Are You Concerned?

Today there will be kindness and compassion offered, and we will try to offer the same. Yet, in the larger spiral of heat and division in our nation, there is fear we are being pulled by forces that amplify the worst in our imagination and keep us from showering kindness and compassion on those from all walks of life.

Our Work Is About Values
Ezra Klein, the podcasters and writer, put words to what drives drives FabNewport:

“I have values and beliefs about how the world should work and what would make it better. I try to persuade people of them and I also try to explore them in an honest way. And I do this because I care about the way things are going. I am not dispassionately observing things from the sidelines. I am emotionally, intellectually, spiritually involved.”

As much as our work is about kids having fun, exploring, and leaning into their positive future visions, the heart of FabNewport is about values. For more than a decade, we’ve created conditions where young people can thrive—not just in our lab, but out in the community, weaving their identities, values, and ideas into the fabric of Newport County. 

“Having the opportunity through Fab Newport to be a role model to middle school-aged students. It makes me feel amazing inside to know that the kind of person I am actually affects young people,” said one of our learners in an unsolicited message last week. “It shapes their views on society and the world as a whole. Teaches them that learning and kindness can get you far in life.”

A Bold Idea
So the question I leave with you is this: What are the values we collectively share?

What if we set a bold expectation—that every adolescent in Newport County deserves 500 hours each year of choice-based, community-based activities?

And what if we invited young people themselves to design what those hours look like—mapping the skills, relationships, and adventures they believe they need?

Join Us
Those 500 hours could become not just a number, but a living commitment—shaped by our values, guided by their voices, and rooted in the belief that adolescence is a time for gathering, exploring, and pushing the envelope of what is possible—together.

This vision is also about building a true community of belonging. A community that centers equity and celebrates representation, so that every young person not only participates but feels fully seen, valued, and uplifted. When our youth experience that kind of belonging, they do more than just imagine the future; they lead us toward it, carrying forward the richness of their identities, cultures, and voices.

That, I believe, would be a community worth building—and a future worth fighting for. 

That, I believe, would be a community worth building—and a future worth fighting for.

Join us in shaping the next 500 hours for Newport’s youth.

Ellen/Steve/Sam/Chris

We Are Moving

After 13 years in our home at the Florence Gray Center we are moving out while the building undergoes renovation.

We are grateful to have found a new temporary home in the sanctuary at LaFarge Arts, located in the historic Congregational Church on the corner of Pelham and Spring Streets. The space offers about 4,500 square feet in the sanctuary, in the heart of Newport. We plan to be here for about a year while renovations at Florence Gray are completed.

While we are sad to leave the North End, where so many of our participants could walk through our doors, we are also excited about this next chapter. The location brings us within walking distance of Thompson Middle School and closer to many young people who live around Broadway. We hope it will also become a welcoming spot for community members—a place to hang out, relax, talk, and feel at home together.

And, being in the center of Newport, we see this as a chance to bring greater awareness of our work to a new audience—inviting more neighbors, families, and community partners to discover what FabNewport is all about.

Below are pictures of our new home at LaFarge Arts.