The personal is political. You may have heard this phrase in a civics class, or bandied about in a university seminar. But what does it really mean? A partnership between Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison and New Brunswick, NJ-based coLAB Arts looks to examine just that.

Led by Dan Swern, Co-Founder and Producing Director, the project 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. It synthesizes Mission First’s work in affordable and permanent supportive housing with the artful work of honoring personal experience. What resulted was 18 hours of powerful narrative, illustrating the myriad social vectors that exacerbate the experience of homelessness.

The narrator, who remains anonymous in coLAB Arts’ oral history archive, as well as through the play, is an Indian immigrant who shared in rich detail, her life growing up in Gujarat, the politics of arranged marriage, her immigration and work experience in the United States. All leading to a narrative around isolation, domestic violence, and eventual houselessness in Middlesex County. The play, which received a reading at coLAB Arts on May 18, synthesized the experiences represented in that oral history and was presented with three actors, representing the narrator’s childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

The play itself has received great praise, including invitations for a workshop performance at the 2023 South Asian Theater Festival and a full presentation at the 2024 South Asian Theater Festival. Spurred by the positive response, the project and its practitioners have shifted into Phase Two of the project.

Lane Stanley joins Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison and coLAB Arts, as Resident Artist to help spearhead Phase Two of this unique collaboration that brings together artists and the voices and experiences of homeless individuals. Artmaking is a process whose potency is derived from the vulnerability of its creators. Work with partners who may not have participated in artmaking is also a process. Stanley, whose career in theater has taken them from undergraduate work at St. John (MD) to Baltimore, and graduate study at University of Texas, Austin’s Department of Theater and Dance, is uniquely placed to appreciate that tension.



Having spent time in a recovery house, Lane’s interests in creative writing and filmmaking, focusing around LGBTQIA+ storytelling, renders them key in connecting artmaking to individuals whose access to creative outlets is limited and whose stories too often remain untold. Lane’s initial project in Edison meets residents where they are, framing and explaining their role as Resident Artist.

Instead of prescriptively engaging residents in artmaking, Stanley’s observation and participation in the day-to-day at Edison illuminates the artful in the ordinary and unlocks the trust to investigate it together. The result is the gift of a space, beyond a fight or flight, survival mode. “When people are in a time of crisis and in survival mode,” says Stanley, “they feel threatened and get tunnel vision, and are not in a creative thinking space." Lane’s initial activities, engaging with residents at regular Resident Services events; sitting in on events hosted by Rutgers interns; as well as Consumer Participation Committee (CPC) meetings hosted in our community room; are an effort to solidify their framing as a resource to residents.

The program will start small, eliciting participation from residents—a favorite painting, film song, even a meme—in ways that gradually bring their creative inclinations to the fore. The plan is to use these instances to continue to develop that space to collaboratively think creatively.

Stanley envisions residents participating in a variety of workshops, acting, creative writing, perhaps filmmaking or photography, whatever sparks residents to come together, work in new ways and build new connections and relationships. The long-term plan sees residents begin to manage these groups, independently conceive and create, then bring their work to the larger group and develop It even further.

Both residents of Mission First properties and those Stanley has previously worked with have had a profound transformation and need to envision life in a new reality. “It was very important that Lane comes with lived experience that relates directly to our residents,” said Director of Program Management, Melissa Mascolo. That experience acts as a compass, guiding those who may have taken their voice for granted, or overworked it elsewhere, how important it is that it’s theirs and is made more powerful when they use their agency to share it, creating many new voices with many new stories. This is how the personal becomes political.

by Tasneem & Lane

The tomato’s redness shows it’s ready

The pittering rain drenches the soil 

The garden grows, slow and steady. 

The species of vegetables are many

Berries, herbs, cucumbers, okra, melon 

The tomato’s redness shows it’s ready

The Roma tomatoes, coming in heavy

Happily taking support from the metal frame 

The garden grows, slow and steady. 

Raspberries waiting to be transformed to jelly 

Crunchy fresh cucumber picked from the vine 

The tomato’s redness shows it’s ready

Sometimes she wishes she was done already 

She still tills the soil, shows up day after day 

The garden grows, slow and steady. 

The tomato’s redness shows it’s ready

The garden grows, slow and steady.

Her hard work turns into rich sauce for spaghetti 

A plate of bruschetta, enough for many friends 

This poem is a product of the coLAB Arts Resident Artist program, lead by Lane Stanley at Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison. Tasneem is a resident in the program.

As mentioned in our last e-newsletter, Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison has a strong relationship with Rutgers University. One of our strongest partnerships is through The Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences Office of Interprofessional Programs’ Equity in Action Summer Internship (EASI). 

This summer we hosted three EASI students, Seisha Centeno, Nuha Jaulikar and Harini Patabendi; and we are lucky enough to have a longer-term EASI intern, Jocelyne Jaramillo, staying with us through May 2024.

From May-August, our interns supported Director of Program Management Melissa Mascolo with outreach to residents and surveys about program needs in the Amandla Crossing and Imani Park communities. They then created unique programs and workshops based on the research data. Here is a little more about our interns and their thoughts on their experience working with Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison:

Seisha is a 2nd-year medical student at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

“Before starting school, I had worked in various capacities with people who were actively and formally unhoused, and these experiences were vital in my choice to pursue medicine. So, with this chance to again be a part of similar work, I was thrilled! Having this chance to build relationships and work with residents has been an equally grounding and joyful way to spend my summer. The passion of Melissa is infectious and all of us were quick to see what makes Mission First a truly special place. Some highlights of my time include planting in the Imani Park community garden, doing art projects with the wonderful residents, and the feeling of victory when you finally get through on the social services hotline! In all, my summer was a much-needed reminder of the reasons I got into my work in medicine, and I am grateful for the chance to be a part of the work that Mission First continues to do.”

Harini Patabendi is pursuing a Master of Public Health at the Rutgers School of Public Health, concentrating in Global Health.

“It has been such a wonderful experience working here alongside my teammates and Melissa. We initially distributed a general feedback survey along with a health and wellness survey to better understand the needs of the residents to craft our workshops around. Additionally, we held office hours in both locations to assist residents with anything needed, such as medical appointments, transportation and other services. Meeting all the residents who stopped by has also been a pleasure. Finally, it has given me a greater understanding of the importance of the social determinants of health, a fundamental public health concept.”

Nuha Jaulikar is a 5th-year student at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. 

“I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Mission First Housing this summer! It was great to hear the unique stories from residents at Imani Park and Amandla Crossing and taught me a lot about the issues these residents face daily. I most enjoyed our individual case management sessions, as well as the fun workshops we organized that covered education, community, and health and wellness. As a healthcare professional, it's important for me to understand the health disparities within this population and how I can do my best to help care for the community!”

Jocelyne is a 2nd-year Epidemiology student at the Rutgers School of Public Health. 

“I have always known that I wanted to direct my career path towards perinatal and maternal health, and I believe the residents at Imani Park and Amandla Crossing have helped to broaden my understanding of Public Health. Not knowing what to expect, my one-on-one interactions with the residents have truly opened my eyes to the reality of limited resources for the homeless and formally homeless population. Mission First continues to be a great resource and I am glad to have been a part of it.”

Mission First thanks Seisha, Nuha and Harini for their important and valued work this summer and wishes them the best of luck in your school year ahead. We look forward to giving you more updates on Jocelyne’s continued work with our residents over the next eight months.

On September 1st, associates from Walmart dropped off backpacks and school supplies to Amandla Crossing and Imani Park. Thank you to Shalimar Rivera and the Walmart Academy from Store #04153 (2825 NJ-18 Old Bridge, NJ) for helping the kids at Mission First Supportive Housing: Edison start the year right.

We wish all of our students best of luck in the 2023-2024 school year!

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

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.

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:

• Melissa Mascolo, Director of Program Management, 609.373.8550, mmascolo@missionfirsthousing.org
• Moira Rooney, Senior Vice President, Fundraising & Communications, 267.269.3331, mrooney@missionfirsthousing.org