PACC 2021 Annual Report

Annual Report

Palestinian American Community Center

2021

Annual Report 2021 paccusa.org | @paccusa

Annual Report

“I always cared about Palestine, but never had the confidence to say anything. PACC changed that completely for me. In every space I go into, I am the one talking about Palestine.”

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A Word from the President and ED

2021

2020 was a year that changed the course of history for many of us, our community and our world. 2021 was a year focused on growth and recovery as we strategically navigated the long-term effects that the Covid-19 pandemic has had and continues to have on our community and the world. In many ways, 2021 was a test to see who would rise above and who would sink with the pressure and we are happy to report that because of YOU, PACC has emerged stronger than ever and continues to rise. As we come to the end of 2021, you were able to keep our social service efforts going by providing relief through vouchers, mutual aid drives, and financial aid applications to over 250 families in need in our community! You were able to host over 15 Palestine education centered events with over 500 attendees from people across the country! Through at least 5 educational workshops, you were able to spread awareness about the Palestinian struggle to people beyond our community. You brought the community together to discuss important topics such as health insurance, substance abuse, and college and job preparations via over 10 community centered events and workshops. You grounded our vision of being for the community, by the community and listening to the community by doing a community needs survey. You were able to identify the needs of our community and find the best ways to meet them. You redid the way we do programs by standardizing our schedules, focusing on quality over quantity and providing more flexibility. You resisted cultural appropriation by renovating PACC’s office kitchen into a commercial kitchen that will host various Palestinian cooking classes and programs. You kept our community in suspense as you did the near impossible and found a new look for PACC. You launched a new logo and branding that depicts the growth that PACC has had over the last 8 years and the direction that PACC is heading. You have shown how PACC serves as a connection to our identity, our community, our older and younger generations, our past and our future.

You rose above hate, came together as one and responded with love and perseverance after receiving threatening phone calls.

You showed that we are here to stay and will not give into any attacks that try to threaten our community!

Everything we do is centered in our theory of change. If we empower individuals in our community then our community will be organized and stronger. If we empower our community, then, we will enable positive change in our society here and in Palestine.

If we empower change grounded in the pursuit of equality and justice for all, then we will see a free Palestine.

This model is what has always grounded and will continue to ground us. They said, “The old will die and the young will forget.”

Everyday that PACC exists and continues to work is a direct response to that myth. We will continue to focus on long term change that will make a difference for generations to come. Thank you for empowering and organizing our community and actively working towards a positive impact on our society here and in Palestine. This is your community. This is your legacy. This is your Palestinian American Community Center.

Gratefully, Diab A Mustafa Board of Directors President

Rania Mustafa Executive Director

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Annual Report

Our Mission

To sustain and strengthen ties to Palestinian heritage, while empowering the success and well-being of the entire community

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A Word from the President and ED

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Mission

4

Table of Contents

5

Focus Areas

8

Our Theory of Change

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Civic Engagement Impact

12

Our Output

15

2021 Milestones

16

Social Services Impact

18

Special Thanks

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Board of Directors

24

Staff

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Table of Contents

2021

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Annual Report

Ahmad Ramadan

Ahmad is our newest office intern, who joined the team after witnessing much of the activism and protests that took place in the summer of 2021 in support of Palestinians resisting in East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the occupied territories in general.

Those events sparked a desire to be more involved in PACC and give back to the Palestinian community, and he quickly came to PACC to do so! He was always proud of his Palesitnian identity and showcased it especially as captain of his football team, where he always wore the colors of Palestine on his sleeves when playing a game.

Now, through his time at PACC, he is becoming more confident and passionate about advocating for the Palestinian struggle.

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2021

Layanne & Lamees

Meet the Abdallatif sisters! Both sisters, who are now in their teens, started off as kids in our Arabic, Dabka, and PACC Summer Fun programs.

Throughout the years, they have grown from participants to vital members of the PACC program family! Layanne, for example, went from being a kid registered in PACC Summer Fun to a volunteer who was responsible for her own group of kids this past summer. Layanne and Lamees have met some of their closest friends through PACC. When asked what their life would be like without PACC, they said they would not have any friends and they would not have learned to read or write Arabic.

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Focus Areas

Annual Report

Leading Palestine education efforts to ensure that Palestinian history, struggle, and resistance to present-day occupation is never forgotten or overlooked.

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Providing cultural, social, educational, and recreational activities to our local community members to help them integrate in American society while holding onto their Arab heritage.

An on-going commitment to civic engagement, to ensure that our local Arab/Palestinian community’s voice is elevated and heard by local and national elected officials.

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3

Engaging in social service and mutual aid support to provide both short-term and long-term sustainable relief.

Building partnerships and coalitions with other local organizations and referring our community members to the relevant organization that can help them meet their needs.

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1

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2021

Our Theory of Change

If we empower individuals in our community then our community will be organized and stronger.

If we empower our community, then we will enable positive change in our society here and in Palestine.

If we empower change grounded in the pursuit of equality and justice for all, then we will see a free Palestine.

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Sana Allan

Annual Report

Sana is a proud mother of 5 and usually the first person to sign up herself and her kids to anything and everything PACC related. Throughout the years, you will always be able to find Sana or one of her kids at any of our PACC programs, activities or events. Sana always says it’s important to her that her kids grow up feeling part of a community and are connected to their identity. She wants to make sure they are surrounded by positive people that will serve as good role models and leaders, and she was able to find all of that at PACC.

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Fadia Alagha

2021

Fadia recently moved to the United States. In her desire to find a community as she integrated into American society, PACC quickly became a home away from home for her. Fadia started off as a NNAAC Marketing Fellow and is now our graphic designer and web developer. Through our Palestine education programs, Fadia was was able to learn more about the Palestinian struggle and navigate her understanding of her identity and role in the diaspora while increasing her personal confidence and becoming more proud and aware of her Palestinian identity. Through her rekindled relationship with her Palestinian identity, she conceptualized our new branding design to help us continue showcasing our connection with our community and Palestine in a beautiful way!

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Annual Report

Civic Engagement Impact

1

2educational and 3 interactive civic oriented webinars

videos with 30,622 views

569 phone calls

13 in-person voter

30 people filled

GOTV team with interns

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to our community

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registration tables

out a voter registration form

Reem Farhat

2021

Reem is an integral part of the PACC team. At 16, she started off as a volunteer at PACC and has since flourished into a successful young professional and journalist. Reem took a more official role in PACC when she joined our first ever HOPE program. After joining HOPE, Reem wanted to continue her involvement and thus became the Editor in Chief of our Falastin Magazine. Reem went on to also attend our first ever Homeland Project.

Reem was also part of PACC’s Advocacy and Community Engagement 2020 Cohort. PACC gave her the tools, opportunities, and experience to follow her passion for storytelling and journalism while staying true to her identity as a strong, proud Palestinian woman and activist.

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Abire Sabbagh

Annual Report

Originally from the Bay Area, California, Abire moved to New Jersey in 2020 specifically to work at PACC. She confidently made this decision for two reasons: 1) She felt extremely welcomed by the PACC family when she was first introduced to PACC as the HOPE teacher in the summer of 2018, and since then was eager to come back and eventually be a part of the family and community. 2) For the first time in all her academic, professional, and activist work, she was able and allowed to unapologetically advocate for Palestine without any pushback. PACC has given Abire the platform to increase her solidarity and community activism while educating the next generation and fostering their social justice consciousness and confidence.

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2021

Our Output 3 Issues of Falastin

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10 Workshop Wednesdays

2

10

Women’s Brunches

Palestine Mondays

3

Large Events: Palestine Palestine Education Arab Fair Education Workshops and PACC Programs Conference

4,000 Over 4,000 attendees

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10

10

2

Sunday Series

Flag Raisings

3

2

Community Community Rallies/ Education Vigils/Press Needs Conferences Surveys and SkillBuilding Programs

20,000 Over 20,000 online interactions

200 Over 200 Registrants in our programs

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Annual Report

2021 Milestones April

Hosted five Iftars for the first time which resulted in our most successful Ramadan fundraising to date

February

Board voted on and approved new Bylaws

March

January

Launched our first ever Advocacy and Community Engagement Cohort

Hosted most successful conference to date with the most number of attendees and registrants

October

August

Launched expanded and refined programs

Launched our Community Needs Survey

July

Began providing Palestine education workshops and rallies across the state

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September

Hosted our annual Arab Fair, which was the first large event we’ve put together since covid, with over 1,000 attendees

2021

June

May

Celebrated Paterson’s Annual Palestinian American Heritage Week with an event each day!

United as a community to support our siblings on the ground in Palestine

June

April

Rose above hate and threatening phone calls against PACC

Launched our PACC Store

October

December

Recognized by both CAIR and BLM Paterson for our Civic Engagement and Solidarity work

October

Hired an Office Administrator

Renovated our kitchen from an office kitchen to a commercial kitchen

November

We launched PACC’s new logo and branding

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Annual Report

Social Services Impact

Distributed over 700 meat and produce vouchers of values between $50 and $150

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Hosted 4 successful mutual aid drives that distributed 80 coats and clothes to over 290 families.

Assisted with 156 financial assistance applications yielding $78,250

Collected and distributed clothes, water, 11 beds, household items towards Hurricane Ida Relief for community members in need.

Provided 29 families with $22,500 in cash assistance

Helped at least 7 families fill out the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund Application.

Yousef Alnatur

2021

Yousef, at the age of 9, started learning dabka with PACC. His grandmother (God bless her soul), who was in our English Conversation classes at the time, would endlessly brag about her grandson and his newfound skill.

Now 16, Yousef is one of PACC’s Dabka instructors and performs with AlBaydar’s Dabka Group. Through PACC’s weekly dabka training sessions, Yousef was able to learn, perfect, and pass on a piece of Palestinian tradition with others. For Yousef and many others, PACC is a family affair.

Yousef proves just that with his three younger siblings, both his parents, and his maternal and paternal uncles all being involved in PACC in different ways and capacities throughout the years.

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Layla Odeh

Annual Report

Layla first interacted with PACC as a participant in PACC day and fell in love with the work PACC does and wanted to get involved in everything PACC does. She applied to our Homeland Project Trip, participated in our Freedom is the Future course and was added to our first Advocacy and Community Engagement Cohort. She also began volunteering regularly at PACC which transformed into an Administrative Assistant Internship. Given her desire to run for office one day and extensive knowledge about local politics and elections, she also became the head intern of our Get Out the Vote team. PACC gave her the space and confidence to bridge together her political science academics with her passion for justice in Palestine and civic engagement to encourage our community to be more active and involved!

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2021

Special Thanks to our Staff, Volunteers, Board of Directors and Donors

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3

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Over 500 donors

Photography Interns

Over 350 writers and contributions to Falastin

350

Over 100 volunteers

Program Staff

500

100

16

Board members

Office and administrative interns

9

Marketing fellow

1

5

Full time employees

GOTV and civic engagement interns

Thank you to all our generous donors! PACC is your legacy. You are strengthening ties to Palestinian heritage while empowering the success and well-being of our entire community.

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Lialie Mustafa

Annual Report

Lialie joined our PACC team a little more than a year ago, and in that short time period has grown as a professional and an activist for Palestine.

Before PACC, she was not as engaged in Palestine advocacy nor was she given the proper resources to fully develop her marketing and social media skills. Within her short tenure at PACC and through her participation in our Advocacy and Community Engagement 2020 Cohort and Freedom is the Future Course, Lialie has become a bold advocate for the liberation of Palestine and freedom of all oppressed people.

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Ahmad Jamhour

2021

Meet the man behind PACC’s camera, Ahmad! Ahmad joined PACC as a high school student with a passion for photography. Through PACC, he was able to fine tune his photography skills and grow as an individual. Ahmad now has his own successful photography business, Jamhour Photography, where he uses much of the Palestine education and social justice activism he learned from PACC’s Advocacy and Community Engagement 2020 Cohort and Freedom is the Future course to shed light on the Palestinian struggle through photography and art.

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Annual Report

Board of Directors

Diab Mustafa

Majdi Salem

Raed Odeh

Sufian Mahmoud

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Ahmed Khatib

Feras Deeb

Huweda Elsamna

Nazeeh Abuhadba

Nidal Elderamneh

Nina Odatalla

Ramzi Abdelaziz

Rima Qasim

Saleh Rabee

Tareq Elsamna

Zidan Farhat

Samir Khatib

2021

PACC Staff

Rania Mustafa Executive Director

Fadia Alagha Graphic Designer and Web Developer

Reem Qasem Director of Logistics and Operations

Fedah Mohammed Office Administrator

Layla Odeh Administrative Assistant Intern

Abire Sabbagh

Community Outreach and Palestine Education Director

Lialie Mustafa Marketing Coordinator & NNAAC Fellow

Ahmad Ramadan Office Intern

A sincere thank you to all of our amazing program staff and managers!

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Annual Report

“PACC is always first to the rescue and always the first with their doors open.”

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2021

“PACC is really by the community and for the community. Everything the community suggests, PACC does.”

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Annual Report

Website: www.paccusa.org Email: info@paccusa.org Phone: (973)253-6145

388 Lakeview Ave Clifton, NJ 07011