A word of gratitude to our generous community as new Stuart Club on pace to open next year

The wise among us note that we invest our time and money in what we prize most.

By that standard, this community should take a bow for prioritizing its future by pouring into its children—particularly those in need.

At the Boys & Girls Clubs of Martin County, we get to witness the incredible outcomes this commitment produces. It will soon result in an exciting milestone—a state-of-the-art facility designed to change lives for the better for generations to come.

We recently gave a presentation to Stuart residents about the flagship club we’re currently constructing on a 3.6-acre site behind the former Martin County School District headquarters (and one-time Stuart High School).

The $17 million project is strategically positioned to offer easy afterschool access for students from neighboring Stuart Middle School as well as from the local East Stuart community. The facility will provide increased convenience for the families of Stuart children who attend J.D. Parker Elementary, which we’ve served at our Palm City club for several years. It’s also readily accessible for the Rio/Jensen community, which we’re eager to avail of our expanding workforce development programs.

The club—which will span 39,000 square feet—will include in addition to a gym that the local community can enjoy a collection of workforce labs encompassing 15,000 square feet.

The labs will be equipped to prepare young people for exciting and profitable careers right out of high school. In addition to building upon our already successful culinary/hospitality program, we’ll offer certifications in such skilled fields as HVAC, home construction, virtual reality, supply-chain management, automation, cloud computing and drone operation.

Partnership empowers everything we do, and we’re excited to team with the chambers, Economic Council, Business Development Board, and private employers to tap into their knowledge, networks, and willingness to donate their time to sharpen the future workforce, innovators and entrepreneurs.

Best of all, the club is projected to open during the 2024 school year!

Still, the needs of the youth we serve persist today. Fortunately, we’re also blessed with an incoming class of AmeriCorps members. We also recently recognized these mentors committing to serving their community in exchange for a modest stipend, college scholarship and the enduring value of making a difference.

Since deploying our AmeriCorps mentors into local middle and elementary schools, we’ve witnessed measurable results as reading comprehension, math and science scores have significantly improved.