Jan 29, 2020 2 min read

CHARLEROI – The Mon Valley Academy for the Arts was born on its manager’s front porch.

Now after four years of struggling and surviving the group is preparing to establish an office in Charleroi with a grant that was announced Tuesday.

“We appreciate every penny,” its manager, Mark Smith, said at a standing-room-only event at an addiction center, which also benefited from a grant from UPMC Health Plan.

Club Serenity, which has been providing meeting space for addiction anonymous meetings for 25 years, was awarded a $20,000 grant as it relocates to its own Charleroi building.

“We’ve been using hand-me-down used furniture,” club Secretary Mindy McCloy said.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development organized the event, which included performances by the academy’s Twin Coaches Junior Stage Band.

The $35,000 grant will be used to establish the academy’s new office at 309 Fifth St.

The other grant will allow Club Serenity to purchase furniture, make restroom updates, and create a children’s play area and computer and training space.

The money will “make a huge difference” in these operations, said Rick Vilello, the DECD’s deputy secretary of community affairs and development.

“This kind of thing is a spark that starts a fire,” Vilello said.