Officials with Girls Inc. of San Antonio and local special guests gathered for a Dec. 1 event to celebrate a new campus for the nonprofit organization.

The background

The 25,000-square-foot Harvey E. Najim Girls Inc. of San Antonio Campus at 2214 Basse Road will be the new home for the local affiliate of the national Girls Inc. organization, which works to help girls ages 6-18 to achieve their personal, educational and career goals.

According to a news release, the new campus features indoor and outdoor spaces, including an innovation lab focused on STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, a digital library, a teaching kitchen, a teen center and an art studio.

The new campus also has a gathering space, a zen zone and an outdoor space with muraled playgrounds, covered gathering places and event areas.

Representatives from Girls Inc. of San Antonio said the new campus will allow them to better offer girls with opportunities and activities designed to develop skills and instill leadership characteristics, regardless of challenges they may currently face.

A study commissioned by the city of San Antonio and led by the University of Texas at San Antonio showed a $0.56 earnings difference for Latina households with girls and a $0.53 difference in Black households with girls compared with every $1 earned by households where white girls live, according to the release.

What they’re saying

Lea Rosenauer, Girls Inc. of San Antonio president and CEO, said her organizations concentrates on helping girls to develop in many positive ways.

“Our focus is on the whole girl. That means her mental and physical wellness, her education and providing leadership programs so girls can discover their strengths and create change in her own life and in the world around her,” Rosenauer said in a statement.