Our founder, Deanna Marincic, experienced something far too many families face: the loss of a loved one to mental health challenges and addiction. After her brother’s death, Deanna pledged to help families break this painful cycle.

 

In 2015, she opened Gals Institute, a therapy clinic focused on helping families build healthier patterns and manage life’s stressors in the digital age. Deanna soon began developing resilience-building programs for children to strengthen confidence, empathy, and social-emotional skills. As demand grew, she expanded these workshops to reach more children, founding Gals on the Go Project in 2017 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Since then, the organization has been sustained through generous community support, fundraising, and grants.

 

As of 2025, Gals on the Go Project has served more than 10,000 children throughout Waukesha County. In addition to our workshops, we host annual fundraisers like Bingo for Bags and Grilling for Gals, with all proceeds directly supporting our programs. You can also find us at local community events throughout the year, we hope you stop by to say hello!

 

In 2026, we transition to a new name: Thrive Together. While “Gals” stands for Growing Adolescent Life Skills, we’ve found the name can be misunderstood as exclusively for girls. Our programs have always been open to all children ages 5–13, with teens 14+ invited to volunteer.

 

As Thrive Together, we are expanding our focus to support the entire family unit, offering additional parent resources such as hosting Gals Institute's “Parent University” seminars and connecting families to opportunities within the community.

 

We are deeply grateful for the support of our community and look forward to continuing to grow and thrive together.