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.” 2
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
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Table of Contents
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Focus Areas
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Our Theory of Change
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Civic Engagement Impact
12
Our Output
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2021 Milestones
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Social Services Impact
18
Special Thanks
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Board of Directors
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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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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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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
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10
Women’s Brunches
Palestine Mondays
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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
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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
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Marketing fellow
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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.” 27
Annual Report
Website: www.paccusa.org Email: info@paccusa.org Phone: (973)253-6145
388 Lakeview Ave Clifton, NJ 07011