SALEM — Construction will soon be finished on a new Winter Island facility for Plummer Youth Promise to provide foster youth with a place to develop.
Plummer Youth Promise is a nonprofit child welfare organization that works with young people in the foster care system. The organization was established in 1855 via a $23,000 donation from Salem resident Caroline Plummer for the founding of a “school for the instruction, employment and reformation of juvenile offenders.”
Today, Plummer Youth Promise has expanded its services to provide support and residency in their group home for youths 16-22 who are aging out of the child welfare system and have no family with whom to live.
However, with a nearly 200-year-old facility, the layout and condition of the organization’s current building has left much to be desired for the dignity, growth, and comfort of the youth that they serve, Executive Director Nicole McLaughlin said.
Plummer plans to move away from the double-occupancy rooms that required youth to share a room with others, as well as the locker-room style group bathrooms. Aside from the uneven heating and cooling, another one of the main issues Plummer hoped to address with the new building is the close proximity and overlap between administrative spaces and the residential spaces for youth.
“One of the difficult things about this building, in addition to the fact that it’s falling apart, is that we have administrative staff in here on top of residential staff,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s not a normal living environment; there’s no privacy and no dignity there. We had to change that. So that’s what this new building is all about, creating physical and psychological safety so that kids can do the vulnerable work to get back to family.”
The new building, directly behind the current building, will house up to 22 people and include single-occupancy bedrooms, private bathrooms, dignified and private space separate from administrative staff.
It also includes a new exercise room, walking paths outside, and living rooms with kitchens away from busy residential areas for families to meet in a setting that promotes healing trauma.
A new solar-powered geothermal heating will not only move the organization away from fossil fuel use and control the temperature in the new building, but will later be connected to the old building and potentially be used for any future expansions or renovations, McLaughlin said.
“When I think about this project overall, it’s really about the past, the present, and the future,” she said. “We’re going to bring this building back to its glory, and carry on Caroline Plummer’s legacy, because she had a dream in 1855 that we’re still committed to.
And this building also recognizes that we know a lot more about kids today, so it really meets the present needs of kids in today’s generation. And the geothermal aspect is really about the future. It’s about stewarding the planet and ensuring our own financial sustainability, as well as possibly preparing for another building or building renovation.”
“A lot of the feedback we got from the kids when we did the focus groups for the design for the building was that they really like the homey feeling of the old building,” Residential Services Clinical Director Christina Brackett said. “And I think they did an amazing job of making it have that same homey feeling.”
The new building also provides several new rooms that include a kitchen, furniture, and a television for family visits. Previously, family visits were only able to take place in either the busy living room with little privacy, or a small, dark office which the administration described as a “closet.”
“What really sets us apart right now is that we have families coming from all over the state,” Plummer Youth Promise nurse Jonathan Nystedt said. “So families are coming from Worcester or Springfield, and maybe they can only come once a month and only stay for a few hours.
“And when they do come, they’re [currently] spending it in what is essentially a closet, or like a tiny office that we’re all walking through. So this is a much more dignified and private space for them.”
The project, which broke ground in November 2023, cost $25 million. The nonprofit has raised $18 million through a combination of $1 million from the state, $1 million from the city of Salem, and the remainder from individual donors and foundations, officials said.
The new building is expected to be occupied by May 15. For more information about the new campus, visit plummeryouthpromise.org.
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202