Historic donation helping Community Services redevelopment

Martha’s Vineyard Community Services is announcing the largest donation in its history as it plans to build a new two-story center.

The $3 million donation is from Jacqui Morby and her children, Michelle and Andrew Morby.

It goes to the “Space to THRIVE” campaign, a five-year plan aimed at transforming the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services’ campus into a more modern, accessible space to better serve the Island’s residents. 

According to a press release from Community Services, the Morby’s $3 million donation is the second major donation recently made to the organization. The donation prior was $2 million from Jim and Susan Swartz, giving name to the Paul & Sandra Pimental Early Childhood Center at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services. 

“This act of generosity, takes our breath away — and sends a loving message to every Islander in need: We care about you!” campaign chair Gary Foster is quoted in a press release announcing the donation on Tuesday.

The donation was made in memory of Jacqui Morby’s late husband, Jeffrey Morby, who passed away last year. 

The funds will be used to propel the Martha’s Vineyard Community Services campus redevelopment plan closer to its $17.5 million goal with over $11 million raised to date. 

The redevelopment project aims to replace what Community Services officials call dilapidated, leaky, crowded, and energy-inefficient buildings. They say the buildings currently lack essential features like wheelchair accessibility, proper ventilation, and walls thick enough to provide privacy. 

The new two-story Community Services Center will be named after the Morby family and will include state of the art facilities designed to meet the increasing demand for an outpatient mental health clinic, enhanced urgent care services, counseling and treatment for substance use disorders, disability services, veteran services, and supplemental domestic and sexual violence services. 

The building is scheduled to break ground in early 2025 with completion expected by fall 2026.

“It is a normal part of the human condition that there are times when help is needed beyond what family and friends can provide—that is, we all need a wider net of support,” said Michelle Morby. “That is why my mother and I feel honored to help facilitate, and elevate to the fullest, what MVCS is already doing. As ‘summer people’ we especially want Islanders to thrive year round, because Martha’s Vineyard gives so much to our family when we are here. For us there is no more meaningful legacy to one’s community than to leave it even better than when one found it.”

Jacqui Morby described their family’s contribution to Martha’s Vineyard Community services as a “passion Project.”

“My late husband and I always believed in giving back—and a great joy of our lives had been working with scientists to improve the human condition, a cause to which I am still devoted.” said Jacqui Morby. “It means a great deal to be able to make a difference in the quality of life for families and to know that what we invest in today, together, will enhance mental health and other services for new generations—in space designed to foster wellness.”

Jacqui and Jeffrey Morby co-founded the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and were nationally known for their philanthropic efforts. As a young couple, they met at Stanford University and built distinguished careers in banking and private equity, both pursuing MBAs at Harvard and Simmons. At TA Associates, Jacqui was a pioneering venture capitalist in a field that had few women leaders in the 1970’s.

As the capital campaign continues and construction commences in 2025, the center’s services and programs will continue to be provided on campus.