Bright Horizons Family : The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children Opens Bright Space at OUT MetroWest

March 22, 2024 - The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children recently opened a Bright Space at OUT MetroWest, 160 Hollis Street in Framingham, MA on Thursday, March 21, 2024. Bright Spaces, the signature program of the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children, provides engaging environments that are cheerful, inviting, safe, and fun, and support non-profits like OUT MetroWest. OUT MetroWest builds communities where LGBTQ+ youth thrive. Executives from Bright Horizons including CEO Stephen Kramer were on hand to help cut the ribbon and celebrate the opening of the renovated space.

The Bright Space was made possible by fundraising efforts of the Bright Horizons' COVID Response team. These efforts included art auctions, a car wash at the home office in Newton, and a grant from the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation. The team raised funding to renovate a large multi-purpose room and create several smaller gathering spaces for the community to convene and enjoy. The Bright Space is dedicated in memory of Cameron Sanders, the great-grandson of Marcia Brady Tucker.

OUT MetroWest offers free programs for ages Pre-K through high school to connect LGBTQ+ youth with supportive peers and LGBTQ+ adult role models. Shine is a program for gender expansive young children Pre-K through Grade 5. Glow is a program for LGBTQ+ young children Pre-K-Grade 5. OUT MetroWest also has a variety of programs and events for middle school and high school youth as well.

"The collective efforts of the COVID Response team, comprised of employees from across the country in various departments, who were brought together to support the families and children in our care during the pandemic, is a shining example of how the foundation provides our employees with the opportunity to have a lasting impact in the communities where we live and work," said Yvonne Lynch, President of The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children.

"At OUT MetroWest, we are all about creating spaces that are safe, comfortable, inclusive, and that invite connection. The Bright Space that has been so generously provided to us by the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children is an amazing example of just that. We know thousands of connections between youth, families, and other OUT MetroWest community members will be made in our Bright Space for years to come. We are so grateful." said OUT MetroWest Executive Director Whitney Retallic (she/her).