October 2, 2025: Together we build

We’re taking a hard look at our communities to see where we might grow and grow better. In Springfield for the past 50 years, that’s meant MLK Family Services, who’ll bring back their Social Justice Awards on Oct. 18. But celebrating the change-makers in our area is far from all they do at the center. We're joined by President and CEO Shannon M. Rudder, and Ariana Williams, chief of public health strategy and innovation, to talk about the awards, their Be Love Campaign, upcoming HBCU Tours, and more of the ways they remain a foundation to those in Mason Square and beyond. We’ll also walk around the corner to take a look at the whole western Massachusetts region and the needs the area has in terms of housing. The Donahue Institute at UMass Amherst and Way Finders teamed up and recently released a report of their findings on this issue, which does have some surprises, and we’ll speak with Way Finders President Keith Fairey and Kerry Spitzer, senior researcher at the Donahue Institute, about what they found. And a government shutdown happened, which is pretty foremost in Rep. Jim McGovern’s mind for this week’s conversation, but we also manage to get his take on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s military rally, and let you all know where you can ask your questions of the congressman yourself in person very soon.