HOLYOKE, Mass. - A new space for Girls Inc. of the Valley will go a long way towards making sure all youth members have a chance to succeed.
What You Need To Know
- Girls Inc. of the Valley is a nonprofit organization that serves youth primarily in Chicopee, Holyoke and Springfield
- The building project is expected to be a $5 million dollar project
- The nonprofit is currently located in Holyoke with the new building also based in Holyoke
- They're accepting monetary donations and open enrollment for girls and gender expansive youth ages 5-18 on their website
The youth development organization which serves Chicopee, Holyoke and Springfield took time Friday to tour the ongoing renovations at their soon to be new facility in Holyoke.
Executive Director Suzanne Parker said the new building will allow for better educational opportunities to host in-house STEM programs.
"There's gonna be a maker space in this building," Parker said. "So for any science, technology, engineering and math activities. Kids love to design things, girls love to design things, but they need confidence in doing it and opportunities. So they could be robotics, they could be electronics, they could be crafting or just be just learning about the design process."
Parker said the new building will also allow for better after school programs, and space for better mentorship in career and professional development. She said it's important that all children, especially ones who come from low-income communities, have access to a healthy education.
"There's a lot of families that don't have a lot of access to resources to be able to afford the after school programs or the summer programs that other families might be able to send their kids too," Parker said. "We provide those programs and those opportunities at no cost to families in our communities."
Girls Inc. of the Valley is currently raising money for their youth programs and anyone looking to make a donation or sign their children up for the program can do so on their website.