RIZE

10/16/2026

🗳️

10/09/2026

Every community has a starting point. Here's a look at how Puerto Rican families found their way to Reading, PA.

Last year, our youth sat down with the elders who carry that history, and these are the stories they're helping preserve.

Swipe through

10/05/2026

🗳️ YOUR VOICE. YOUR VOTE. YOUR POWER.

What a powerful day of youth civic engagement at Muhlenberg High School and Reading High School!

Through the PA Youth Vote – Berks Youth Voter Initiative, students participated in interactive civic education assemblies, heard directly from community leaders, asked questions, and had the opportunity to register to vote on-site.

A special thank you to our panelists:

✨ Fatim Byrd— Director of Education, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission
✨ Angelique Hinton— Executive Director, PA Youth Vote
✨ Victor Cabral Victor Alfonso Cabral, MSW, LCSW— Dreamers of the Day LLC
✨ Paula Gilyard— Alvernia University / PA Youth Vote Intern

🎤 Moderator: Edna Garcia-Dipini Edna Garcia-Dipini — Berks County Organizer, PA Youth Vote

A huge thank you to the Berks County Board of Elections for joining us and bringing a voting machine so students could see and learn firsthand how the voting process works. 🗳️

And special recognition to our Muhlenberg High School and Reading High School Voter Champions, Youth Captains, and Youth Ambassadors who are helping lead this work inside their schools. Peer-to-peer civic engagement matters, and our young leaders are helping make it happen!

Most importantly — CONGRATULATIONS to every student who registered to vote today!👏🏽💪🏽

There is still time! Pennsylvania’s voter registration deadline is October 19.

Continue using your school QR codes, sharing them with your classmates, and encouraging peer-to-peer voter registrations.

Next stop: Election Day — November 3!🇺🇸

Your voice matters.
Your vote matters.
Your power matters.

10/02/2026

Save the Date! GRIP 2026 Fall Fundraising Event

Join Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7, for a weekend of community, fun, and giving back! Enjoy our raffle baskets, silent auction, book sale, and more, all to support GRIP’s mission of providing scholarships for students who are not eligible for FAFSA. Every ticket, bid, and donation helps open the door to higher education/training for students in our community. See the flyer for details
Want to help make it a success? We’re accepting donations for raffle baskets and silent auction items. Send us a message to learn how you can contribute!

Location/Lugar Centro Hispano Daniel Torres, 25 N. 2nd Street, Reading, PA 19601
Date & Time / Fecha & Hora
Friday, November 6, 5-8 p.m., and Saturday, November 7, 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Reserva la fecha! Evento de Recaudación de Fondos de Otoño GRIP 2026

¡Acompáñanos el viernes 6 y sábado 7 de noviembre para un fin de semana de comunidad, diversión y solidaridad! Disfruta de nuestras canastas de rifa, subasta silenciosa, venta de libros y mucho más, todo en apoyo a la misión de GRIP de ofrecer becas a estudiantes que no son elegibles para FAFSA. Cada boleto, oferta y donación ayuda a abrirles las puertas de la educación universitaria / entrenamiento de carrera a estudiantes de nuestra comunidad.

10/01/2026

From Reading PA to Puerto Rico - What we Vision Together, We Create

From Reading, PA to Puerto Rico with the Roots of Solidarity Camp

09/30/2026

Together, we RIZE 🇵🇷

We couldn’t have shared this summer with our youth in Puerto Rico without our incredible artist and culture partners.

Our youth stepped into artists’ studios, painted walls with their own hands, talked about the kind of country they want to build, and felt the rhythm of the culture in their bodies.

None of those moments would have been possible without these partners. We’re so grateful for the way you helped our youth connect, create, and rise.

🎨 Don’t Quit ™️ helped bring our Roots of Solidarity / Raíces de Solidaridad mural to life, a piece our youth will always be able to point to and say "I helped make that."

🖌️ LindStudios opened the doors to Samuel Lind's studio in Loíza, where our youth took in Afro-Caribbean art, history, and culture.

✊🏽 Ricardo Levins Morales shared his art, his story, and a lifetime of organizing wisdom with our young leaders. Special thank you to Olivia Levins Holden for helping make this happen.

🥁 Jannira Roman Laguer grounded us in movement, rhythm, and ancestral culture in a space built for exactly that.

🇺🇸 Made By Us gave us the tools to ask our youth the big question: what's your vision for US?

To every artist and culture partner who poured into our youth and you helped them RIZE! Thank you for investing in the next generation.

Want to help create more experiences like this for our youth? DM us or click the link in our bio to get involved.

09/28/2026

Free Vision Care for Children —
Two Days of Free State Services for Berks County
Families Hosted by State Representative
Johanny Cepeda-Freytiz, 129th Legislative
District. Property Tax/Rent Rebate (PTRR)
Program Application Assistance available on-site.

VSP® Eyes of Hope® Mobile Vision Clinic

09/25/2026

So grateful to see Roots of Solidarity featured in the Greater Reading Thriving Together newsletter as we celebrate five years of youth, culture, storytelling, and community. 💙 Full Article in our Bio

What began with Solidarity Camp and the R City Podcast has grown into an intergenerational journey connecting young people in Reading, Philly and Chester with elders, artists, culture-bearers, and communities in Puerto Rico.

This work has always been about more than creating art. It is about giving young people space to explore identity, preserve culture, build confidence, develop their voices, and understand that their stories matter.

I am deeply thankful for every young person, family, artist, mentor, partner, and community member who has poured love into this journey over the past five years. Roots of Solidarity belongs to all of us.

Thank you to Greater Reading Thriving Together for recognizing this work and helping share our story. We are proud of how far we have come—and even more excited about what we are building next. 🇵🇷🎨✨

CulturalPreservation YouthVoice IntergenerationalStorytelling PuertoRico ReadingPA PhillyPA ChesterPS ArtsForChange CommunityBuilding