As I begin the final month of leading the team at PASA, I’m elated that we are planning once again for in-person summer learning experiences for our youth. PASA’s powerful history in this community has always prioritized getting youth together to socialize, explore the outdoors, get physically active, and learn from one another.
 
As we start to recover from this stressful year, the team at PASA is super excited to bring our providers and our youth together this summer to help everyone heal and re-engage in life and learning. PASA is working closely with RIDE, the Providence Parks Department, and the City of Providence to offer safe and engaging summer experiences for Providence middle and high school youth. 
 
In the meantime, I want to share updates with you that I hope help confirm your unwavering support of an organization that never stopped taking care of Providence youth:

• From July 1 to April 16, PASA served 556 youth with a mix of in-person programs this fall at the Rec Centers and virtual sessions all winter over Zoom.
   
• By late fall, the team mastered technical challenges and embraced adjustments to confidently connect with and motivate youth to participate in virtual programming.
   
• Partnering with DASH Bicycle, PASA delivered over 1,000 educational kits of supplies and materials to youth homes, enhancing virtual programs.
   
• While not always ideal, a virtual infrastructure allowed for more collaboration across school sites and helped the PASA team establish online registration, streamlining communications and effectively sharing best practices.
   
• PASA’s virtual Arts Event brought over 125 attendees together over Zoom, sharing an evening of conversation with guests Ethan Hawke, Joe Wilson Jr., Senator Whitehouse and Mayor Elorza. PASA alum Genesis Sanchez Tavarez was marvelous as our event’s discussion facilitator, exemplifying everything that the PASA mission stands for and solid proof that high-quality after school experiences can have long-lasting benefits.

 

As PASA proceeds with the Executive Director transition this summer, I am excited to watch the next generation of leadership build on the incredible and diverse strengths of the PASA staff, Board and community partners.
 
We learned how to do things very differently during the pandemic, but we continued to support one another in order to best serve our youth and families. This past school year has been complicated and painful, but the PASA team’s unshakeable belief in the importance of our work has kept us moving forward, growing and leading the way as a national and local model for community-centered youth development.
 
Your reinforcement of our work and your generosity will continue to have direct impact on PASA’s ability to adhere to the latest health recommendations while placing the emotional needs, developmental concerns, and continued learning of our youth solidly at the center of everything we do.

Thank you for your belief in the PASA mission. We look forward to many more decades of working with our partners to give Providence youth a broad range of learning opportunities that help them succeed. 

Sincerely,

Hillary Salmons
Executive Director