About Us

Mission Statement

“To provide a safe and welcoming environment to enhance the intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual lives of under-served children residing in nearby neighborhoods with the goal of supporting these children on their journey to grow in their potential and become productive citizens of our community.”

History: Paul’s Place is an after-school program, based at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in the southwest section of Delray Beach, Florida. We began this program in the fall of 2000 as a response to the needs of underprivileged children living in the neighborhood surrounding St. Paul’s who were arriving at the church looking for homework help and a safe haven. These children are mainly of Haitian descent and all are enrolled in the Palm Beach County School District. Were it not for our program, most would go home to an empty house in the afternoon. It is our intention to not only provide a safe haven for them, but also to feed, tutor and enrich their lives in as many ways as is possible. The children are responsible for their grades and their behavior in school, at home and here in the program. They arrive by school bus and are here until 6:00pm. In that time they do their schoolwork, work on remedial skills with tutors and in small groups, do other projects as part of the Paul’s Place curriculum, and then have free time for recreation, music, art, play or to listen to guest speakers. The children are fed a snack and nutritious “family-style” meal each evening. ALL of this is provided at no cost to the participants.

Paul’s Place is a unique after school program because we serve students of all ages. We begin with children in elementary school, and they remain with us throughout high school and college, never aging out of our program. With the establishment in 2015 of “The Stretch Gardiner” Scholarship Fund, Paul’s Place is now able to create more opportunities for some of our students to attend private school and to see our college students through to the attainment of a degree. Since 2000, Paul’s Place has served more than 215 elementary, middle, high school and college students.

Current Enrollment: Total for 2024-2025 is 29 students. 9 elementary, 6 middle and 12 high schoolers come to campus each day. It is our intention to bring in several new first and second graders this fall. We have 3 former students who reach out for support on special projects and 6 students currently enrolled in college. Our students start at early ages and continue to stay with us through the completion of college or the attainment of a job.