Bay Area foundation helps young people succeed through dance program

For nearly three decades, the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation has provided arts education and dance opportunities to underserved youth across the Bay Area.

Now, under the leadership of Executive and Artistic Director Sherene Melania, the organization is launching a new initiative aimed at expanding its impact locally and globally.

Melania said the foundation's mission has always been rooted in a vision established by her late mother, who co-founded the organization during a battle with cancer.

"My mom actually was a co-founder for the Presidio Performing Arts Foundation, and she was battling breast cancer," Melania told CBS News Bay Area. "And when she was at her lowest moment, her nurse sang to her, and it really lifted her spirit. And so, she vowed that if she got better, she was going to start a nonprofit dedicated to helping children especially have these opportunities in the arts, because it really has the power to feed your soul."

After recovering, Melania's mother fulfilled that promise, helping establish the foundation to provide arts access to young people who might not otherwise have those opportunities.

Today, Melania is continuing that legacy while guiding the organization into its next chapter. The foundation recently announced the launch of the Global Institute of Justice Through Arts, a new initiative designed to combine creativity, leadership development and workforce training for youth locally and in communities around the world.

Many students remain involved with the organization for years, benefiting from mentorship and educational support alongside their artistic training, Melania said.

"Many of them began with us in kindergarten and first grade. They stay through high school," she said. "We help mentor them, so it's really not just about dance, it's about creating life paths through dance."

One of those students is Natalia Moreno, who joined the organization's Dance Out program at a young age and is now preparing to perform at this year's Spring Soirée.

"It's personally such an honor," Moreno said. "I've really gone full circle with Presidio Performing Arts Foundation. I started when I was 6 years old in their Dance Out program. And then I went through the full trajectory of the youth company, into the adult company."

Moreno, who grew up in San Francisco's Mission District with parents who immigrated from Mexico, is a first-generation college graduate.

She hopes to become an immigration lawyer while continuing to support the institute's mission of advancing justice through the arts.

Melania said stories like Moreno's demonstrate the long-term impact of the organization's work.

"Fifty-five percent of our staff are former students, and so that is certainly my greatest joy and what I'm most proud of," she said. "To see this program, what it meant to them, and what it resulted in. And now they're back helping the next generation."

As the organization approaches three decades of service, leaders say the foundation's work continues to come full circle — creating opportunities for young people who, in turn, return to mentor and inspire those who follow.

For Melania, that cycle of empowerment remains at the heart of the mission: transforming lives through the arts, one dance at a time.