Mayor Domenic J. Sarno attended the special ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the O’Dell Women’s Center today located at 45 Lyman Street. The center, the first of its kind in Springfield, aims to transform the lives of low-income women in Western Massachusetts through improved access to educational and career opportunities, and is named in honor of life-long Western Massachusetts resident and longtime maternity nurse Constance ‘Connie’ O’Dell. Keely Krantz, O’Dell’s granddaughter, founded and very generously funded the Center in honor of her grandmother’s legacy of respectful and compassionate service.
The O’Dell Center will be the new home of Dress for Success of Western Massachusetts and is seeking to collaborate with other non-profit organizations that serve women. It is conveniently located in downtown Springfield right near Union Station.
Mayor Sarno states, “Yet another first for our Springfield. I was honored to attend and bring greetings at this special ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony to honor Constance ‘Connie’ O’Dell and our new O’Dell Women’s Center. This 15,000 square foot facility will provide essential services and resources to support low-income women secure the educational and career opportunities they need to succeed and gain financial independence. My administration is proud to welcome and support this great initiative. We are happy to have Dress for Success downtown after a successful relocation from the Eastfield Mall which my administration was able to assist with through an ARPA grant too. Thank you to O’Dell Center founder Keely Krantz and Dress for Success of Western Mass Executive Director Margaret Tantillo and your teams for continuing the wonderful legacy of Connie O’Dell. Mrs. O’Dell is truly a renaissance woman, so caring, humble, and genuine, who epitomizes the saying ‘help someone who cannot pay you back.’”
