Welcome to our inaugural edition of News at Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison. Every other month, we will send you information about programs and events at Amandla Crossing and Imani Park, our supportive housing developments serving homeless individuals and families in Middlesex County. If you have any questions about our program and how you can help,  please contact Melissa Mascolo at mmasolo@missionfirsthousing.org. Happy Reading!

Kenja Jackson is proud to proclaim “I am 5 years sober!”

It has been a long road for Kenja. Her experience at Imani Park, one of Mission First Housing Group’s Permanent Supportive Housing communities in Edison, NJ, was what helped her move past her addiction and homelessness and into independent living.

Kenja grew up in Cliffwood, NJ. As a teen she was rebellious and often ran away from home. In 1993 at 17 years old, Kenja met Gerard who tried to take care of her and help her focus on school, but his addiction to drugs eventually caught up with both of them.

At 18, Kenja had her first son and Gerald was in and out of prison, so she and her son moved in with her friend’s family who became her support system. In the 14 years that followed, her addiction grew and so did her family, adding two more sons and a daughter.

Kenja’s first attempt at sobriety came in 2008 when her brother died. She was pregnant with her fifth child and needed to go to treatment for her family. Her children stayed with family members and when her daughter was born, she was taken to a foster home. After a year in the program, she was able to transition to a Mommy and Me program and get her girls back. In 2014, Kenja welcomed another child, but unfortunately Kenja relapsed again in 2017. Her addiction drove her and her two youngest children back to homelessness, sleeping on floors, couches and sometimes even on the waterfront in a car in Perth Amboy. Then inspiration came from her oldest son who wanted his parents to be part of his new family.

“My oldest son said to me, ‘Mom if you and Daddy don’t get your stuff together, you cannot be around my kids’ and that is when I decided to get clean.” But Kenja was bouncing from one friend’s home to another, and she knew that was not a solution. She thought “I can’t keep living like this. It is bad enough I did it to the boys, I didn’t want to do it to the girls. They deserve a chance.”

Kenja started going through the resource information she had collected over the years and she got in touch with Melissa Mascolo, Director of Program Management for Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison. “[Melissa] said ‘Listen Ms. Jackson, I am here for you and this is what you need to do.’ That’s how I got in Imani Park. I was one of the first people to pick my apartment.”

In 2019 when she first moved into Imani Park, she was so happy. “It was so nice. It was what me and my girls needed. I just said thank you, because I was ready to give up and this was a new start for me.” With assistance from Melissa and the Edison team, Kenja and her children received counseling and programming to help with basic skills, budgeting and more, as well as enjoyed family events and celebrations.



Kenja lived at Imani Park for over 2 years when she secured a Section 8 voucher. Even though she had housing and was happy where she was, Kenja said “I took the Section 8 because I know what I went through, and there could be someone else out there that could use this apartment. So I graduated the program and I left.” Today Kenja and her daughters live in a home in Perth Amboy.

Today Kenja works at New Jersey Association on Correction (NJAC) in New Brunswick, assisting with people who were recently released from prison and those experiencing homelessness. “I want to help people with substance abuse, addictions and homelessness, and with their kids. Because I have been there. I know what it is not to have and can’t find nowhere to go and some nights you might not eat so you make sure your kids eat. I want to give someone else hope that they can do it and not to give up, because sometimes you want to give up.”

She says one of the most fulfilling things about being out on her own is paying bills. “I missed so much in my addiction. I missed living life. I missed being an adult. Not saying that I look forward to the bills coming in the mail, but that’s the things you have to do as an adult. Because of my addiction, I didn’t do that. It was not my #1 priority. It is something for me to pay the electric bill or the gas bill. That is huge for me.”

Kenja believes had it not been for the opportunity to live at Imani Park and the supportive services program she would still be on the streets struggling. “I’m not struggling today. Life happens, but I am not struggling. My kids are ok. My kids are fed. They are doing great in school. Everything is ok. Home is my safe haven. Somewhere where I know my kids are ok. My kids have a roof over their head and they are taken care of.”

This past summer, Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison (Mission First) hosted interns from Rutgers University, Equity in Action Summer Internship Program (EASI). EASI interns are focused on combating social determinants of health through work rooted in social justice. Working in interprofessional teams at participating community sites, students-create a program under the guidance of site leads and EASI program co-directors.

Mission First has partnered with the Rutgers program since 2017 hosting interns to facilitate the annual Resident Feedback Survey. This survey is a critical tool measuring resident satisfaction in the permanent supportive housing program. Survey results provide information that helps Mission First adjust its programming to meet the needs of individuals and families served. The feedback informs all aspects of program development and delivery, from how programs are advertised among residents and how residents are engaged in programming to the type of programming delivered. For example, a 2021 survey indicated a strong interest in onsite arts-based programming. This input from residents led to a collaboration with NJ-based arts group, coLAB Arts (profiled herein).

This year’s cohort of three interns worked on-site at our permanent supportive housing developments in Edison, NJ, Amandla Crossing and Imani Park, creating the 2022 Resident Survey and spearheading workshops developed in response to survey feedback. The interns were also responsible for providing one-to-one support to our residents. Interns deepened their own understanding of homelessness while addressing residents’ diverse and sometimes challenging daily needs. 

Yinin Li, a 5th year Pharmacy student at Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, found the experience eye-opening, describing it as, “a nuanced perspective of populations that I will serve as a healthcare professional.” One-to-one interactions with residents to help them navigate medical, transportation and other federal or state resources, were key to shedding light on the needs of a demographic in flux.

Hailey Zito, a rising 4th year student at Rutgers School of Nursing, didn’t know what to expect from her internship. “But, I appreciated the interactions I had with residents at Imani Park and Amandla Crossing. I had never worked with individuals who have experienced homelessness, but I think I have a better understanding of the needs of this special population, and how I can care for them as a nurse.” 

Ron Gibson, a 2nd year medical student at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, was excited by the future implications of working in conjunction with his EASI program teammates. “Providing individual case management, workshop and discussion facilitation as well as fun events for residents was a great experience,” he said. “Facilitating info sessions for residents on healthcare systems and collaborating on their feedback to plan further sessions, will definitely inform my future work.”

Mission First thanks Yinin, Hailey and Ron, and wishes them the best in their pursuits!

In Spring, Mission First received a grant from Middlesex County, New Jersey’s Division of Arts & History. The grant supports a partnership with New Brunswick, NJ-based, coLAB Arts, in a project meant to share the lived experience of homelessness. The project is based at Imani Park and Amandla Crossing, two Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) communities providing housing and services to formerly homeless individuals and families, in Edison, NJ. 

The project, led by Dan Swern, Co-Founder and Producing Director, is part of coLAB Arts’, oral history project, 37 Voices, an initiative that combines journalism, oral history, research and theater to change the narrative around economic vulnerability in New Jersey. The work at Amandla Crossing and Imani Park includes a mix of creative workshops and oral history interviews with residents to amplify their histories and experiences of homelessness in the County.

“I felt, especially coming out of post-COVID isolation, that bringing the work of coLAB Arts to our community in Edison would be uplifting and inspirational to the residents.”, says Mission First Director of Program Management Melissa Mascolo. “Artistic expression brings people and communities together and has the power to transform. Working with coLAB Arts for the oral history project presents a unique opportunity to further engage and empower individuals and families with lived experience of homelessness, to tell their story first hand.”

Swern and his team at coLAB Arts will use the stories collected to form the basis of a script for a dramatic piece performed by professional artists. The project will culminate with a public convening that celebrates the communities through art and performance. Project artists and participants become collaborators, together unpacking lived experiences, not only to inform artist works but create a living archive. 

“We believe the first act of social change is to listen,” says Swern. “The voices of vulnerable people are rarely incorporated into their own history. Oral history is our way of understanding, through firsthand account, how racial and social justice issues directly impact the individuals in our community.”

Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison provides permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals and families in Middlesex County. Our on-site support services offer our residents access to the resources they need to increase health, independence and housing stability. When you make a donation to Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison, you are helping to ensure that residents have the supports they need to remain successfully housed, get back on their feet and live as thriving members of the community. Your support means so much! 

Donate online by clicking below or by mail to Melissa Mascolo, Supportive Housing: Edison, c/o Amandla Crossing, 100 Mitch Snyder Drive, Edison, NJ 08837.

Want to keep up-to-date on what's going on at Edison and Mission First's other work? Follow us on social media:

Do you want to do more than make a donation?

Here are some other great ways for you to help:

• Help secure a matching gift from your employer.
• Host a fundraising event and donate the proceeds to Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison.
• Host an essential items supply drive.
• Introduce your friends, family and colleagues to Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison and encourage them to give.

Do you have ideas you’d like to discuss? Give us a call! We’d love to work with you. For more information, please contact:

• Moira Rooney, Director of Philanthropy & Communication, 267.269.3331, mrooney@missionfirsthousing.org
• Melissa Mascolo, Director of Program Management, 609.373.8550, mmascolo@missionfirsthousing.org