Impact Stories

In Nov. 2021 after ten years of our evolving mission and impact, we changed our name to Gathering Ground. You may still find reference to our old name Creative New Jersey in posts created prior to Nov. 2021.

Trenton: Creative Ideas

Mixed-use Entrepreneurial Training Center: REPENT, a recidivism support program, and local organizational development professional and members of the UIH met to discuss needs for a mixed-use building for recently released inmates to have both a place to live, access to entrepreneurial training, and a store-front to launch pilot businesses. This group is currently working on a white paper for a funding request.

Trenton Board of Ed Youth Summit: Kathleen Smallwood Johnson organized a summit on April 12th and brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to delve into implementation of this idea. The College of New Jersey hosted the Summit. 45 students from 6th-12th grade took the lead as the primary planners for this summit.

I Am Trenton Community Foundation: The I Am Trenton Community Foundation will be giving additional points in their next grant cycle to projects that were born out of Creative Trenton, and have both summarized and made the Book of Proceedings of Creative Trenton available on their website.

After-School Transportation: Artworks planned to host a meeting to discuss how to tackle transportation for students to potential after school activities.

Mass Incarceration Education: Westminster Presbyterian worked with partners from Creative Trenton on public events diving into issues of mass incarceration. Events were held in Princeton on 2/21/14 and at Union Baptist in Trenton on 3/8/14 and included films and community discussion.

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“Attending Asbury Park’s Call to Collaboration was my launch for my girl-centered mentoring program. It was an informative and educational experience that I will forever value. I appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with community members from all walks of life.”

– Angela Ahbez-Anderson – Board Member & four-term President, Asbury Park School District (Asbury Park)