september community outreach

Dear Friends of Project Write Now:

We love September. 🧡

Not only because we kick off our yearlong school programs, but also because it’s our birthday month!

And this month, we are NINE YEARS OLD!

When we first opened our doors in 2014, our goal was clear: to create supportive spaces for people of all ages to write and share their stories. 

Little did we know the profound impact we would make! People in our programs—from age 7 to 92—are not only capturing their thoughts, emotions, and memories but are also experiencing the numerous benefits writing offers.

Writing helps release stress while also strengthening coping skills and building self-awareness, confidence, and resilience.

And when writing is shared, we feel more connected to one another and less alone. We feel a sense of belonging. We feel empathy. We become part of a community.

All of this is made possible by YOU!

Whether you’ve taken a class, signed your child up for a class, participated in one of our events, or given a generous gift, YOU help provide meaningful writing experiences that foster authenticity, connection, and empathy.

THANK YOU for being a part of our journey!

With love & gratitude,

The Project Write Now Team

Here’s what else we’ve been up to this month. If you are interested in bringing a program to your school or organization, email executive director Jennifer Chauhan at jennifer@projectwritenow.org.

A Happier Hour (Bell Works)

We’re grateful to all who bravely ventured out in the rain to join us at this month’s Happier Hour at Bell Works. We started the evening by reading “Colors passing through us,” by Marge Piercy. We then wrote to the prompt: “Tell me about the color of your world.” After sharing our writing, we wrote to a second prompt: “If I could go back in time, I would …” The writing generated in that space was insightful, sad, funny, and inspiring. We appreciate our partnership with Bell Works, who continues to promote PWN to their tenants and on their social media. We look forward to the next Happier Hour!

Asbury Park High School

We are thrilled to be back at Asbury Park High School for another year! We began our 12th grade program, led by Coach Pam (Pamela Major), who will be helping students transition by exploring their values, dreams, and goals. After introductions, we read Langston Hughes’  “A Dream Deferred” and “Dreams” and spoke about what happens if you don’t pursue your dreams. We are looking forward to an amazing year!

Bridge Ink 7.4

We are thrilled to release our latest issue of Bridge Ink—Volume 7, Issue 4! This issue features incredible teen works from Oregon, Wisconsin, Washington D. C., Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and TAIWAN! These pieces are sure to inspire you and pull at your heart strings. Read them now!

Labyrinth Theatre (Basie Center Cinemas)

We officially launched PWN Screen Academy’s live radio plays this month in partnership with the Basie Center Cinemas. Participants were given the following prompt: “a dinner party, a surprise, a secret, and an uninvited guest.” Writers shared original stories that were both unique and amusing. There was a dinner party with a possessed guest, a parody of the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip, a woman trying to get rid of two suitors, a rambunctious Irish family get-together in Queens, and another where a manhunt for an escaped convict added tension in the background. We look forward to growing this fun and creative event and meeting more writers in our community!

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—“Woods,” “Music,” “Dark,” and “Bird.” 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!

PWN India (Adults)

We’ve continued to journal with our adult writers in India. This month was all about our senses! We did some ekphrastic writing (writing in response to art) by looking at a painting and focusing on our sensory experiences (what does the painting look like, sound like, taste like, smell like, feel like). Then we picked one sense to explore further. We also read the poem “Something Beautiful,” by Emily Montgomery, and made lists of beautiful things we see, hear, taste, smell, and feel. We loved how tapping into our senses evoked different memories, stories, and reflections!

PWN India (Teachers)

We’ve been having so much fun with our India outreach teacher group this month! The teachers come together on Zoom after a long day of working with toddlers and are so excited to take an hour and enjoy reflective and wellness writing with PWN! We’ve been really paying attention to our needs as teachers and focusing on things that bring us joy. We read this excerpt from the “Finding Joy” Facebook page and asked ourselves: “What speaks to us? What brings us joy?” The relationships that are growing from this returning group are more than we at PWN could ever ask for from a Zoom class. We look forward to our next session so we can do more reflective and wellness writing with our teacher friends in India!

Red Bank Middle School

We are so happy to be back with the 7th and 8th grade AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) classes at Red Bank Middle School! Our instructor, Ms. Lisa, opened both classes reading the poem “Incantation of the First Order,” by Rita Dove. Then she read a letter that she wrote just for the students. “While you might not have chosen me as your guest,” Ms. Lisa read, “I am here to give you choice for the rest of the school year. The choice to say what you want to say, how you want to say it. The choice to use your voice the way you want to use it. The choice to be heard.” She finished reading her letter and then asked the students to do the same—write a letter that’s just for her, from each of them. She asked them to tell her anything they thought she should know about them as we enter the new school year together, and anything they want to do. It’s going to be a wonderful creative year!

Red Bank Public Library

With the Red Bank Public Library journaling class, we read “The Cheese Case,” by Katie Machen, and wrote about all the little things in life we noticed over the weekend. We also read “Depths,” by Carol Moody, and wrote about a childhood family road trip. We love working with the Red Bank Library writers!

Shore House (Long Branch)

We had a beautiful class at Shore House this month where we read the poem “Something Beautiful,” by Emily Montgomery, and then we made a list of things we see as beautiful. We deepened that list by zooming in on the details of each item and we finished our pieces with one closing sentence reflecting on what all of this beauty means to us. And then we collected our favorite lines of the day into this gorgeous group collaborative poem. We opened the following class by reading that poem and we loved seeing the members light up when they heard their lines read! Then we wrote about love on our own terms. We were so proud of how the members rose to these prompts, opening up authentic conversations around the difficulties of love as well as the positive power it holds. Then we ended by collecting new lines from each member to make “The Happiness We All Share,” our latest collaborative poem!

Write Out Loud (Asbury Book Cooperative)

We’re grateful to all who came out for Write Out Loud at the Asbury Book Cooperative. We celebrated the start of the autumn season by reading “Gabriella,” by Peter Coghill, and using lines from the poem as writing prompts. We then went around sharing both what we just wrote and any outside works we brought in for the open mic. (Godzilla may have made more than one appearance in works shared!) We’re so thankful for this community and for ABC for offering their space for these inspiring events. Join us for the next Write Out Loud on October 10!

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’ve awarded 38 seats totaling $13,050 so far. For information about our scholarship program or to become a valuable donor providing these seats, please email Jennifer Chauhan at jennifer@projectwritenow.org.