Stories #2, 3, & 4: Matt Parker & Lyiat
SUP Annual Appeal 2024
SUP
Many of our campers return year after year as campers or as junior staff, and the Summer Urban Program(SUP) family lasts forever. This longevity is special. Campers go to camp, move on to work at SUP, and continue to become leaders in their communities. By design, the program is not just a one-time camp, but a community of people sharing a decades-long legacy of transformative experiences. It is this time-transcendent bond of compassion that is unique to SUP amongst other youth programs. Read a few stories from different SUP perspectives below!
A Journey Through SUP
Matt Parker, once a camper, then junior counselor, senior counselor, director, and PBHA Director of Programs (DOP), now serves as the Executive Director of Boston advocacy organization Union of Minority Neighborhoods. He weighs in on being part of a generation circling back to support SUP:
When you hear the phrase, “the magic of SUP” or “magic of PBHA” what comes to mind?
Everything. Life changing experiences, lifelong bonds, giving young people exposure to open a world of possibilities for them. That’s what makes SUP possible and magical. For the students and staff, the magic is when they can see beyond themselves the impact that they can leave behind. It’s just such a wonderful thing.
How do you think your perception of PBHA and its programs changed (if at all) as you rose through the ranks?
It’s almost like when you get to see behind the curtain, right?. As you transition and grow from a participant as kid into an adolescent counselor in training or junior counselor you’re like oh wow so “this is how the magic happens.” It’s not just the experience, you start to create it. And then as you grow more into different roles and get older, you’re like oh, now you don’t just get to see it, you create the formula. For me that was the difference from experiencing the magic to starting to be able to create it. When you become adult staff, or a DOP or whatever, then it shifts to ‘how do I make sure everybody has the right ingredients that make the formula that creates the magic.’
What was the most significant thing you learned from doing PBHA and/or SUP (in any role)?
SUP gave me a sense of learning how to give grace without always knowing what’s going on. You never know the impact of someone’s life and what your impact might be in it. So giving grace, and understanding the power of empathy for not just yourself, but for others is really beautiful too. I think if I didn’t have the experiences I did at PBHA, I wouldn’t feel that way to this day.
Why do you think people should support SUP?
Because SUP changes everyone’s lives who’s involved. There’s not many places, programs, or initiatives that can do that. And PBHA has learned to do that through service for a very long time, by teaching the students how to be stewards of service and not just doing it as an activity.
SUP Through a Campers Eyes
Meet Liyat, a 5th grade returning camper at the Cambridge Youth Enrichment Program (CYEP). We sat down with Liyat to talk about their experience as a SUP camper. Read what Liyat told us below:
My name is Liyat, and I’m in 5th grade. I’ve done CYEP for 2 years. My favorite memory was basically when we went on all these different field trips, and how fun it was. We got to go on specific field trips like the museums, like the Isabella Stewart Gare. It was so interesting. And so wonderful!
Did CYEP teach you anything?
A lot of things. Teamwork, experience, everything else you can imagine. A lot. A lot of things. I made a lot of friends. A lot of new friends, a lot of old friends.
There were a lot of favorite stories. I also really loved the classes, I LOVED going to the gym, that was my favorite part, having lunch with friends.
My favorite thing about CYEP is how nice teachers and how nice everything is, working together, having fun, and working with local schools.
— Nana Safo-Mensa & Hans Bach-Nguyen PBHA Resource Development Chairs
