CHEFA Grant Supports Art Center’s After School Program

The $75,000 grant will be applied to the art center’s After School Program. The funds will allow the program to bring professionals in the fields of nutrition, health, exercise, and mental health to teach life-long health habits.

As one of only 10 grantees out of a very competitive program with 40 applicants, the staff at Green Street is honored to have received this distinction. The Connecticut Health and Educational Facilities Authority provides Connecticut’s nonprofit institutions with access to low cost financing in the public municipal markets.

“I understand the competition for this grant was intense—there were so many worthy applicants,” says Janis Astor del Valle, director of Green Street Arts Center. “Empowering young people and their families is at the very core of our program’s mission and CHEFA funds afford us the opportunity to better serve our After School children and families. Now we can more adequately address their needs, and, I hope, significantly improve their lives.”

The Green Street Arts Center, now in its third year of programming, was created to serve as both an anchor to the revitalization of the North End of Middletown and as a unique artistic and educational resource for residents of the neighborhood and the region. The facility offers fully-equipped sound and recording, videography, digital photography, writing and graphic arts labs. It also features two visual arts studios for drawing, painting and sculpture, a dance studio and a performance studio.

“The Green Street Art Center has already established itself as a valuable part of the revitalization of the North End of Middletown,” says Wesleyan President Michael Roth. “It has also become an important service learning opportunity for Wesleyan students eager to work in community. I am very grateful for the CHEFA grant’s recognition of the good work already done at Wesleyan’s Green Street Arts Center, and for its assistance in our future efforts.”