‘We want to hear from people on the ground’

FITCHBURG — The recent GBH News listening session in the city drew many community members who were eager to share their input about all things Fitchburg.

GBH Investigations and Equity & Justice Senior Editor Jenifer McKim is leading the team from the public broadcasting station working on the endeavor, which focuses on visiting each of the 26 Gateway Cities in the commonwealth this year. She and her team are hosting listening sessions with residents, like the one in Fitchburg on March 31, and according to project info with the help of on-the-ground reporting, expert sources, and data-driven research, produce multi-media stories to provide a clearer picture of these key communities in the state.

“A core part of our team’s mission is to host listening sessions and learn from residents about what they want us to know about their communities,” McKim said. “We want to listen first and pitch stories after. We want to hear from people on the ground about what they are most proud of and most worried about.”

The team had been hosting listening sessions since last year, talking to folks in communities including Brockton, Somerville, and Boston.

“We decided to formalize the structure this year, thinking heading into the Gateway Cities would be a great way to expand our reach and learn more about other parts of the state,” McKim shared. “Turns out there’s 26 so we named the initiative 26 in 26.”

Fitchburg is the sixth community they visited for this large-scale initiative, and they plan to do two or three each month.

“People seem to be excited that we’re doing this and grateful about the level of commitment and investment into this work,” McKim said.

According to project information that can be found by visiting wgbh.org/news/local/gateway-cities, established by the state Legislature in 2009, Gateway Cities were imagined as mid-size economic hubs that provide a steppingstone — or gateway — to the American Dream. Gateway Cities include 26 cities where more than a quarter of all Massachusetts residents live and almost 40% are foreign born.

Their listening sessions have been held in a variety of places such as coffee shops, barbers shops and community centers.

“Some have been in circles and others have been held more like office hours where a reporter greets each person separately,” said McKim, adding that they encourage people who live in or near a Gateway City fill out their questionnaire to provide input.

The listening session in Fitchburg was hosted by Coff33 Corp., a city-based nonprofit that empowers creatives with the resources and platforms they need to thrive with the goal to champion inclusivity and fuel community and economic growth through the arts.

Coff33 Corp. founder and CEO Derek Craig milled around the 326 Main St. space with the other attendees, a beautiful, spacious venue that is used for live music and private events. Craig said it felt “amazing” to host the GBH News listening session at their creative hub. Mayor Sam Squailia was also there chatting with people.

McKim was overheard saying it was nice to be away from her desk as she talked to the many area residents who came to check out the listening session, including Laura Vogel, who moved to Fitchburg a little over nine months ago. Vogel said that while it was hard to leave her 102-year-old home in New Jersey located just across the George Washington Bridge from New York City, which she lived in for 40 years, she wanted to be closer to family, some of whom live in Fitchburg.

The botanical illustrator has met a lot of fellow artists at the Fitchburg Arts Community, which she now calls home. After she moved into her place there, she got to know some of the people who live in the apartment building across from it and was given permission to have a small garden plot there after she asked.

“I love the location,” Vogel said of the Fitchburg Arts Community, specifically mentioning how close it is to the Fitchburg Art Museum along with downtown restaurants and retail, relaying that she has enjoyed witnessing the “development” of the bustling city.

Tara Teixeira of Winchendon said she “felt called” to come to the listening session after her friend Beck Worrell invited her.

“Everything is especially spiritual for me,” Teixeira said while sitting at a table with her young daughter enjoying the refreshments offered at the event.

Worrell, who moved back to Leominster several years ago, joined them. When asked why he wanted to attend the listening session, he said there are a lot of “untapped resources” in the region and that he wants “people to be more involved in their communities.”

McKim and her team passed out hard copies of the questionnaires, which people were happy to fill out, and she reported that they “learned so much out in Fitchburg and came home with a notebook full of story ideas.”

“We hear over and over from people who want to tell us about their communities, what they love and what they worry about,” she said. “We are still at the beginning of this process but excited about the enthusiasm from community members eager to tell their stories.”