MVYouth committed more than $2.3 million in expansion grants, the largest annual grant total in the organization’s 11-year history, during an awards ceremony on Wednesday evening at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
Funding will go toward a new field house for the YMCA, building a new preschool in Chilmark, providing support for recent high school graduates to find work in the trades, and to the next Shenandoah tall ship.
ACE MV, Chilmark Preschool, M.V. Ocean Academy, and the YMCA of Martha’s Vineyard are the 2025 Expansion Grant recipients.
MV Youth provided the YMCA with a $1 million pledge in support of the construction of a new field house at the Oak Bluffs facility. The nearly $30 million project will create a multi-use gym and basketball court, indoor track, part-time toddler program space, and expanded afterschool and other meeting space. The Martha’s Vineyard Commission approved the nearly 40,000-square-foot expansion plan last year.
“MVYouth’s commitment advances a high-impact community project with numerous elements that will benefit youth and families,” said the new advisory board chair, Liz Pickman, in a news release.
YMCA has already raised more than $20 million for the project, and must raise an additional $8.5 million to fully fund the project and to access the MVYouth grant. Groundbreaking is expected in September 2025.
Also on Wednesday evening, MVYouth announced that ACE MV will be receiving roughly $240,000 to support the expansion of programs and services for young people seeking careers in the trades and healthcare.
MVYouth officials are targeting the age group of 18 to 25, and trying ways to support Islanders who are seeking an alternative to college. Funds are expected to be disbursed over 2½ years to expand certification programs, provide career navigation support, expand mentorship programs, and facilitate employment opportunities for young adults.
“MVYouth is eager to partner with other local funders to support this important effort,” Lindsey Scott, MVYouth’s executive director, said. “ACE has the leadership and vision to establish a network — connecting high school guidance counselors, local cohort-based certification programs, regional training programs, and local employers to guide, train, and employ our young people.”
MVYouth is also pledging $600,000 to the construction of a new preschool on the Chilmark School campus. The Chilmark Preschool program has been operating out of a classroom in the Chilmark School for nearly two decades, and the program has outgrown the school’s space. Chilmark voters have supported dedicating town-owned land adjacent to the Chilmark School as a site for the preschool.
According to MVYouth, the new facility will have two classrooms, and will allow the school to double enrollment from 20 to 39 children, adding a toddler program and additional preschool spaces. It is estimated to cost $4.6 million.
“We are nearing the end of our time operating in the Chilmark School,” Rebekah Thomson, Chilmark Preschool board president, is quoted in a release announcing the grant funds. “It’s imperative that we get started on building this new facility as quickly as possible, in order to avoid program disruption and be ready to move in before the 2026–27 academic year.”
Also on Wednesday, Martha’s Vineyard Ocean Academy received a pledge of $500,000 toward the construction of Shenandoah 2, a replacement for the current Shenandoah. The ocean academy is looking to raise an additional $2 million to fully fund the $5.25 million construction and rigging of the new ship, and to access MVYouth’s grant funds.
Including Wednesday’s awards, MVYouth has now invested almost $19 million in grants to youth-serving organizations and in scholarships to high school seniors and young adults.
