CHARLESTON, W.Va – The Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences is becoming more accessible thanks to a new partnership with the West Virginia Department of Human Services and the Department of Health.
Starting October 5, SNAP and WIC benefit recipients receive $2 admission to the Clay Center on the first Sunday of every month, and Clay Center director of communications Taylor Gue said the focus is on giving opportunities to as many kids as possible.
“Anything that we can do to promote creativity and discovery and inspiration for our up-and-coming generations, we want to make sure that we’re doing that,” she said.
According to Gue, the Clay Center understands that many West Virginians need financial help and wanted to do something to make experiences easier to access. This partnership is designed to do just that.
“The Clay Center wants to make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure our facility is as accessible to everyone as possible despite financial constraints that anyone may be living in,” she said.
Gue said the Clay Center is all about giving kids the chance to explore and learn through its activities. Giving more of those experiences is important to the people behind the partnership, and they’re excited to see new smiling faces soon.
“I have a three-year-old myself, and so I bring him here all the time. It’s his favorite place to go to, so it’s immeasurable the amount of joy that it brings to us, seeing that joy on kids’ faces,” she said.
The partnership came together when Gue reached out to the SNAP and WIC offices about putting something like this together. She said they embraced the chance to offer this kind of support.
“They were so thrilled and so excited, and they have reached out to us in the past about what could we do to really support those in our community that need a little extra help here and there, so finally being able to come together on something really consistent and clear and that was something that was really important to us,” she said.
Following the announcement on Monday, the Clay Center has seen plenty of positive messages about the new program. Gue said the response tells them this is the right decision.
“Any time I see that type of public reaction to stuff that we’re doing, it really just reinforces what we’re doing here,” she said.
$2 admission to the Clay Center is available for all members receiving SNAP or WIC benefits on the first Sunday of every month with a valid SNAP or WIC card and photo ID.