Some background
The first phase of the expansion—which consisted of the nonprofit’s Emergency Children’s Shelter and Transitional Living Program—broke ground in October 2023 and was completed in September 2024. The residential facility provides emergency housing for foster youth and homeless youth. The transitional living program also provides housing for children between the ages of 15 and 23 years old, Sykes-Wenske said.
“It’s magical to see where we were just a couple years ago to where we are today,” she said.
Officials broke ground on Phase 2 of the project in October 2024. Sykes-Wenske said they anticipate Phase 2 to be completed in August or September.
The details
Phase 2 of the project will house Connections’ counseling offices, prevention programming and staff. The nonprofit’s counseling program—which previously operated with six offices—will now have 14 offices, two additional play therapy rooms, a sand tray therapy room and three conference rooms for families to meet.
Sykes-Wenske said the completion of phase two will allow the organization to consolidate their programming and streamline its operations under one roof.
A multipurpose room will also be constructed in Phase 2. Sykes-Wenske said the multipurpose room will be able to accommodate 60 people and also come with a partition to separate the meeting space into two meeting rooms.
What else?
Connections and Individual Services will also be able to offer a $45 fee for-service-model where guardians can spend one-on-one time working through things they are struggling with.
“We can work with them individually outside of the family unit, and so being able to offer this will help us to better serve the youth and families that we’re serving because we can provide more individualized care and be more flexible,” Sykes-Wenske said.
