Construct Executive Director Jane Ralph speaks the organization's annual meeting at the Guthrie Center on Tuesday.

Chair Betty Farbman unveils the first of the 'Lizzy Libraries' that will be placed at Construct housing in memory of Elizabeth Rosenberg, the organization's longtime former president, who died last month.

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Construct Executive Director Jane Ralph tells the annual meeting that relationships are the housing organization's secret sauce.'

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Supporting more than 1,750 Southern Berkshire households last year, Construct credits the work of many hands. 

The affordable housing nonprofit held its annual board meeting at the Guthrie Center on Tuesday.  During the event, Executive Director Jane Ralph explained that "relationship is Construct's secret sauce." 

"Without the people in this room who came to support us, the people on our staff, the people on our board, people in the media who pay attention, we could not be a community-based organization," she said. 

"And that's what we are." 

In fiscal year 2025, its housing waitlist saw a 27 percent increase of nearly 480 new individuals and families. More than 1,750 households and individuals were supported through transitional housing, assistance programs, and navigation support, and $131,500 was disbursed. 

"With your help, we've had a very strong fiscal year. Our major gifts came in at about $200,00 ahead of what we budgeted," Ralph said to applause. 

While the budget's "major gifts" line had $840,000 projected, the nonprofit was able to raise more than $1 million. Construct saw a total income of about $2.6 million and more than $1.8 million in expenses. 

Program Director Courtney Kimball said that over the past eight years, she has watched the organization grow in ways she could have never imagined. 

"This past year has come with its challenges and growing pains, but also with some of the most meaningful work I've done in my career," she explained. 

Kimball said the transitional housing program "has been my proudest accomplishment." It has welcomed 12 families, and almost all of whom have transferred to permanent housing. 

Unfortunately, this year's annual meeting was missing longtime former President Elizabeth Rosenberg, who passed away on June 1.  

More than 50 donors contributed a sum of $10,000 to Construct in her memory. During the meeting, a "Lizzie Library" was unveiled, and Chair Betty Farbman reported that these will be placed on properties in her memory. 

"It's not real to any of us yet," Farbman said. 

Construct has 90 affordable housing units in Lee, Great Barrington, and Stockbridge, and envisions about 30 more in the next five years. Its portfolio includes the Windflower Inn and the upcoming New Marlborough development at Cassilis Farm. 

The nonprofit has operated the Windflower Inn since 2023, when board member Josh Irwin considered buying it for housing for hospitality workers. The inn has 13 suites, and there are two houses on the property.  An existing long-term tenant was retained in the three-bedroom cottage, and the four-bedroom cottage was turned into family transitional housing. 

"We closed on the property, Dec. 1, 2022. It was open and housing people on Jan. 1, 2023, so that's about the quickest transition into being able to provide affordable housing," Ralph explained. 

"And it was in great shape, so we didn't have to do much, but that's something that's almost unheard of, that you can close on the first day of one month, and then very next month, we'll be opening it up for people, and it's a great housing opportunity." 

There will be 11 affordable units at Cassilis Farm, an about $8 million project that is in the demolition stage. iBerkshires toured the property during the Designer Showcase fundraiser, when rooms were transformed by artists with a nature theme. The event raised more than $25,000. 

Construct, with help from the New Marlborough Housing Development Committee, purchased the 27-acre farm at auction three years ago. 

The project is supported by about $4 million in state funds that have already been awarded, and Ralph reported that the acquisition, aside from $200,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds, was raised from individual donors. 

"[The town of New Marlborough] had ARPA funds, which was the only way they could really financially support the project. They generously committed half of those funds to the acquisition," she said. 

"Almost all of the rest of the funds were raised right there in New Marlborough. That's how much that community supports this project and supports affordable housing." 

Construct has been the leading nonprofit provider of affordable housing and supportive services to South Berkshire County residents in need for more than 50 years. The organization's FY26 budget projects around $1.8 million in both income and expenses.  

At the beginning of the meeting, Mo Guthrie welcomed the group, explaining, "When my grandfather [Arlo] founded this place, he had a vision of this space to be used for folks to come together for the betterment of our communities, and that's certainly what you guys are doing here today." 

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