It provides a home base for that much-needed break in a busy school day, Yen-Yen Gao says, when describing the Pan-Asian American Community House (PAACH).

“I think at Penn it’s really easy to get wrapped up with your classes each day—go from class to class and do homework and stress out,” says Gao, a sophomore in the Wharton School. “But PAACH is a place where you have friendly faces, can de-stress, and just chill out for a while.”

The resource center’s director, Peter Van Do, describes it similarly—PAACH is a student’s “home away from home.”

“It’s a place for them to just relax, recharge, and also seek support from not only their mentors through the staff, but also through each other,” he says.

PAACH, located on 36th Street and Locust Walk on the ground floor of the Arts, Research, and Cultural House (ARCH), is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The students spearheaded its foundation in 2000—around the same time Makuu and La Casa Latina were created.

PAACH operates through the Division of the Vice Provost for University Life, and is led by Van Do, associate director Viraj Patel, and office coordinator Kusum Soin (known to some as the “PAACH mom,” as she’s been around since the very beginning).

Will Gipson, Penn’s associate vice provost for equity and access, was University Chaplain during PAACH’s formation. Reflecting back, he says, “Students saw a need, went to the administration with an idea, and explained how PAACH could make their Penn experience better.”

“Now, 15 years later, it’s still here,” Gipson says. “And it’s hopping. Students are there, and students vote with their feet, we all know that. They’re there because they want to be.”

Besides being a comfortable place to eat lunch or do homework with friends, PAACH, one of the University’s six community resource centers, provides tools for advising, leadership development, advocacy, and social and cultural programming.

“I think if there’s one word that really embodies what we do in PAACH, it is to empower,” Van Do says.

PAACH is meant for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who have an interest in issues relevant to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

“It’s just a safe place for growth,” explains Van Do. “The theory would be that we’re trying to create a welcoming environment for people to be themselves, and when they’re themselves, they are more able to effectively relate to each other, and that instills potential growth and maturity.”

PAACH’s academic partner is Penn’s Asian American Studies Program, and it also supports, albeit informally, more than 80 Asian and Asian-American identified organizations on campus, Van Do says. In addition, PAACH directly advises nine student-led initiatives, including the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, Asian Pacific American Heritage Week, and the Promoting Enriching Experiences and Relationships Mentoring Program, to name a few.

This year, PAACH has been hosting a series of events and activities to commemorate its 15 years of existence. On Saturday, Nov. 7, during Homecoming Weekend, PAACH will celebrate with a brunch for students, alumni, faculty, and staff. President Amy Gutmann will be in attendance, as well as Vijal Patel, a 1998 Penn alumnus and comedy writer who co-produces the ABC show “Black-ish.”

Although Patel, the keynote speaker of the event, graduated before PAACH’s creation, he has a story that will surely “resonate well with our current students,” says Van Do.

A 15-year anniversary quilt that has been developed with local nonprofit Asian Arts Initiative will be revealed at the brunch. PAACH students donated pieces of fabric that have a story behind them for the quilt. Van Do says about 50 or 60 pieces were submitted, many from student organization T-shirts. The quilt will be prominently displayed on a wall at PAACH—a place already donning a large, yellow “welcome home” sign.

Gao says she’s looking forward to attending the brunch, especially because of the caliber of PAACH alumni that are expected to attend.

“The student movement that started PAACH is inspiring,” Gao says. “It’s exciting to see the change that a group of students can make, hear about the lessons they learned, and what else they can share with the rest of us in PAACH today.”