Parent Villages co-founder, president and CEO LaTonia Monroe Naylor stands at the podium to unveil the new center and talk about the nonprofit’s journey.
Reminder Publishing photo by Ryan Feyre
SPRINGFIELD — Although the work never ceases, change is here, manifesting just around the corner in downtown Springfield.
For Parent Villages, the local nonprofit that offers educational programming and support services for families in need, “doing the work” has culminated in a momentous change, and an opportunity to leave an impact for years to come.
Community leaders, partners and elected officials gathered on Feb. 14 to celebrate the grand reopening of Parent Villages. Early last month, the nonprofit purchased the building at 32 Hampden St, the national landmark historically known as the Whitcomb Warehouse.
A manufacturing company that made rulers once occupied the space at some point in the 20th century, but today, the location has grown into a bustling community that accommodates a church; a mental health agency; a literacy space; English as a second language offerings; and the competitive dance studio, Youthful Expressions.
It will now also house the Parent Villages Nonprofit Center on the second floor, where the organization can further support families through its two-generational approach.
“We’re going to continue to have more entities in this building that are for our community, for what is best for our community, and willing to work together as a village to make sure that change continues to happen,” said Parent Villages President and CEO LaTonia Monroe Naylor during the ribbon cutting celebration.
Monroe Naylor co-founded Parent Villages with Ayanna Crawford, Cindy-Gaynor Harper and Page Monroe in 2018. At the time, Monroe Naylor — having just been elected as a School Committee member — was told that only 7% of Springfield children were ready for kindergarten.
The statistic left Monroe Naylor incredulous.
“I was floored; I could not understand why this was the case,” Monroe Naylor said. “Why weren’t our children ready?”
In response, Monroe Naylor met with her peers, the eventual co-founders of Parent Villages, and they all agreed that something had to be done. The quartet got to work, and the nonprofit was born.
“We started in community centers, libraries, anywhere anybody would let us because we didn’t have a lot of money at the time,” Monroe Naylor said. “We would talk, we would educate, and we would share.”
Through faith, compassion and teamwork, the nonprofit built itself up over the last several years. They landed in a small office on Page Boulevard, eventually worked their way up to a 1,500 square-foot space on the third floor of 32 Hampden St, and now, they are furthering their mission in their first ever nonprofit center on the second floor of that same 32 Hampden St. building they just purchased.
“Moving into this bigger space on the second floor is really great,” Monroe Naylor said in an interview. “But we’re now also able to have the building to say to folks, this is our community, whatever resource you need… there’s a mental health agency, a church; there’s English as a second language, a literacy program, dancing…it’s almost a one stop shop.”
Parent Villages offers what is known as a “two generational approach” by offering educational programs and support services for children grades 6 through 12, as well as parents and caregivers. According to Monroe Naylor, around 90% of the folks they help have been affected by violence or trauma in some way.
All the program and services they offer are no cost.
“We really try to help them live while they heal or heal while they live,” Monroe Naylor said.
The nonprofit’s programs services are all-compassing, according to Monroe Naylor. Everything they teach is about “living,” whether that means financial literacy, entrepreneurialism, self-care and social skills. Sometimes the support manifests in something as pleasant as a “Friendsgiving” gathering.
“That’s the thing that we really hang our hat on, having a safe place where people can feel like they belong,” Monroe Naylor said. “Every client that we have, every student that comes through our space, they feel like they’re a part of our family.”
One example of a service they offer is the Village Care Sessions, which is essentially a support group where folks gather to talk about something that is important to them. Because it is Black History Month, Monroe Naylor said participants in recent sessions have talked about things like identity and ancestry and how society can do better.
They also offer another program called the Youth Village Builders Workshop where grade 6 through 12 students learn to become more independent, improve their communication and social skills and gain knowledge about different areas of interest.
Those two programs are just a sliver of what Parent Villages offers, however. Monroe Naylor talked about how the organization provides intermediate services like gift cards for clothing, food and hygiene.
She added that they normally have a program clinician on site, as well, to guide people through a wellness assessment.
“What she does is she makes sure that folks are good or that they know where to get the resources if they need them, or she’ll meet with them and provide support until they’re able to get into see a therapist or a clinician,” Monroe Naylor said.
With the new space on the second floor, Parent Villages is able to have a separate room that allows the youth to do podcasting, music, gaming or whatever other creative endeavor. Equally as important, the nonprofit can now run youth and adult programming simultaneously, something that was not possible in their previous locations.
“We provide this village for everyone to continue to grow together and learn together; how to be better and do better,” Monroe Naylor said.
By purchasing the 32 Hampden St. building and fostering this new nonprofit center, that village Monroe Naylor mentions continues to blossom.
Readers can learn more about Parent Villages by visiting parentvillages.org.
