The Connect Center is a community youth center located in Cohoes, NY and established as a 501(c)3 organization in 2012. The concept for the Connect Center was born in the fall of 2009 by Rev. Wendell and Dona Williams, who saw the need for the city youth to have a safe destination to go to after school hours. We work in collaboration with other local organizations, businesses and the school system. With no major donors, the project has been a labor of love over the past eight years and carries no debt. Project build out is currently estimated at 90% completion.

The Connect Center holds a Steam Lab which includes the computer lab, a tech room, a media room, a music studio and performance arts theatre with an art gallery. It will be a unique space where youth can explore and develop skills which are necessary for the present and the future to keep them competitive in a rapidly evolving education and job market. Additionally, we are gearing up to meet the immediate needs of the youth in our city by converting a portion of the Black Box arts theatre into a socially-distant computer lab. This space will also create opportunities for tutoring, mentoring and other tech-based youth programming.