It gives you so much hope to keep on going. We're not just doing it for today. We're doing it for tomorrow. Mamie Nichols, Board President

In 1983, Dorothy Nolan had a dream and a grant for $85,000 to provide accessible arts instruction to young people in South Philadelphia's Point Breeze neighborhood, where more than 40 percent of the young adults had little or no work and 50 percent had no high school diploma. Back then, the community also had no organized cultural programs for youth.

Today, under the direction of Nolan's daughter, Donna Brown, the Point Breeze Performing Arts Center (PBPAC) provides local children and youth from all over Philadelphia with a host of arts programs. Its centerpiece, the Performing Arts Academy, welcomes youth ages 2-18 into its 37-week after-school classes in piano, voice, gymnastics, karate, drama, ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop, and African dance. The classes are learning opportunities. Students create performances around social themes and explore their views on such issues as violence, pregnancy, drug use, and AIDS. Artist-instructors, who also serve as role models, mentors, and evaluators of the students¼ academic, communication, performance, and life skills, guide them. Opportunities to participate in performing arts ensembles, including the Positively to the Point Dance Theater Ensemble Company, are offered by audition. In addition, the Center conducts a six-week summer arts camp, a 12-week mural program, and, at satellite locations, programming for special needs youth.

PBPAC's impact has been noted: In 1994, it was selected to lead the strategic planning process for the 40-organization Point Breeze Community Network. At that time, First Union National Bank made a $2.5 million commitment to PBPAC and the community to assist in revitalization. More recently, the state awarded a $6 million matching grant, and the city $1 million, for a comprehensive economic development plan anchored by a new state-of-the-art PBPAC facility.

PBPAC still counts its success, however, one child at a time. According to Brown, all of its students graduate from high school, and those who attend college receive a $2,000 scholarship from the Center. Indeed, on a wall of the upstairs dance studio hang colorful masks that represent graduates who have gone on to college to remind current students of their own potential.