WOODSIDE — This club is just for the ladies — most of the time.
A new membership-based community center will open its doors in Woodside this weekend primarily for women, offering workshops and classes to help them grow their skills and interests, from business support groups to a hula hoop fitness course.
Project Life Center, a cafe and work space in a storefront on 61st Street and 38th Avenue, will admit men just one day a week — on Wednesdays — with most of of its remaining hours open just to women, who can sign up for weekly or monthly memberships.
"A communal space for women, and some days men too, but mostly geared toward women," said Sarah Rabenou, a creative arts therapist who's opening the center with fellow Jackson Heights resident Zsuzsi Tass, who works with essentials oils.
"It's really going to be a place for women to ignite things that they feel passionate about, discover themselves more... have a space to put themselves first," Rabenou said. "Often women are trained out of creating that kind of space for themselves in their lives."
Memberships at the center will cost $20 a week, or $75 a month, and will include access to all of the space's classes and workshops. Events on Wednesdays will also be open to men, who can also join for $25 a month.
The roster of classes so far include yoga, Pilates, decluttering and organization, creative art therapy, financial workshops in microlending and building credit as well as a "Sister Circle" support group for women who run their own businesses, or want to start one.
Some events, like a monthly "drink and draw" figure drawing class, will be pay-as-you-go and won't require a membership. Those will be open to men, too.
"We have a full range, and it's constantly growing," Rabenou said.
The business partners say they want the center to serve as a place where women can learn new things, but also share their existing expertise by teaching classes.
"That’s what we're really trying to foster here," Tass said. "We need each other in ways that women don’t really think about and realize."
Project Life Center, located at 38-02 61st St., will hold a launch party on Saturday starting at 7 p.m. that's open to the public. To learn more about the center, visit its website.
