Rehabilitated School House Makes a Big Community Impact
The Boys & Girls Club of Woonsocket (BGCW) purchased the historic, 117 year old Kendrick Avenue Schoolhouse, from the City of Woonsocket for the nominal fee of $1. Our intention was preservation with a purpose. Our purpose was to create a fully functioning Boys & Girls Club with the mission to inspire and enable the youth of Woonsocket, especially those who need us the most, to reach their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.
The preservation and restoration could not have been achieved without the financial assistance of the Champlin Foundation. Over the past eight years, the Champlin Foundation has given our Club grants totaling $669,000. These grants have enabled us to put on new roofing, new gutters, reduce our mortgage, exterior ground improvements, purchase additional property, construct a new parking lot, and install a new splash park, playground & outdoor basketball court. All of these improvements have created a BGCW complex with which we are able to effectively impact the youth in our community in three significant areas. ACADEMIC SUCCESS with our BE Great Graduate after school homework help, HEALTHY LIFESTYLES with our Healthy Kids Program serving over 13,000 dinners annually, and our GOOD CHARACTER & CITIZENSHIP through Keystone & Torch Club which focus on community service projects.