Utica National Group Foundation donates $125K to ICAN’s new Family Resource Center and Children’s Museum

UTICA, N.Y. — The Utica National Group Foundation has committed $125,000 to ICAN’s Family Resource Center, which will also house a new Children’s Museum.

The Utica National Group Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Utica National Insurance Group. ICAN is short for Integrated Community Alternatives Network.

The $125,000 grant sponsors ICAN’s supervised visitation wing in the new first floor space and contributes to the overall project total of $14 million. It includes site improvements, museum-exhibit design, and the addition of a rotunda — a “signature architectural element” on the south side of the building at 106 Memorial Parkway in Utica.

Utica National has been a longtime supporter of ICAN, focusing especially on programming that came under the ICAN umbrella in 2013 when it merged the Family Nurturing Center of Central New York into the ICAN agency.

Utica National also works with ICAN’s community training and education program for its national Head of the Class program.

About the Family Resource Center

The Family Resource Center will bring together ICAN’s youth and family programs and the Utica Children’s Museum.

Described as a “hub for learning, wellness, connectedness and fun,” this will be the first time that a children’s museum is co-located and partnered with a human services non-profit, per an ICAN news release.

The project broke ground last summer, and ICAN plans to open the Family Resource Center for services this summer. Plans also call for the grand opening of the new Children’s Museum at the end of 2023.

The new Family Resource Center will include ICAN programs such as supervised visitation; healthy families; and nurturing parenting, all of which will use the museum space for “family bonding, confidence building and ultimately for making families stronger.”

The new location will also include select ICAN administrative departments. The new museum will be located on the second floor and in the rotunda of the Family Resource Center, ICAN noted.