, MD, MPH, General Internal Medicine and Diabetes, Massachusetts General Hospital
Melanie Gnazzo, MD, Assistant Director of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Elizabeth Rosen, University of Massachusetts Medical School
Alicia Cianciola, Program Manager, Community Harvest Project, Grafton

4) STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS TO FOOD ACCESS 
This session will summarize findings and recommendations from the Massachusetts Food System Plan about improving transportation access to healthy food, share a success story of a bus route in Amherst created to help people reach local grocery stores more easily, and present the new “Complete Streets Funding Program,” an initiative to help municipalities improve bikeability and walkability in Massachusetts as a way to improve food access.

Moderator:
Mary Chicoine Praus, Land Use Planner, Franklin Regional Council of Governments

Speakers:
David Elvin, Senior Planner, Pioneer Area Planning Commission
Glenn D. Barrington, Operations Manager, UMass Transit Services
Andrea Freeman, Field Director, Massachusetts Public Health Association

5) PROMISING PRACTICES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HUNGER  
Promising Practices provides an opportunity to have several short, intimate discussions with a range of innovative Practitioners from across the state. Local projects will be featured that are breaking new ground in increasing food security, access and nutrition education in our communities.

Conference attendees who select Promising Practices in the morning or afternoon session will rotate between tables at 15 minute intervals. Table hosts will share their work and lead a short discussion with the 6-8 people at their table. Participants will have the opportunity to network, compare notes, and gather new ideas to bring back to their communities.

Afternoon Promising Practices include:

UMass Stockbridge School of Agriculture, Amherst
As a land grant university, UMass provides support to commercial growers and under-served communities in sustainable agricultural practices and nutrition education. They will be featuring a program that works with farmers to grow produce popular among local immigrant and ethnic groups, helps to bring that produce into markets where these communities shop, and promotes healthy and culturally-appropriate recipes using locally grown ingredients.

Partners for a Healthier Community, Springfield
Partners for a Healthier Community is a Public Health Institute for Western Massachusetts. PHC convenes the Live Well Springfield Coalition of over 30 organizations that supports initiatives providing opportunity for healthy eating and active living. They will be featuring the Go Fresh Mobile Farmer’s Market, one of those initiatives. It is in its 5th season of providing access to fresh, local produce to areas of Springfield that have low access to both healthy food options and transportation.

Unity Tables, Inc., Greenfield and beyond
Unity Tables works to build community while creating a more equitable and ecological food system. They do this by providing management support and training to the emerging pay-what-you-can community cafe movement. The innovative model of community cafes, which combines the high-end quality and dignity of a restaurant with the charitable ethos of a traditional soup kitchen, breaks down the barrier of those “served” and those “serving” by offering hand-up rather than a hand-out, an opportunity to pay-what-you-can and volunteer instead of paying.

Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center, Inc. (GBNCC), Mattapan
The Greater Boston Nazarene Compassionate Center is a multi-service center founded by Pastor Pierre-Louis Zephir in 1996 as a voluntary ministry of the Haitian Church of the Nazarene Friends of the Humble to respond to the spiritual and socio-economic needs of its community and particularly of the Haitians residing in Boston. The GBNCC Food Program is one of the most important outreach programs of the center.Two years ago GBNCC implemented a home delivery service to people with disabilities sponsored by Liberty Mutual Foundation. The Center is situated in the heart of the community of the immigrants in need of its services. There is a sense of trust and safety attached to a "Faith-based Center" that makes it an ideal place for people to seek help for themselves.

Berkshire North Women, Infants and Children (WIC)
Women, Infants & Children is a nutrition program that provides nutrition and health education, healthy food and other services free of charge to Massachusetts families who qualify. Berkshire North WIC Program will feature thier collaboration & coordination with local food pantries to offer food demos & sampling and shared referral system.

Seeds of Solidarity Education Center, Orange
Seeds of Solidarity awakens the power among youth, schools and families to grow food everywhere, to transform hunger to health, and create resilient lives and communities. They will be featuring ways to "Grow Food Everywhere," even where it doesn't seem possible.

Intergenerational Urban Institute at Worcester State University (IUI)
The IUI channels the energies of young, middle aged and elder WSU students in service to the community. It tutors elder immigrants on campus and in the community, has a garden for ALL Ages and engages in hunger outreach through its HOT team. The Hunger Outreach Team (HOT) of the IUI offers SNAP application assistance and advocacy to students on campus and elders in the community, as well as working to raise hunger awareness on campus.

Franklin Community Co-op, Greenfield
The Franklin Community Co-op works to bring the best options in local, organic and environmentally-sustainable products to its customers, while striving to lessen the ecological footprint in day-to-day operations. They will be featuring their Food For All Program and other ways to increase access to healthy foods.

New England Farmers Union, Turners Falls
The New England Farmers Union is membership organization that works to protect and enhance the economic viability of the region’s family farms through legislation, co-operation, and education. It is a 5-year-old regional chapter of the National Farmers Union, based in Washington, D.C., and founded in 1902. They will be featuring partnerships with local food co-operatives in setting up Food for All programs and support for a comprehensive five-year Farm Bill that includes funding for SNAP.

Berkshire Interfaith Organizing, Inc.
Berkshire Interfaith Organizing is an interfaith group of clergy, their congregations and regional affiliates who together, grounded in faith, seek to make justice real in our community. They work to build community, develop leadership and take action on issues of shared concern such as hunger and access to transportation. They will be sharing the story of how they won a $2M increase in MEFAP (Massachusetts Emergency Food Assistance Program) funding in a year that it was likely to have been slashed instead.

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA), South Deerfield
CISA strengthens farms and engages the community in building the local food economy in the Pioneer Valley. They will be featuring their Senior Farm Share Program, which provides low-income seniors with subsidized access to fresh, local produce at the height of the growing season. Through partnerships with local farms and senior centers, the program provided 400 seniors with ten weeks of fresh produce in 2015.

Groundwork Lawrence (GWL)
Through its environmental and open space improvements, healthy food access programs, youth education, employment initiatives, community programming and events, GWL creates the building blocks of a healthy community, and empowers Lawrence residents to improve their quality of life. Their Healthy Food Access Programs combine access with education in an effort to reduce the city’s disproportionately high rates of obesity and diet-related diseases. GWL increases fresh food access by creating, promoting and supporting fresh food subsidy and incentive instruments as well as spaces to grow and purchase healthy food. GWL also offers healthy living programs that include cooking classes focused on integrating healthy foods into culturally appropriate meals, shopping on a budget, and adapting the local harvest to culturally appropriate meals.

A complete list of all Promising Practices will be available the day of the conference, along with a list of table numbers where they will be located during the session.

THANK YOU TO OUR GENEROUS SPONSORS!

Our Lead Sponsor:

Our other generous sponsors:

        

The graphic for our "Food for Good" logo was generously 
designed by the Nutrition Division of the Department of Public Health.

Presented by:

STEERING COMMITTEE

Many thanks to our Steering Committee members for their dedication to this event!

Pat Baker, MA Law Reform Institute
Keith Barnicle, Office of Congressman McGovern
Sara Cluggish, Project Bread
Jessica del Rosario, Massachusetts Convergence Partnership
David Elvin, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Rebecca Fricke, Office of Representative Ellen Story
Clare Higgins, Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire, and North Quabbin Regions
Diana Hoek, MA Department of Public Health
Frank Martinez Nocito, Department of Transitional Assistance
Christina Maxwell, Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
Alicia McCabe, Share Our Strength, Cooking Matters
Jean McMurray, Worcester County Food Bank
Winton Pitcoff, Mass Food System Plan
Jamie Pottern, Mt. Grace Land Trust
Mary Praus, Franklin Regional Council of Governments
Liz Sheehan Castro, Worcester Food & Active Living Policy Council
Suzette Snow-Cobb, Neighboring Food Co-op Assoc.
Karen Spiller, Food Solutions New England
Jessica Van Steensburg, Just Roots
Ellen Vollinger, FRAC
Adriene Worthington, Greater Boston Food Bank

Conference Organizers
Sara Cummings, Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire, and North Quabbin Regions
Holly Kosisky, Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire, and North Quabbin Regions
Janna Tetreault, Community Action of the Franklin, Hampshire, and North Quabbin Regions

CONFERENCE LOCATION
The conference is being held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center located at 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst MA 01003. Sessions and events will be held on the first floor of the Campus Center in the Auditorium, the Concourse and a variety of adjoining meeting rooms.

DRIVING TO CAMPUS

• From the North
  From I-91 South, take exit 25 in Deerfield. At the end of the ramp, turn left and follow road to the intersection. Turn right onto Routes 5 & 10 South. Go 1 mile, then turn left onto Route 116 South. Follow 8 miles to the UMass exit.
• From the East
  Via Route 2 West to Exit 16 (Belchertown/Amherst). From Route 2 take Route 202 South for about 15 miles to a blinking yellow light at Amherst Road. (You will see signs "to Rt 9 and Rt 116"). Turn right and follow Amherst Road (becomes Pelham Road after about 4 miles) for 7 miles to Amherst center. Follow signs to UMass.
• From the South
  From I-91 North, take Exit 19 in Northampton. From the exit ramp, turn right onto Route 9. Travel approximately 4.5 miles to Route 116 North (turn left at traffic lights). The UMass exit is 1 mile up.
• From the West
  From Route 2 East, follow to Greenfield/I-91 exit. Take I-91 South to Exit 25, Deerfield. At the end of the ramp turn left and follow the road to the intersection. Turn right onto Routes 5 & 10 South. Go 1 mile, then turn left onto Route 116 South. Follow for 8 miles to the UMass exit.
• From I-90 (Mass Pike)
  Take Exit 4 (West Springfield). Follow I-91 North to Exit 19. From the exit ramp, turn right onto Route 9. Travel approximately 4.5 miles to Route 116 North (turn left at traffic lights). The UMass exit is 1 mile up.

PARKING 
Parking is available for all attendees in the Campus Center Parking Garage, located at 1 Campus Center Way in Amherst, MA 01003. Campus Center Way is located off of Commonwealth Avenue, across the street from the Mullins Center. After turning onto Campus Center Way proceed up the hill to enter the garage. Once you enter the garage we recommend following the signs down to the Hotel/Concourse entrance located on Level 2 and entering the Campus Center using the marked walkway near the Parking Services office. Alternatively, you may park on any level and use the outdoor campus walkways. After entering the Campus Center (you will be on the 2nd floor), follow the signs through the concourse and down the escalators to the 1st floor on-site registration/sign-in desk. At registration you will be provided with a discounted parking pass to the garage. Please do not park elsewhere on campus unless you have a valid permit for a surface lot through UMass Parking Services - parking elsewhere without a valid permit will likely result in unwanted ticketing and/or towing.

REGISTRATION RATES
Regular Registration - $65.00
Student Registration - $45.00 
Promising Practice Presenter - $45.00 

The registration deadline is October 26, 2015, or until space is full.

TO REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE
Online registration is available for this event. Registration is available until October 26, 2015, or until space is full. To register, click the navy blue "Register Now" button above. Follow the instructions through the online page. During registration you will be able to select your registration rate and preferred workshops for both the morning and afternoon sessions. Payment is accepted by card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express) or check. Please contact the Registration office at 413-577-8102 or  registration@umass.edu if you need registration or payment related assistance. For general questions about the conference please contact Holly Kosisky at Community Action at 413-376-1179 or via email at hkosisky@communityaction.us.

CANCELLATION POLICY
Cancellations received by the Registration office by the close of business (5:00 p.m. EST) on Monday, October 26, 2015, will receive a full refund of fees paid less a $20.00 cancellation fee. Cancellations received after the close of business on Monday, October 26, 2015, will be ineligible for a refund. Cancellations must be made directly with the Registration office and phone cancellations must be followed by a written confirmation of cancellation by email or fax. The registration office may be reached by phone at 413-577-8102, by email at registration@umass.edu, and by fax at 413-577-8130.

ON-SITE REGISTRATION & CHECK-IN
The conference is being held at the UMass Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center. Parking is available for all attendees in the Campus Center Parking Garage, located at 1 Campus Center Way in Amherst, MA 01003. After entering the Campus Center signs will direct you through the concourse and down to the on-site registration/check-in desk, which will be located on the 1st floor of the Campus Center (you will enter the Campus Center on Level 2!). Be sure to stop be the registration desk to pick up your conference materials and, if needed, a parking pass for the garage. Registration will open at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, October 30. Additional arrival details will be emailed to all registered attendees as the conference approaches.

TO RESERVE LODGING AT HOTEL UMASS
Hotel UMass, located right in the heart of campus in the Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center, is a not only the most convenient lodging option available, but it is also rated the best hotel in Amherst! Stay just an elevator ride away from the conference, enjoy complimentary continental breakfast and evening refreshments, and relax with breathtaking views of scenic New England, all in a room that boasts a certified green cleaning program. Attendees interested in staying at Hotel UMass should contact the hotel at 877-822-2110 or visit http://www.hotelumass.com/ to learn more about rates and reservations.