HOLYOKE — A community nonprofit focused on youth organizing and transformative justice is moving forward with space for everyone in its own three-story home.

Providing a drop-in center and secure hangout space for teens, Pa’lante is also on “a mission to fight for justice,” Alicia Thomas, the director of youth organizing, said Tuesday, with young people working to improve the circumstances in their schools and communities.

“Everything is youth-led,” Jeshua Veguilla, an alumnus who’s interning now through Holyoke Community College, said of the group’s activities. “It’s about building up people.”

Pa’lante was established in 2015 in response to the soaring school suspension and dropout rate in Holyoke. It began by working out of Holyoke High School before separating from the public schools and moving out to rent space at LightHouse on Race Street for a year.

Its leadership structure consists of six staff members, including Thomas and Executive Director Luke Midnight-Woodward, 15 peer leaders from among the student body, and a community advisory board that meets monthly.

Last year, the organization was able to buy its spacious house on Linden Street. After some extensive redecoration — the color scheme on the exterior and first floor is now steel gray and hot pink — Pa’lante moved into its new home in November.

Earlier this month, it opened its doors to the public, with testimony from staff and current members, who shared the ways Pa’lante has changed them.

More recently, peer leader Janeyah Madera said she was drawn into the group less than two years ago by a friend. She said she quickly found a sense of community with people who were “super-close to each other.”

Veguilla became part of the organization when it operated out of Holyoke High School.

“Being around them was my whole high school,” he said. “They just took me in.”

Pa’lante’s work centers around two core practices, according to the organization: Indigenous circle practice and youth participatory research.

Thomas said staff bring information on current events and policies to the youth members, and they decide what their research project will be for the rest of the year. This year, the focus is on policing and school resource officers in Holyoke.

Thomas said one of the policies the group is working from is the “Counseling not Criminalization in Schools Act,” sponsored in Congress by Rep. Ayanna Pressley, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Pa’lante — a contraction from the Spanish for “moving forward” — is a reference to the Young Lords, who were a group of primarily Puerto Ricans in Chicago who worked to address racism, police injustice and other social ills in the 1960s and ‘70s.

The Linden Street house is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., with the top-floor drop-in center open Monday through Thursday from 3 to 7. It includes a mini computer room, a music room — which Madera noted needs more instruments — a kitchen, and the Nook, a quiet space for relaxing and recharging.

The hallways are full of murals, framed photos and other artistic renditions of Pa’lante’s mission and values. The paint colors are vibrant and bold, set against the 144-year-old framework of the place.

Veguilla said finding the right place was a long process.

“It was a matter of where would we feel at home,” he said.

As Thomas said at the open house, “This home is a physical reminder of the power of young people and the beauty they can create.”

Veguilla said he’ll be conducting recruitment in May, handing out flyers at schools and encouraging young people to stop by and get to know the space. Pa’lante also hosted a Labor Day cookout and did outreach during Sunday’s St. Patrick’s Parade.

All amenities at the house are free of charge, including toiletries, a selection of clothing, makeup, snacks, and contraceptives. The organization is largely grant-funded from sources including the Nellie Mae Education Foundation and the Schott Foundation.

The fruits of the group’s work will be presented at an end-of-the-year event May 22 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Freelance writer Samuel Gelinas contributed to this report.