DIAL/SELF – Racing to Support the Well-being of Local Youth
By Melissa Karen Sances, Photos credits to Art Schwenger
SPONSORED BY GREENFIELD SAVINGS BANK
Published in Northampton Living August 2025
"It’s much easier to make important decisions about school, careers and growth as individuals when you’re not struggling to keep yourself safe, fed and clean,” reads a youth testimonial on DIAL/SELF Youth & Community Services’ website (dialself.org).
Though the comment is recent, the nonprofit has helped youth become autonomous for nearly 50 years. In 1977, DIAL/SELF was founded in Greenfield to help youth call upon themselves to achieve individual goals. Today, the nonprofit focuses on two areas – housing assistance and civic opportunities through AmeriCorps – that support more than 1,500 young people ages 11 to 24 each year, according to Executive Director Phil Ringwood.
Housing Resources
DIAL/SELF’s housing arm offers around-the-clock resources through its 24-hour hotline. “We might not have an immediate option in terms of fixing everything,” says Ringwood, “but our staff will be able to walk the young person through where they are, if they’re safe, and how to manage the situation in the moment and set them up for the next piece.”
A daytime drop-in center in Greenfield and two available by appointment in Orange and Northampton provide guidance for those experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit also manages a limited number of apartments in Greenfield, Orange, Turners Falls and Northampton, where a partnership with Hampshire Support Alliance has allowed them to set an affordable rent base. And a street outreach team visits different locations, including Northampton, using a harm reduction model to provide youth living on the street with hygiene kits, water, chargers, fans and replacement tarps. “We work with folks where they are,” says Ringwood. “We do that both literally and metaphorically.”
AmeriCorps’ Reach
The AmeriCorps branch of DIAL/SELF has been going strong since 1996. The program recruits volunteers to do 10 months of service in other nonprofits and schools throughout the Connecticut River Valley, and members come together each week to do group trainings and projects, creating a ripple effect of goodwill. Volunteers build relationships with young people and support them in developing skills, confidence in their learning, and goalsetting.
The Bridge of Flowers Classic
August is an important month for DIAL/SELF because it’s time for the annual Bridge of Flowers Classic 3K and 8K in Shelburne Falls (bofrace.com). The race draws runners from all over the world. Capped at 750 runners and made possible by 100 volunteers, it will be held on Saturday, August 9. For the past four years, DIAL/SELF has been the race’s signature fundraiser, and this year, as federal and state funds have been stretched thin, they are relying more than ever on individual and community support.
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