This summer, local and national volunteers from Marshalls beautified and enhanced the functionality of the space used by Gads Hill Center's Building Leaders program (formerly Teen Connection). Over a month of planning and preparation, Marshalls volunteers visited our site, developed a design plan, gathered items to donate, and devoted their time and expertise to creating a space tailored to fostering a collaborative learning environment.

Over the course of two days, the volunteers transformed the space alongside Gads Hill Center's youth and staff with new paint, artwork, furniture, and ingenuity. This included constructing dry erase boards that act as movable partitions to facilitate brainstorming on multiple projects simultaneously.

​Building Leaders is a college-preparatory after school program for youth ages 13-18; one of its objectives is to provide enrichment in STEAM: science, technology, engineering, art, and math. As an interdisciplinary program, there's great need for a space that allows teens to work on more than one project at a time, such as building a robot to compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition, engaging in ACT preparation, and creating original art. With the help of Marshalls, youth in Building Leaders now have a space that meets those needs — and looks fantastic! In yet another demonstration of support, the Chicago region of Marshalls stores also hosted a clothing shopping trip for 20 Gads Hill Center youth, with a spending allowance of $1,000.

​We cannot thank Marshalls and TJX enough for their continued investment in Gads Hill Center's programs and their dedication to our families. If you or your company is interested in corporate or other volunteer projects, please email info@gadshillcenter.org.

Take a look at the photos below to see the transformation in action!