I grew up in a town called Farmingdale, New Jersey, with my parents and my eight siblings. Although we were just making ends meet, we lived on a one-acre property which my father was farming a garden on a third of it for the family to eat. His kids were not interested in helping, so each year, fewer vegetables were planted. Eventually my father put his farming on hold to concentrate on his full-time job, being a mason. But we always had apple trees, peach trees, and strawberries in our flower beds. Farming was in my father’s bones and part of that legacy is in mine.

Growing up in India, a ball, a bat and a wicket brought children together in the streets. Now, the game of cricket is bringing a group of immigrants together in New Jersey.

Theresa Maughan was born and raised in Belize. When she was 5 years old her family emigrated to the United States to be with her father, who came a year before under a work visa. A young girl, she knew nothing of expired visas, deportation or what it meant to be an ‘alien’ in the land of the free. Six years later, in 1971, the family faced deportation and it was Maughan’s fifth-grade teacher who rallied for them.

On Friday, April 8th, the North Jersey chapter of MUHSEN held a community iftar in Paterson's Islamic Center of Passaic County. The iftar brought together disabled Muslims for a night of eating, playing and meeting author Ruba Qasem, who read her inspiring book "The Coolest Career."

Like many other young people during the 2020 pandemic, 14-year-old Ariyan Wint found herself stuck at home with nothing to do. She enrolled in the New Jersey After School All-Stars program (ASAS), and it proved to be one of the most intriguing times of her young life. The program inspired her to start her own business: 'Lipology by Ari,' a beauty, cosmetics, and personal care brand.

More than a hundred community members gathered at the corner of Ivy Street and Tuxedo Parkway in Newark's Ivy Hill neighborhood for a street-renaming event in October. Locals, including friends and family members of Houston Stevens, made sure to give him his flowers while he is still alive.