“Because once you enter my house, it becomes our house” -Jeffrey Gibson
We were beyond excited to welcome the community to OUT MetroWest’s new home at our Open House on Saturday, March 12th! We’ve been dreaming about and working towards this moment for almost three years. The Open House featured tie-dying, games, and remarks from staff and youth. But the main event was the experience of connecting with others and enjoying the new space together. Located at 160 Hollis Street in Framingham, this new space allows us to dig into our mission by partnering with other community organizations and serving more LGBTQ+ youth. Our space is only a five minute walk from the T, and features an elevator, sensory room, and all-gender bathrooms. We are thrilled to be leasing space from ātac downtown arts + music, a community-based visual and performing arts organization. We know there are endless possibilities for collaboration with them moving forward!
LGBTQ+ youth, this is YOUR space. Come and visit! Hang out in our lounge/gaming area, grab a book from our LGBTQ+ library, or get in touch with your creative side in our arts and media zone. Please check our new website for information about program times.
Special Thanks
A generous three-year grant from The Sudbury Foundation made this move possible and enabled us to renovate the space in a way that makes it completely youth-focused. We are so deeply grateful for their support and sincere commitment to creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ youth.
And we offer a huge thank you to CBT Architects—in particular Kenneth Preaster, Maureen O’Brien, and Alfred Wojciechowski. They donated incredible expertise and talent to help us envision a highly functional, inviting, and beautiful space. Thanks to them, our space will nurture joy and connection between youth and staff for years to come.
We are also grateful to Jonathan E. Book at Foley Hoag, LLC, who provided invaluable pro bono representation on our sublease. A generous donation from Microsoft equipped our staff and youth workstations and our youth lounge area with state-of-the-art technology. Finally, we want to express our gratitude to volunteers who helped along the way, with everything from painting, packing, unpacking, and setting up the space.
