It’s the second week of the summer program at the Hamilton Hill Arts Center in Schenectady. Kids are spending the beautiful day outside painting rocks.

“This one? Show me,” said executive director Rachel Conn, to one of the kids. “This one right here? That’s beautiful.”

She’s been running the arts center since 2017, but the story starts long before that. Conn’s grandmother founded it in 1968. Conn is continuing that work by sharing her arts and crafts expertise.

“You going to show your dad how it glows in the dark,” Conn asks another kid. While it continues to serve the community and promote the arts and culture of the African diaspora, Conn says the center needs to be brought up to date.

On the to-do list is new flooring, a new ceiling and kitchen renovations.

“This is our library back here,” Conn said. “Right now, because we are under renovation, it’s storing most of the things that were in the building.”

All that comes with a price tag, which is why Conn applied for $50,000 in state funding.

On Friday morning, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie joined Assembly members Angelo Santabarbara and Phil Steck to present a check with a surprise: an additional $250,000.

“COVID affected our community in a number of ways,” Santabarbara said. “But we want to make sure that we provide the support and services so our children do not suffer as a result of it.”

He said the $300,000 total amount comes from the state budget. Conn says this will help get a lot more done than anticipated. It allows her to continue her family’s work in Hamilton Hill.

“We want the community to be invested in the center, to feel like it belongs to them and to bring in what they want,” Conn said. “That is where we began and that’s where we would like to continue.”