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:
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:
— Nana Safo-Mensa & Hans Bach-Nguyen PBHA Resource Development Chairs