Otis, Massachusetts
Community Organizations
A town of 1,634 people cannot run a food bank, a fuel assistance programme and an elder services agency on its own, so Otis does what most Berkshire hill towns do: it runs what it can locally and shares the rest across the county. Every organisation here takes volunteers.
Non-Profit Organizations
| Organization | What they do & contact |
|---|---|
| Otis Preservation Trust | The fundraising arm of the Otis Historical Commission. It raises money from donors and foundations to restore St. Paul’s Church into the Otis Cultural Center, to bring the East Otis Schoolhouse back into public use, and to open up the Knox Trail where it crosses Otis. 48 North Main Road, PO Box 355, Otis, MA 01253. |
| Elder Services of Berkshire County | The county-wide agency behind meals on wheels, in-home supports, caregiver support, money management, the long term care ombudsman, and the SHINE health insurance counselling that reaches Otis through the Becket Council on Aging at (413) 623-8934 ext. 141. |
| Berkshire Community Action Council | The county’s community action agency, which administers the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program that helps Otis households with winter heating bills, whatever the fuel. (413) 445-5671. |
| Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative | A twelve-town public health collaborative that the Otis Board of Health works through, sharing inspection, permitting and public health capacity that no single hill town could staff alone. It publishes a Southern Berkshire County resource guide and files its own annual report. |
| Otis Cultural Council | The town’s local arm of the Mass Cultural Council. It awards state grant money each autumn to arts, humanities and science projects that serve Otis residents, and any resident or organisation may apply. culturalco.otis@gmail.com. |
| Otis Scholarship Committee | Funded by a Town Meeting appropriation and awarded to graduating Otis students headed for a two or four year degree. In 2025 it awarded five scholarships of 2,000 dollars each, paid out on proof of enrolment. |
Town Services That Work Like Them
| Organization | Notes |
|---|---|
| Otis Council on Aging | The senior centre is open Monday and Wednesday from 10 to 2 and there is no cost to join. Blood pressure screening by Tri-Town Health on the first Wednesday of the month, the Brown Bag food distribution on the third Friday, trips and in-house activities year round. Director Karen Yvon, (413) 269-0100. |
| Otis Library | A Massachusetts Certified Library, certified by the Board of Library Commissioners in December 2007 and a member of the CWMARS network, so an Otis card borrows across the Berkshires and western and central Massachusetts. Public computers, wifi, and museum passes. Director Stephanie Skinner, (413) 269-0100 ext. 117. |
| Parks & Recreation | Year-round programmes for every age group, plus the town hall park, the playground and the skatepark behind Town Hall at 1 North Main Road, open dawn to dusk. |
For current hours and a fuller list, see the town’s boards and departments pages at otisma.gov.