TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Since 2013, the Terre Haute Children’s Museum has been a part of a program designed to open the doors of several museums across the state to as many Hoosiers as possible.
The Access Pass program is an effort to give access to as many people in the community as possible, in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the THCM along with 10 other museums across the state allows for Hoosiers enrolled in certain assistance programs to gain access to museums and other arts and cultural programs.
“The Access Pass program is a collaboration between the Terre Haute Children’s Museum, the Indianapolis Children’s Museum, and there are 12 organizations that participate across the state,” Susan Turner, Executive Director of the Terre Haute Children’s Museum explained. “It allows access to museums and other arts and cultural organizations to individuals who are on some sort of public assistance and when they receive the Access Pass, they receive admission to the all of those organizations for $2.00 per person. Which is a significant saving for most of them.”
Families who are qualified for the Access Pass program will be able to visit all of the organizations throughout the state that participate in the program which includes the following:
- Bellaboo’s Children’s Play & Discovery Center
- The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
- Conner Prairie
- Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
- Indiana Historical Society
- Indiana Repertory Theatre
- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
- NCAA Hall of Champions
- Newfields
- Rhythm! Discovery Center
- Terre Haute Children’s Museum
- WonderLab Museum
Turner noted that the Terre Haute Children’s Museum works to provide the community with multiple opportunities to engage with the organization’s services and resources.
“We don’t ever want cost to be a barrier for people to come experience the Terre Haute Children’s Museum. So we have lots of different programs in place,” Turner said. “I think we have a really reasonable admission fee, normally, it’s $9 per person. We also have scholarship dollars available for those individuals who can’t afford to come to camp or to attend one of our events and this is just another great program to allow access to everyone in our community to the Children’s Museum.”
Several assistance programs will help interested families take part in the access pass program including
- Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP)
- Healthy Indiana Plan (Basic and Plus)
- Hoosier Care Connect
- Hoosier Healthwise Insurance
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Hoosier Works
- Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
- Traditional Medicaid
- Valid Indiana foster care license
- Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
To be enrolled in the Access Program, there are a few steps. Families have to be a part of a qualifying program and apply for an Access Pass. Once confirmation of enrollment in the program has been received, families should bring their Access Pass program approval letter with the listed assistance organization and any relevant identification to gain access with the Access Pass to the participating museum or arts and cultural organization of their choice.
“For those families who already have access to these assistance programs, they should totally be taking this benefit because it’s it’s a really great additional tool for them to provide some entertainment and sneaky education,” Turner said.
For more information about the Access Pass program, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has provided a list of frequently asked questions. To stay up-to-date with other THCM events and programs, visit their Facebook.
