$6 Million Bond Supports Plummer Youth Promise Campus $25 Million Renovation

SALEM, MA — A $6 million tax-exempt bond issued by MassDevelopment is part of a $25 million fundraising campaign to renovate the Plummer campus on Winter Island in Salem. The project includes a recently opened 22-bedroom housing complex as part of a residential foster care program for youth and young adults.

MassDevelopment issued the tax-exempt bond through North Shore Bank to the nonprofit human services provider whose mission is to improve outcomes for young people in or at risk of entering state foster care.

The new living area will create a "modern, private and dignified" 18,000-square-foot residential building, and the renovation of an existing building built in 1867 that houses administrative and residential space and will also act as an overnight family visiting apartment space.

The new residential building will feature designated spaces for family visits and gatherings that allow for family privacy, preparing light meals, and enjoying time together.

Once both buildings are complete, administrative staff will be in a separate building from the residential building, creating a more normalized childhood experience.

Plummer Youth Promise began in 1854 when Caroline Plummer bequeathed more than $23,000 for its funding.

"This project is really about the past, present, and future," said Nicole McLaughlin, Executive Director, Plummer Youth Promise. "Our new residential building and the upcoming renovation of existing building will carry on Caroline Plummer’s legacy while better incorporating trauma-informed support because, even though we might do it differently today, we are still committed to her dream. The green elements of the project plan for future financial and environmental sustainability."

"For over 170 years, Plummer has been an essential part of our community and of the lives of countless youth," Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. "Their new facilities will ensure that they are able to continue that mission, connecting children in need with their forever families, and doing so while affording them dignity, comfort, support, and love."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)