Providence Center

Siria Ana Rivera - Executive Director

https://www.providencephilly.org/

Providence Center recently hosted a successful STEM Day, transforming our community room into a dynamic space filled with interactive stations. The event aimed to introduce our Power Afterschool program students to various STEM topics through hands-on activities and engaging projects.

Students had the opportunity to build structures with marshmallows and pasta, learn about DNA structure, and so much more. These activities were designed to spark curiosity and encourage exploration. Our Teen Leaders worked directly with the students, ensuring they had a fun and informative experience.

STEM Day was about learning new concepts, developing critical thinking skills, fostering collaboration, and building confidence in problem-solving abilities. The event highlighted the exciting possibilities within the STEM fields and aimed to inspire students to consider future careers in these areas.

Overall, STEM Day at Providence Center was a day of exploration, creativity, and inspiration that impacted all who participated.

In October, I attended the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Convening in Maryland. This global humanitarian Foundation aims to improve the lives of individuals living in poverty. The convening brought its grantees together with an opportunity to meet other “lightworkers,” as I call those that serve people through their convictions of love, kindness, justice, and hope. There were many "lightworkers" present. Some represented small agencies, some large, but all represented hope.

We heard Sr. Eva Marie Lumas, SSS, speak about centering equity in our work. Her reflection was inspirational, and two statements that stayed with me. She said, accept yourself as an intentional creation, and that we have gifts that have been entrusted to us. What powerful declarations. Her words remained with me because we don’t hear this enough. Some of us grew up in families that shared these sentiments, while others did not. How can we teach children this concept if we never knew we were intentional creations? We can’t; we must be taught it, shown it, and then, we can believe it.

At South Central LAMP, we do this daily. Our mission is to help those we serve to see themselves as intentional creations with gifts entrusted to them. We bring forth their potential through our programs and support. I share this with you in the hope that it brings you the same faith and sense of pride it did to me. In some way, we can all contribute to someone’s understanding of their value to society. – Diana Z. Pinto, Executive Director, South Central LAMP

This month, we were blessed to be able to help a mother from El Salvador and her four children find safety from their violent domestic abuser. CCLC had filed the asylum application for the family when our attorney discovered the abuser was in the United States and had found out the location of his wife and children. Casa Cornelia staff came together to find emergency assistance for the family to a safe house. We needed to secure housing, food, clothes, car seats for children, and a large enough van to transport all the children. All of us at CCLC agree this is why we are here. All of us at CCLC agree this is why we are here.

In October, we celebrated the 17th Annual La Mancha Awards, where we celebrated the committed service of our volunteer attorneys, interpreters, and translators. We recognized Latham and Watkins as the Law Firm of the Year. And Lindsey Doyle was awarded the Attorney of the Year.

 Sr. Ann, Carmen, and past Casa Cornelia staff members 

Holy Child Sisters Ann M. Durst, Margaret (Peg) Doyle, and Sheila McNiff, and 280 guests were in attendance. We are grateful for the generous support from the Society, which allows us to provide legal services to the most vulnerable in the immigrant community in San Diego and Imperial counties. Thus far, we have served 3,053 men, women, and children.