Mars Home for Youth continues to enhance facilities and expand services
ADAMS TWP — Mars Home for Youth Family Services continues to expand its mission to support at-risk and disabled youth, rolling out new facility upgrades aimed at enhancing therapeutic care and safety.
While the nonprofit stopped housing children in mid-2022, it has persisted in gathering donations for projects to enhance the lives of children.
One of the newest features is a sensory friendly playground, decked out with multiple musical elements, swings and a Gaga ball pit.
That project, which was finished in 2024, totaled $178,500. It was funded through various grants and more than 150 donors.
“Every child is worthy of quality,” said newly-appointed CEO Samantha Ellwood, who took over in January. “I think that’s something we have to strive for to make sure they’re having the same quality experience that they would be having at their home district if they were still attending school there.”
Over its 147-year history, the nonprofit has partnered with numerous local businesses and clubs, including the Rich-Mar Rotary Club, which has donated thousands of dollars during its 15-year partnership with MHY.
Ellwood addressed more than a dozen club members on Wednesday, April 2, taking them on a tour of what they’ve helped construct through the years.
Through various annual fundraisers, the club has donated funds to establish signage, restore buildings and repaint the pavilion.
Most recently, members gave $5,000 to the playground project and $10,000 for new basketball hoops and backboards inside MHY’s gymnasium.
“We have people that live in all these school districts that are being served,” Rich-Mar Rotary president Dave Hein said of the donations. “When we can see that, then we feel that the community is going to be stronger. This really is a treasure to have this here, and so we try to support community resources in general.”
The work inside the gymnasium is scheduled to begin sometime in June after school lets out. Ellwood said she’s hoping to build more of a connection between the nonprofit and the local community.
“One of my goals as the new CEO is to open up and participate more with the community,” she said. “So if there’s ways we can bring the community in to utilize some of our spaces, I’m open to that as well.”
As for the classroom, the nonprofit’s Longmore Academy has seen significant growth over the last decade.
After supporting five elementary school students in 2018-19, Longmore served 47 students during the 2023-24 school year.
Similarly, its autistic support program served two students when it launched in 2021-22, but expanded to 35 students during the 2023-24 school year.
All of that evolution has prompted MHY to partner with Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to design and develop a new kindergarten classroom inside Longmore Academy.
The kindergarten program would serve 12 new children and follow the school’s “therapeutic model,” according to Ellwood.
“It would be an intimate classroom setting for those kids to really get used to formal school and step into education in general on the right,” she said.
Officials said they estimate the new classroom to cost about $300,000, with a majority of that coming from grants and donations.
Ellwood said they’re anticipating a fall 2026 opening.
