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The Longwood Foundation has awarded Wesley College a $1 million grant to start the renovation project of the former Dover Public Library at 45 S. State Street. Wesley bought the vacant building for a dollar from the City of Dover less than a year ago with the plan to repurpose the site.

The Foundation accepts grant requests from non-profit organizations located in and/or benefiting the residents, environment, or culture in the state of Delaware. They invest primarily in the education, health care, environmental, housing, arts, social services, and civic sectors.

The building, once renovations are completed, will host a state-of-the-art educational facility with a healthcare component with the predominant user of the space being the College’s new Master’s of Occupational Therapy (MOT) Program and clinic. The Wesley Cares Clinic, operated and staffed by the MOT faculty and students will serve uninsured and underinsured children, and eventually adults, from the community on a fee-based sliding scale.

“Wesley’s fully-accredited MOT program has been extremely popular and successful from the start,” said Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Jeffrey K. Gibson. “We recognized the need for this type of program and launched the only MOT program in the state two years ago. Since then, the program has exceeded all expectations, has a waiting list for enrollment, and has quickly outgrown the original location on campus.”

In addition to the MOT program, the space will house a large multi-media conference room, educational classrooms, labs, and meeting or study rooms which will be available to all students, faculty, and staff for a myriad of purposes.

“We are so grateful for the steadfast and continued support from the Longwood Foundation,” said Wesley College President Robert E. Clark II. “Their support and partnership will help inspire others to become involved in our effort to help transform our cities downtown while also providing an educational facility that will serve the health care needs of our community, especially the under insured and uninsured.”