SOLID Impact Report: Growth, Grit, and Good News
Summer is just getting started, and there’s already so much to share! I hope you enjoy these photos and updates from the past few weeks at SOLID Foundation.
In this update:
Community Outreach at Healing Fest ‘25
Presenting at the Community and Gun Violence Prevention and Response Symposium
Open Studio at SOLID
Peace and Justice Youth Conference
We need your help to Unlock Summer!
Community Outreach
Our friends at Paterson Healing Collective had their annual Healing Fest event, and we were there all day with a resource table. It was a huge event with a couple hundred people. This was an excellent opportunity to connect with youth and families to let them know SOLID has summer camp coming up!
Presenting at the Community and Gun Violence Prevention and Response Symposium
As an organization empowering leaders and peacemakers, and as a grant recipient for community-based violence intervention and prevention, SOLID was invited to speak at the Community and Gun Violence Prevention and Response Symposium. The name of the symposium might be long-winded, but the panel we participated in was not! Our Director of Student Success and Outreach, Kimmeshia Rogers-Jones, had the opportunity to represent SOLID and share about our work in Paterson. She did an amazing job!
Open Studio at SOLID
Our first Open Studio was fantastic. We had a packed house. For several kids, it was their first time at SOLID. Our Director of Experiential Learning, Emma Sparks, lead everyone in a watercolor tutorial. After a successful night like this at our new facility - we’re all super excited for Summer Camp!
Pictured below: Rasheed being an amazing big brother!
Peace and Justice Youth Conference
Peace and Justice Youth Conference
Our friends in Brooklyn invited us to their Peace and Justice Youth Conference. It was an opportunity to learn from peacemakers in the city hosted by The Circle Keepers. We couldn’t pass it up! We loaded up the SOLID Van and hit the road!
The powerful thing about this conference was that it was mostly lead by high school students. There were break-out sessions, keynote speakers, workshops, give-aways and delicious local food!
And - as usual - one of the most meaningful parts of this trip was the car ride there and back. Shout out to our Director of Skateboarding Initiatives and Mentoring, Eli Colas, for always having words of wisdom to share with our guys.
Thank you for making it this far in this email! It means so much to me that you’re interested in what we’re up to at SOLID.
We couldn’t be more thrilled to kick off summer camp at SOLID Foundation! Camp is right around the corner, and we need your support! Several friends have given to support our Unlock a SOLID Summer campaign to support our transportation needs for camp. I hope you will consider a gift, today.
Camp Create:
2 weeks
July 7th to July 17th
Photography
Stencil Art
NYC Museums
Much more!
Camp Activate:
3 weeks
July 21st - August 7th
Skate Clinics
Passaic River Kayaking
Swimming
Hiking
So much more!
Unlock a SOLID Summer for Local Kids!
Your generosity directly fuels these adventures and ensures our campers can get where they need to go. Here’s how you can help us make it happen:
$40 sponsors one student for one week of summer camp, including their transportation to all activities.
$80 gives a student two weeks of engaging activities and covers their travel for those two weeks.
$160 provides a whole month of summer fun for one child, making sure they never miss an outing.
$240 sponsors one student for the entire six weeks of camp, funding all their transportation needs for the summer!
$2,500 allows us to sponsor the entire summer, which includes crucial support for our transportation costs!
Imagine the smiles, the discoveries, and the lasting memories you'll create by making sure every child has a ride to their summer adventure. Let's make this the best summer yet for Paterson's youth at SOLID Foundation!
Camp enrollments are fully booked. Now’s the time we need your support! We’re about a quarter of the way there. Let’s get these kids in the van!
Hope to hear from you soon,
~ Steve