Roseland’s First Youth Center Breaks Ground
The Roseland neighborhood has never had its own Youth Center. While Boys & Girls Clubs has been serving thousands of Roseland youth for over a decade, it is always in shared and limited space. “My number one reason for taking this role 14 years ago was to bring services to the amazing children and families in Roseland,” said CEO Jennifer Weiss. “It has taken this long to find land and make necessary plans, and now we’re off and running!”
The $17 million project was launched in 2019 when Boys & Girls Clubs was selected by Sonoma County Vintners to receive a $1,450,000 grant to launch the project. Weiss then convinced a seller to part with a piece of land directly across from Roseland Elementary School. Cindy & Bill Gallaher gave Boys & Girls Clubs the nearly million dollars needed to purchase the land and their company GCI designed the building. In addition, they have contributed an second million dollars personally to the project and GCI is donating $1,650,000.
Poppy Bank approached Boys & Girls Clubs about being a major supporter of the project as well, contributing over $100,000 already and providing a needed loan at very favorable rates.
The Club has an additional ten million dollars to raise and is launching a community campaign seeking support. They are hoping the City and County will dedicate available ARPA funds to this project. “We’re going now. This isn’t a maybe; it’s tangible and it’s happening. We will be impacting a minimum of 2,500 residents by Spring of next year,” said Chief Development Officer Michelle Edwards Heery.
ABOUT BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF SONOMA-MARIN
In normal times, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin serves over 10,000 youth annually in Cloverdale, Geyserville, Healdsburg, Guerneville, Monte Rio, Sebastopol, Windsor, Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, and Marin County. During the pandemic, the organization opens its doors every day in 27 locations in Clubhouses, on school campuses, and even Juvenile Hall with a mission to enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to become caring, productive, and responsible adults.