MVYouth has committed to providing $1 million in support of a local nonprofit’s major construction project.
The funding will go toward Martha’s Vineyard Community Services’ Space to Thrive campaign, the second phase of a multi-year initiative to renovate its campus in Oak Bluffs that began earlier this year. The renovation will replace aged facilities and consolidate its major services into a new two-story main building that will serve as the clinical and administrative hub for the organization.
The award grantor, MVYouth, is a nonprofit organization that fundraises and awards money to support Island youth and young adults. These awards include grants awarded to organizations helping young Islanders and scholarships for college and workforce development.
Among the various services provided by Community Services, MVYouth stated in a press release that it was particularly interested in the way the new campus can help youths and young adults, a demographic that is increasingly dealing with “anxiety, depression, trauma, and developmental challenges, since the pandemic.” According to the release, the building will have a child-friendly waiting room and playroom as well as spaces dedicated to youth-focused therapy to “support family consultation, supervised visitation, group therapy, and play therapy.” Community Services plans to recruit clinicians with specializations in child and teen mental health and “reduce stigma by offering a safe, modern trauma[-]informed environment,” the release stated.
Lindsey Scott, MVYouth’s executive director, called it a “vital community project.”
“It addresses [an] expanding need for youth and family mental health services that is precisely in the crosshairs of MVYouth’s funding objectives,” Scott said in a statement. “The project has been generously supported by numerous philanthropic organizations and individuals. MVYouth is now thrilled to help bring this project over the finish line.”
Construction for the $17.5 million project is expected to be completed by next fall, with Community Services continuing to fundraise for the final $500,000 of its goal.
This funding will be the fourth time MVYouth has supported Community Services with one of its expansion grants.
Representatives of the nonprofit also celebrated the award at a gathering on Tuesday at Martha’s Vineyard Museum.
