03/22/2023
It is with great sadness that we share that Presa’s longtime former Youth Director Ashley Nicholas passed away on Friday, March 17, after a short battle with cancer.
Ashley worked with Presa youth for over 15 years. As the Youth Director, she brought life, laughter, and fun to the kids at the Center. She was never afraid to be the goofiest one in the room, freeing the kids to be silly and express their inner joy.
Her goofiness was perhaps one of the greatest gifts she gave Presa. Yes, she was a highly trained and gifted youth leader. Yes, she had decades of experience in working with youth from all kinds of backgrounds. Yes, she knew how to run a youth program at its highest level. All of that is true. AND – she was goofy.
Through her goofiness, she pushed the Center to embrace new ideas and new challenges, to take on new events. Because of her, we have our annual Halloween Carnival, which has become a cherished tradition where the staff has as much fun as the kids do. Because of her, we do fun and crazy events throughout the summer. Because of her, we do craft activities that release our kids’ inner artist, and reminds us that EVERYONE has an inner artist.
Because of her, as an agency, we learned to embrace our goofiness, our inner artist, our forever kid. We learned to plan events that were out of the ordinary. We learned that being the only one is okay.
Ashley, we will miss you and miss your light. We will continue to build on your legacy by creating a space where we will “help kids to find the courage to be who they already are.”