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It’s been a good couple of months for Christine Goodman. On August 1 she officially ditched the day job and came on staff as executive director of Art House Productions, the Jersey City arts group she founded in 2001. And now she has been named one of 230 “Local Heroes” by Bank of America; a designation that comes with a $5,000 grant.

The program is part of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, which “recognizes, nurtures, and rewards community-based organizations, local heroes and student leaders working to improve their communities.”

“I am absolutely thrilled to be receiving this grant award; it is wonderful to see our efforts recognized,” Goodman says. “I think it’s important to share this honor with Art House’s hardworking volunteers, because our accomplishments over the last 10 years have been a team effort. I am very grateful to Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative for helping us continue our work.”

Goodman says the money will go hand-in-hand with the organization’s increased presence this year in its 10th season; it will be putting on more programming, and it needs “some important internal upgrades” to make that go as smoothly as possible. Specifically, Goodman points out two areas that she hopes to use the money for: “to secure adequate lighting for our gallery/theater” and “to make some important equipment upgrades in our educational media lab.”

She will receive the award at a reception in Newark next week.