THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, August 4, 1994 TAG: 9408040203
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Girls Inc. needs $43,000 by Aug. 15. Without the cash in hand, the organization, formerly known as the Girls Club of Portsmouth, will have to postpone indefinitely its building plans for a new Center for Youth of Southwest Hampton Roads.
The organization is hoping for a spring 1995 groundbreaking. The new 12,000-square-foot, $1,162,000 center is planned for a 2.5-acre site on Portsmouth Boulevard in the Hodges Manor section of the city.
The new center would allow Girls Inc. to expand its programming to youngsters in Suffolk and Isle of Wight County, as well as Portsmouth and western Chesapeake.
``There is a need, as there are no services of our nature available to families and children in Suffolk and Isle of Wight,'' said Michelle Johnson, executive director of the organization.
``Our wildest dream would be to put up a whole center there, but we feel we can respond to some of that need with the strategic location of our new center in Portsmouth.''
But first the organization needs $60,000 in cash to close on the land by the Aug. 15 deadline.
The United Way has pledged funding for 49 percent of the building's costs. Others have pledged support as well. But Girls Inc. has received only $17,000 in cash so far.
``The situation is critical if we are to close on the land,'' Johnson said.
Girls Inc. serves more than a thousand boys and girls ages 3 to 16 from its current center on Race Street in the Westhaven section of Portsmouth.
Unfortunately, the building, home to the center for more than 30 years, is deteriorating.
``Patchwork repairs are no longer feasible,'' said Michael Spencer, a member of the Girls Inc. board of directors. ``Major renovations are needed to comply with state regulations.''
The new Center For Youth will include classrooms, offices, a library, a kitchen, a multipurpose room, locker rooms and an aquatics center with an indoor swimming pool.
Transportation to the new center will be available to children via a jitney bus service.
Currently, before- and after-school programs and full-day summer programming provide a home away from home for hundreds of children, most of whom are from two-career or single-parent families.
Girls Inc. also sponsors special programs on substance abuse, conflict resolution, peer pressure and teen pregnancy.
``All of our programming is preventative,'' Johnson said. ``Our goal is to meet the youngsters where they are in order to prevent problems.''
Girls Inc. of Portsmouth is one of 135 affiliates of the national Girls Inc., which was organized in 1945 as the Girls Clubs of America.
Johnson is hopeful that the new center will allow Girls Inc. to develop some intergenerational programming to actively involve children with senior citizens. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by Mark Mitchell
Michael Spencer, a member of the Girls Inc. board of directors, and
Michelle Johnson, executive director, hope money can be raised to
build a new center, so its program can be extended to youngsters in
Suffolk and Isle of Wight County.
by CNB