may community outreach

Dear Friends of Project Write Now:

This May, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, we immersed ourselves not only in writing but also in celebrating the benefits of expressive writing.

Writing is a powerful tool we can all use, especially during challenging times. It enriches our well-being by allowing us to:

– Navigate and process our emotions
– Clarify our thoughts and solve problems
– Improve our physical health
– Deepen our understanding and appreciation of ourselves

And sharing our stories helps build community—fostering connection, empathy, kindness, and hope.

Throughout the month, we have brought expressive writing and journaling programs to Asbury Park High School, Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County, Project HEAL/Elevate, KYDS, Long Branch High School, Monmouth Arts (Creative Aging Program), Middletown Township Public Library (NEA Big Read), Parker Elementary (Trenton), Planned Parenthood Teen Conference, adults and children in India, Red Bank Middle School, Red Bank Regional High School, and Shore House (Long Branch).

We’ve handed out journals (and inspirational stickers to decorate them) and provided prompts, including poems and flash pieces, to inspire our writing. With one group, we created our own myths as part of the NEA Big Read; with another, we wrote food stories as part of a staff Lunch & Learn.

The overwhelming response has been that the act of getting our thoughts and feelings onto paper is profoundly healing as we honor ourselves and our stories.

This is particularly crucial for our youth, who are dealing with so much stress, anxiety, and depression. Yet, they also find joy in the simple act of being themselves on the page, writing about what matters most to them—family, friends, pets, sports, activities, and special memories.

Many students have shared heartfelt notes about the impact of our programs, and we are grateful to witness firsthand how writing can be a powerful tool for positive change in their lives.

Whether you’ve taken a class, signed your child up for a class, attended an event, or given a generous gift, YOU make these life-changing programs possible!

With love & gratitude,

The Project Write Now Team

Asbury Park High School 

• Spoken Word Project
  After spending another wonderful school year with Christine DeMarsico and the students in her creative writing classes, we culminated our time together with a Writers’ Celebration.  Students read the pieces they wrote that were printed in this year’s anthology, which is titled Unity through Community & Connection. We loved how carefully the students read through the pieces in the book, which also included artwork from the art class. We look forward to returning next year!

• 12th Grade & Dream 11
  As we closed out the year in Christine Demarsico’s 12th grade classes we asked the students what they enjoyed most about the program. We found most students resonated with creating affirmations and exploring vision. With Dream 11, we introduced vision, values, and goals. We will close (on June 13) with an individual project about how we can make this program better.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Monmouth County

Offering a “taste” of storytelling, we partnered with the Boys & Girls Club this month to facilitate a “Sound Bytes” lunch-and-learn session with staff. In honor ofMental Health Awareness Month, we discussed the many benefits of journaling. We then wrote and shared stories—poetry and anecdotes about our favorite foods. We left feeling inspired (and hungry)!

KYDS  

We are grateful for the opportunity to connect with local high school students who participate in a Konscious Connection program hosted by KYDS this month at the Interfaith Launch Center in Asbury Park. We facilitated a one-hour session on the importance of journaling for mental health, wellness, creative expression, and connection. The theme for the entire evening was vulnerability and authenticity, which tied in so perfectly with what we shared about the power of journaling.

Labyrinth Theater

We had a great time at Basie Center Cinemas this month listening to original radio plays and short scripts created by our Labyrinth Theatre participants. The stories were hilarious and fun to perform live! If you missed us this time, no worries. We will be back on September 17 at 7 p.m. Come play with us!

Long Branch High School

We were excited to be back with the English Language Arts department at Long Branch High School for a one-hour writing workshop. Our goal is to give teachers dedicated time and space to just write. First we shared the collaborative poem we crafted using their individual lines about why they write from our last session. Then we read “Tomato on Board,” an excerpt from Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights. (We are still over the moon that we met Ross last February at Toni Morrison Day at Monmouth University.) We used his piece as inspiration for our own writing. We look forward to continuing with our professional development program in August.

Lunchtime Write-In

On Fridays, we host a one-hour writing workshop on Zoom during which we write in response to themed prompts. This month, we explored the themes: “Space,” “Corners,” and some photo prompts taken by our students. Though writers never have to share, we always enjoy hearing one another’s pieces and have formed an incredible, supportive community. Join us for our next Lunchtime Write-In to see what our upcoming themes will be!

Monmouth Arts

We loved being a part of Monmouth Arts’ Creative Aging program for seniors again this month. This time we were welcomed into the Keyport Senior Center where we had about 12 participants. We opened with the poem “Flying Back to England That First Time” by Rose Lennard. Then we let our inner children come out as we made art without any rules. The goal was not to think about the product but instead to just enjoy the process. When we finished, we passed our art to a new person so that the art we had in front of us for the next part wasn’t our own. (This really helped silence our inner critics.) We did ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by art) by asking ourselves questions like “What do we see in this art?” and “If this art could speak, what might it say?” We took a few minutes to go over our notes and refine our ideas, and then we shared the amazing pieces that we wrote! We had so much fun and we can’t wait to come back for more programs again soon!

NEA Big Read at Middletown Township Public Library

We had such a fun time at the Middletown Township Public Library, hosting a myth writing workshop as part of the library’s NEA Big Read program. We spent time discussing what we love about myths and then dove into brainstorming ideas. After sharing with a partner, we wrote openings, focusing on characters and setting. We all agreed that we wanted to continue reading everyone’s stories! Thank you to the Middletown Township Public Library for including us in this incredible program!

Parker Elementary STEAMpark

In our session in collaboration with STEAMpark, we had a munchkin party; wrote self-reflections and had a debriefing discussion on the mentoring sessions; celebrated Teacher Appreciation Week and wrote special notes to our educators; and made Mother’s Day cards to the women in our lives whom we love dearly. This spring, the students did well expanding their public speaking skills, artistic talents, and team building skills.

Planned Parenthood Teen Conference

We were honored to be included in Planned Parenthood’s Teen Conference event in Edison, NJ, this month. We met so many incredible teens at our PWN table, where we invited teens to design their own journals. Then we held our Write Your Heart Out Workshop, during which more than 40 teens wrote in response to prompts inspired by Alberto Rios’ “A House Called Tomorrow.” We are so proud of the teens who stood up and so bravely shared their stories. Thank you to Planned Parenthood for creating such an engaging and supportive space for teens!

Project HEAL / Elevate 

What an amazing time we had facilitating a “Trusting the Process” workshop for staff from Project HEAL/Elevate at Wild & Free Painting in Belmar. This hands-on, two-hour workshop featured a mix of journaling and painting. The team got to take back both a communal poem and communal painting they co-created in this colorful session. We are so grateful for this new partnership!

Red Bank Regional High School 

• Outside the Box: Journaling & Art
  We ended our yearlong Outside the Box: Journaling & Art program for 9th graders reflecting on having met for 21 sessions this year. Our final project was creating a Vision StoryBoard called “And the plot…” Each student created a story about their next three years of high school and beyond. The students also shared how our club “was vibrant” and “helped me step out of my comfort zone.” “I became more social, bold, and confident. “Ms. Shatiera, you really helped with a lot of things I was afraid of.” What a way to end our first year of high school. We are making plans to return for next year!

• Creative Writing Academy
  We love going back each year to assist the creative writing students in creating their author’s note for their upcoming novel publications. We spend time reflecting on how we can personalize these notes and showcase our writing skills. It’s amazing that these high students have written complete novels and we are excited to be a small part of their journey.

Red Bank Middle School

• 7th & 8th Grade AVID (in-school)
  Our 7th & 8th grade RBMS AVID students have been hyper focused on our end-of-year anthologies this month as our deadline is fast approaching. Each student has written something that they are proud to share, be it a poem or a story, along with a brief bio. They’ve also voted on a title for the anthology and will be reading from the anthology in an end-of-year Writers Celebration at the start of June. We can’t wait to celebrate our incredible student voices!

• 6th Grade AVID (in-school)
  This month, we worked with another cycle of 6th grade AVID students. We did ekphrastic writing (writing inspired by art) and began by reading “The Space Between” by Amelie Flagler. Next we looked at the art that inspired the poem—“Alignment II” by John Paul Caponigro—and made a list on the board of all of the things that the art evoked for us. We used that list to inspire new original stories and poems. We continued our ekphrastic writing lesson the following week with our own art to inspire us this time. We made lists of what we saw in the art—images, shapes, colors—and what we imagined, too—what might this art smell like if it had a smell, what might it have to say if it had a voice … etc. Then we used our lists to inspire new imaginative stories and poems.

Shore House (Long Branch)

May has not arrived quietly at Shore House! This month we took inspiration from 70’s music, spending an entire session playing DJ and choosing from prompts like, “I remember,” “This makes me feel,” and “I think this lyric is reminding us that.” This was a popular writing class! Later in the month, we worked with getting curious about words that feel POWERFUL. This took the form of a partner discussion/interview game and highlighted our experience with words like, “belonging”, “enough,” and “happiness.” We used the words we collected to dream up fantasy worlds. For example, we imagined a world where it was the standard that everyone automatically had a sense of belonging within themselves and from everyone else. We talked about how we would behave differently and what life on that planet could be like if we chose to live in that way.

Write Out Loud

It was a tiny but mighty group for our Write Out Loud event this month at the Asbury Book Cooperative. We read Joy Harjo’s poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” and then wrote to the prompt, “Dinner at our house was …” After sharing our fresh writings, we opened the floor to anyone who brought in outside work to share as well. Be sure to join us for the next Write Out Loud on June 11!

Writers Walk

We had a great time in our Writers Walk through Huber Woods this month. We walked through nature and then read a poem to get us into the creative mindset. Then we took some lines from the poem as inspiration for our own works. We’re so grateful to all who came and shared with us. Stay tuned for our next Writers Walk!

Scholarship Seats

Through our mission as a nonprofit organization, we remove barriers to participating in our fee-based classes by providing full and partial scholarship seats as well as payment plans. Since 2020, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the need for financial assistance and therefore have met that need by offering more scholarship seats. For 2023, we awarded 48 seats totaling $17,205. For 2023, we have already provided 28 seats totaling $8,715.50. For information about our scholarship program or to become a valuable donor providing these seats, please email Jennifer Chauhan at jennifer@projectwritenow.org.

Zoom Open Mic

We hosted our third Zoom Open Mic of 2024 this month with a group of writers sharing their original works, ranging from personal essay to fantasy fiction to poetry. We are so grateful to all who joined us to support our writing community!