CUMBERLAND – The Amaral Building at 16 Mill St., which sat silent for so many years before its successful rehabilitation, is now alive with activity, says Sarah King, community outreach coordinator for Mayor Jeff Mutter’s office.
King, who is organizing use of a facility opened last December, told The Local Insider that they’re seeing waiting lists and ever-expanding programming in a center where town and area residents are able to benefit from valuable programming.
When walking in the front door, a visitor first sees a giant fish tank full of fish cared for by Mayor Mutter himself (they were his idea). To the left is the former meat closet/freezer in what was once a grocery store, which is now being transformed into a giving closet.
As King explains it, she wanted to find the balance between the community center being a fun place and also a valuable resource with programming patrons may not have thought of otherwise. She referenced home-buying and budgeting workshops put on by Navigant Credit Union.
Monday and Thursday ESL classes from the Blackstone Valley Community Action Program have been such a hit, King said, and BVCAP will be offering a GED course once ESL ends. This is an example where those involved in a program had their own ideas on which space within the building they were most comfortable in, and that’s what this facility and initiative are all about, she said.
All ages are using the center, said King, including Liz White and OCYL running a 4-session expressive art session and Mad Science running its programming for children. Based on Mad Science also having a waiting list, she said, they’re also planning to hold those types of sessions once per month. Owls of Rhode Island with the Audubon Society of Rhode Island will also be hosting some events, she added, and there are so many other opportunities as well.
In some cases, said King, she’s been pleasantly surprised by the popularity of a class, but she said she also knew that there would be strong demand for much of what is offered here.
CPR classes with Cumberland EMS were fully booked quickly, she said, and after a 60-person waiting list, they’re now expanding such programs and she wants to make them a regular part of what happens here, including sessions on Narcan, CPR, and Stop the Bleed.
She said she and others would also love to see EMS, which has offices in the building, run paramedicine offerings on a “regular cadence” where people can stop in for blood pressure screenings and other services. And of course, it will be used as a base for people to get their shots during inoculation season, she’s said.
The Amaral Building will eventually tie in nicely with Valley Falls Heritage Park across the street, says King, and they’re hoping to see a new outdoor classroom space created on the park’s island by this fall. The stage and benches with shading sail is the alternative they came up with for the much more involved amphitheater style of classroom they had envisions built into the side of the hill, as that proved to be far too expensive after getting proposals, she said.
King said she’s working on a dedicated page with a calendar for the town website, with tabs to click and register, but in the meantime, word about programming is getting out by social media.
Other ideas for future programing include sign language classes with the American Sign Language Institute and sessions by the Nonviolence Institute, among others.
For King, it’s important to introduce people in Cumberland to outside organizations that do great work and make it easier for residents to connect with resources they might not otherwise come across.
She said it’s still sometimes surreal seeing the Amaral Building, after so much planning and effort that went into the long process of landing grants and rehabilitating it, being beautiful and fully functional. Being at the point where she can simply field calls and reach out to people and organizations that might want to be involved in the center is very gratifying, she said.
