Gambling isn’t always slot machines or casinos. It’s sports betting apps, scratch tickets, and video game loot boxes—real money traded for a chance at a perceived reward of greater value. Often, that reward never comes. This hidden culture of risk can spiral into addiction.
As a former gas station manager, I saw this daily. Customers clutched scratch tickets, holding their breath at the counter, returning again and again to chase a loss. It became clear: gambling isn’t just about money. It’s about desperation, hope, and trying to change your life for better times.
That realization sparked questions, which led to the Gambling Awareness Research Initiative (GARI). Led by the Springfield Department of Health and Human Services, the Center for Community Health Equity Research, UMass Amherst, and the New North Citizens Council, and co-created by nine Springfield youth and young adults, this project, with a grant from Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Community Mitigation Fund, explores how gambling impacts young people’s lives and futures.
For the past year, our Young Adult Action Collective (YAAC) has documented how often gambling appears in everyday life. Now, we’re expanding that work through an art-based creative crowdsourcing contest: Wagers & Whispers: Place Your Bet on Community Art.
We invite Springfield youth ages 16–26 to show us what gambling means to them—through drawing, poetry, video, or voice memo. What are the emotional drivers? The silence? The hope for something better? The pressure to win? We want to hear stories that don’t usually get told.
The contest runs until August 15, 2025. Every first entry earns a $25 gift card, and participants can submit as many pieces as they like. Afterward, a community vote in September will determine up to 15 winners of $100, $150, and $250 prizes. Entries will be featured in several community exhibits.
This is a call to create, reflect, share and to action! To all Springfield youth: tell your truth. To the community: join us by participating in the Community Vote. Through this contest and future community events there will be opportunities to share your insights about gambling and its potential harms to people of all ages.
Visit www.gariproject.org/wagers-and-whispers to enter or vote. Questions? Contact gariproject413@gmail.com or Theresa Glenn at 413-750-2065. ■