LEWISTON — Tree Street Youth leaders anticipate expanding services for the community’s youngest kids in 2027 with the addition of its Canopy Center.

The 7,250-square-foot building will feature three classrooms, a family resource center and an indoor playground called the Discovery Room.

The Canopy Center is planned for 143 Howe St., across from the Tree Street Youth at 144 Howe St. A groundbreaking is scheduled for June 4, the same day the organization celebrates its 15-year anniversary, and it is expected to be operational in the fall of 2027.

Tree Street Youth is a Lewiston-based organization that started in 2011 by providing local students with help with homework. It has grown into a year-round program that serves 1,200 children in prekindergarten through high school with free programs and services from childcare and academic help to enrichment and leadership programs.

Julia Sleeper, the organization’s founder and executive director, said the idea for the Canopy Center came up in 2022 when the organization created a pilot program to help fill in gaps in early childhood programming and affordable childcare for families in Lewiston.

Sleeper said center research overseen by Alli Nolan, the center’s prekindergarten programming director, found that working parents were struggling to find programs that met their work schedules and provide flexibility. It was also found that families were in need of affordable childcare for children between the ages of 2 and 4.

“Hearing this, we quickly went to work to see what we could do to help with the problem,” Sleeper said. “The worst thing to know is that there are lots of parents who are struggling with these basic needs. We wanted them to know that we were committed to creating solutions to these problems and would stop at no cost.”

Sleeper said she anticipates the addition of the Canopy Center will draw 60 to 100 more kids to its classrooms, and hundreds of families to the Discovery Center. She said the center will also help support families with children from newborns to 2 years old.

The Lewiston Planning Board approved the organization’s building plans in March. The land was originally the site of two houses, 143 and 145 Howe St., that were torn down due to dilapidation.

Sleeper said the center will allow Tree Street Youth to serve kids and parents better.

“There’s so many things going on with kids during these ages from speech development to figuring out their little identities,” Sleeper said. “What we want to do with this is continue to help them develop, but also work with them to help them understand that if they’re passionate about something, to follow their dreams. These kids are the future, and we want to help and support them in any way possible.”

The new center will also be a place for parents to come and connect with other families while giving them a “break” from parenting, she said.

A 2024 National Library of Medicine report from the Office of the Surgeon General found that between 1985 and 2022, average employment hours for parents increased 28% for mothers and 4% for fathers. The report found that balancing employment and family responsibilities for parents often led to work-family conflicts, guilt and burnout.

“Parenting is really hard right now and is a challenging experience,” Sleeper said. “These parents are often looking for community, but if you’re managing work and all the extra stuff relating to childcare, that tends to be lost and forgotten about. That community piece is critical for parents and not a lot of parents have this.

“The Canopy Center will help children get the necessary resources they need to thrive, but it’s also going to be a place where parents can get their footing again and realize that it can get hard, but there are others who are just like them. It’s more than a center, it’s a lifeline.”

Sleeper said once the center is built, its youngest children will move in. The move will free up several classrooms in the Tree Street Youth center for those ages 6 and older.

The cost of the project is $3.7 million, with the organization actively fundraising. Sleeper said the group has received $1 million in federal funds, which along with potential grant donors will help them get 75% of the way to the goal.