League of Woman Voters of Northampton Area

Over 200 people celebrated with 55 new citizens from 31 countries, including Peru, Bangladesh, Poland, and Tanzania.

Yard signs available from LWVUS

The Northampton Area League is fully committed to ensure compliance – in principle and in practice – with LWVUS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy.

1/21/2024 LWV DEI Policy: Discrimination or harassment of any kind will not be accepted within the League, including but not limited to race, socio-economic status, age, ability status, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender identity, or marital status. The League is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging for all people. The League is an organization that respects and values the richness of our community and our members. The collective sum of our individual differences and life experiences represents not only our culture, but our reputation and the organization’s mission and achievements as well.

Letter to the editor, Gazette, 2/28/24 ‘Take steps to address state’s homeless crisis’ by Sharon Farmer, member of Northampton Area LWV Homelessness and Affordable Housing subcommittee:

According to HUD’s December 2023 Annual Homelessness Report, Massachusetts now has the 10th highest proportion of homeless people in the U.S., and our proportion of homeless families with children puts us at the very top of the list. We reached this crisis because we have a shortage of housing stock, which has led to skyrocketing housing costs.

The construction slowdown that came in the wake of the 2008-09 recession is partially to blame — but so are the zoning laws of a vast number of Massachusetts communities, which restrict all, or most, residential land to single-family housing on lots of a specific size. sometimes as large as two acres.

As the residents of Hatfield observe [“Town focusing on future priorities,” Gazette, Feb. 12], we’ve zoned ourselves into a situation where our own children can’t afford to live nearby, and where essential low-wage workers end up in homeless shelters. To address the immediate homeless crisis, tell your state representative to allocate $120 million for temporary homeless shelters, and tell your U.S. congressional representative to support the Senate’s proposed allocations for the homeless.

To address the shortage of housing stock in the Pioneer Valley, check your town zoning laws to see if they should be updated to allow for more housing stock, and urge your town council 1) to partner with a nonprofit developer of affordable housing, and 2) to create and fund an Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Special thanks to Margie and Bob Riddle, Lou Bouley, Ann Wedaman and Amy Rome for their hard work organizing this record-breaking book sale! Thanks to everyone, including friends, family, and students from Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School and Northampton High School, who donated, collected, sorted, and sold thousands of books! The Banned Book collection and  research materials were awesome! Thanks to Charlotte Powell for registering voters. Teachers enjoyed our new offer of free books for classrooms all day long. Leslie Skantz-Hodgson, the librarian at Smith Voc and Ag High School sent us a grateful thank you note, detailing the special books she found to enrich collections in the library and classrooms.

Recent banned book articles in the Hampshire Gazette: “Get your banned books here,” Gazette, 9/23/23 interview with Margie Riddle and Ann Wedaman, collectors and organizers of the banned book section for the book sale. “Moms for Liberty, banned books and parents’rights,” Gazette, 9/29/23 describes the extent of book banning across the U.S.

LWV fights for equal access to healthcare for all, highlighted on social media, April, 2023

Every US resident should have access to affordable, quality health care, including birth control and the privacy to make reproductive choices.

We are pleased to hear that DACA recipients will now have health care protections under the law. Every US resident should have access to affordable, quality health care.

Click to read the 100 Years special section in the Hampshire Gazette, 9/24/2020