The Olivet Boys & Girls Club on Mulberry Street and its PAL club on Walnut Street may be quite a mess now, but that is about to change.
Ground was broken Friday outside the Mulberry Street Club, celebrating the start of construction at both facilities.
“It’s scary in there right now,” Angel Helm, vice chair of the club’s board of directors, said during the event.
The dilapidation and disrepair led the organization to shutter both sites, Mulberry for the past three years and PAL for the last two.
In the interim, Olivet partnered with the Reading School District to continue club services at 10th and Green and Lauer’s Park elementary schools, which significantly lowered the number of youths the club can reach, said Sarah Althen-Haggerty, club development director.
“Now that grant funding is secured, we are thrilled to begin renovation work at both club units, and we look forward to serving nearly 1,000 additional youth annually once both are reopened in the fall,” Althen-Haggerty said.
The project, largely funded with a $1 million federal grant and additional state funding, includes everything from repairing structural issues and installing new mechanicals to redecorating and purchasing new games, computers and supplies for club youth to use.
Houlahan tours shuttered Olivet Boys & Girls Club locations in Reading
Helm thanked state and federal elected officials, as well as city and Berks County officials, for their support.
“Because of all of you, this is going to be a real plus for the neighborhood and a plus for our children,” she said. “We look at it as an opportunity for them to learn the skills that they need to become productive people.”
Club kids learn homework, study and computer skills, participate in athletic programs and more, Helm said.
Programs help boys and girls in the transition to adulthood by teaching them social skills and helping to instill confidence, she said.
Angel Helm, vice chair of the board at the Olivet Boys and Girls Club, speaks to state and local officials and staff during groundbreaking ceremonies for the renovations of the club at 722 Mulberry St. on Friday, March 6, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Helm said she recently served as a judge for the club’s annual Youth of the Year competition.
“I was blown away,” she said. “It was the most touching night I ever had as far as the Olivet Boys and Girls Club went.”
The four finalists each made a three-minute presentation on what the club has meant to them and shared a little bit about their lives, she said.
“Four very vulnerable kids all kind of had the same story in a way, and the same vulnerabilities and talked about what they did,” Helm said. “I was so proud. And I will tell you all, elected officials and donors, your money is well spent.”