The hopes and dreams of Roseland school children are built into the walls of the nearly completed Boys and Girls Club in southwest Santa Rosa.

Literally. They’re written all over the building’s plywood shear panels by more than 250 Boy & Girls Club members from the Roseland area who a month ago were invited to see what’s being built for them.

Their aspirations include taking care of family or becoming a soccer player, a doctor, an actor, a teacher or a Boys & Girls Club employee. The kids were brought in to see how quickly their home-away-from-home was being built; many were awed.

Austin Whited, project superintendent for Gallaher Construction, the facility’s designer and builder, recalled how one child asked if they could live there.

“One said, ‘I can’t believe someone donated money to have this built for us,’” Whited said.

The children’s written aspirations, now covered with drywall, plaster taping and a fresh coat of paint, are a powerful reminder of what the new $17 million facility represents, said Jennifer Weiss, executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin. It was Weiss’ idea to have the kids embed their thoughts into the building.

“I wanted the kids to get to see it as it was being built,” Weiss said. “So they'd have that experience, and why not? This is about their hopes and dreams, so what better way?”

“We brought them on small tours and in every tour there was at least some of the kids crying, saying like this, I can’t believe this is all for me,” Weiss added.

Construction of the facility, which will bring underserved children in Roseland a teen center, a real dance studio, an art and science/technology lab and a full-size commercial kitchen, is expected to be completed by next month.