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.
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.”
