–Construction Begins on Modern Purpose-built Building and Campus Transformation–
–MVCS Announces Wing of New Building to be Named for William & Rose Styron–
May 2, 2025 / Oak Bluffs, MA – Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS) is formally breaking ground today on construction of a modern social service center and transformed campus for the non-profit agency, which provides a range of healthcare programs across the five towns of Martha’s Vineyard. MVCS is also announcing that a wing of the new building will be named the William & Rose Styron Center for Wellness & Recovery and will serve as the “hub” of MVCS mental health and substance use disorder services.
MVCS CEO Dean Teague says,“It’s a historic day for Community Services and Martha’s Vineyard. The transformation has begun, and we are on our way to completing our new campus by fall 2026. Two aged buildings, built in the mid-1980s, have already been demolished, and our team is working in the remaining clinic building, where they will continue to provide our full array of ongoing counseling and outreach services while construction of the new building is underway.
“Thanks to the generosity of so many individuals and families who have already donated to our Space to THRIVE Campaign, we have raised $13 million of our $17.5 million goal, ” Teague added. “Toward that progress, we are thrilled to announce that some four dozen donors together have contributed more than $1.5 million to honor the Styrons with a new named wing as we modernize MVCS’s facilities. This latest outpouring of generosity joins the historic gift of $3 million by Jacqui Morby and her children to name our main building, as well as the foundational $2 million donation by Jim and Susan Swartz to name the Paul & Sandra Pimentel Early Childhood Center. This past fall, a $500,000 capital grant by Martha’s Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation inspired timely matching gifts to meet our campaign milestone for breaking ground. That momentum is growing as more donors continue to step forward to support Islanders and help us bring our historic campus transformation to fruition.”
William & Rose Styron Center for Wellness & Recovery
Rose Styron, now 97 years old—recalling that she and Bill first rented a house on Martha’s Vineyard in 1960 before buying their High Hedge Lane home in 1963—says, “Living on this island enhanced the richness of our lives. It means a great deal to me—as I know it would have to Bill—to reach other families who need mental health services, and to help lift the stigma that surrounds depression and addiction. Bill’s 1990 memoir, Darkness Visible, remains an essential resource for psychiatrists today, and his words of encouragement to countless fellow sufferers of depression contributed to Bill’s own sense of well-being.
“I am very moved to see the establishment of the Styron Center for Wellness & Recovery at MV Community Services, she adds. “It is an honor for Bill and me to be remembered through this act of love by and for our Island neighbors.”
Modern Purpose-built Building and Campus Transformation
The new 13,700 square foot MV Community Service Center is being built by South Mountain Company and features best-practice design for comprehensive, behavioral health services. Joining the Paul & Sandra Pimentel Early Childhood Center, built in 2021, the modern new building replaces a warren of small and aging structures and will feature universally accessible space with client-centered facilities that inspire safety, dignity, and confidentiality. Fostering collaboration among service providers and community partners, the campus will include state-of-the-art design for hybrid staffing and telehealth-compatible infrastructure and a durable, environmentally efficient space that will serve Islanders for generations to come.
Heralding its historic new campus center, MVCS is convening two events on May 2: a virtual “CEO Coffee & Groundbreaking” as well as an in-person ceremony on the campus, both co-hosted by MVCS Capital Campaign Chair Gary Foster and Lisa Foster and Board Vice President Carl Folta and Molly Lemeris. Joining in the campus groundbreaking ceremony are these scheduled leaders and partners: MVCS CEO Dean Teague; Honoree Rose Styron; MVCS Board President Michael Goldsmith; South Mountain Company Director of Architecture & Co-Owner Ryan Bushey; Martha’s Vineyard Bank President James Anthony, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital President Denise Schepici; MVYPS Superintendent Richie Smith; MVYouth Executive Director Lindsey Scott; Oak Bluffs Chief of Police Jonathan Searle; MVCS Trustee Sergeant Paul Manning; MVCS US Army (Ret.) Veteran Kevin Devine; and Island Counseling Center Practice Manager Geany Rolanti.
Founded in 1961, Martha’s Vineyard Community Services (MVCS) is a non-profit community social services agency that enhances the lives of islanders from every corner of the Vineyard community and in every season of their lives. With a staff of professionals and clinicians, MVCS works with a corps of volunteers and local schools, hospital, town and county officials, as well as other organizations, creating a web of support for the island’s diverse population of children, families, teens, and adults. MVCS serves one- in-four of Martha’s Vineyard’s 20,000 year-round residents, funded by public grants and contracts and private philanthropic support. MVCS is also supported by sales from the Chicken Alley Thrift Shop, a well- known tourist destination and year-round community resource on Martha’s Vineyard.