Join a program that will enable you to help transform lives, change society and give individuals a second chance at life after imprisonment.
What Is the Meditation Resolution Project?
A joint collaboration between Adelphi University and Network Support Services (NSS), the Mindfulness Resolution Project connects students with those who have reentered society after imprisonment.
Those who are about to be released from prison or placed on parole have a support system in Network Support Services, an organization that teaches mindfulness—a practice of quiet meditation and deliberation—as part of its extensive prison rehabilitation support. The Adelphi program offers courses and internships to students, who learn about the roles compassion and empathy play in the process—and that “mindfulness is more than just closing your eyes and breathing,” as one student put it. They then interview these rehabilitated men and women about their future plans, hopes and dreams.
For instance, Cristina Zaccarini, PhD, Adelphi professor of history and a certified mindfulness instructor, assigns her students to interview rehabilitated men and women preselected by NSS, and then write short testimonial biographies that can help them reenter the job market, obtain housing and meet other challenges. The written and audio bios are posted online, serving as testimonials to be used in applications, chiefly for housing and jobs. Watch these interviews, along with the short bios.
Besides visiting the classes to share his experiences, Network Support Services Director of Community Outreach NahShon Jackson facilitates contact between students, those who are justice-impacted, and potential employers, landlords and others who can help with the process of successful reentry.
This program seeks to provide Adelphi students with an understanding of the power of compassion and rehabilitation for those who, in many instances, never had a chance to pursue a meaningful education.
To show her students the power of mindfulness in even the most challenging of circumstances, Dr. Zaccarini organized a collaboration with NSS in 2022 that involved teaching mindfulness as part of the rehabilitation and reentry programs that NSS provides incarcerated people and those on parole in New York state.
The Founders
Adelphi Professor Cristina Zaccarini, PhD, and NahShon Jackson, director of community outreach at Network Support Services, are the architects of the Mindfulness Resolution Project.
They brainstormed the idea for this initiative. Jackson, who himself served 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, has provided significant insight and inspiration for Adelphi’s students. Bolstered by his knowledge of both mindfulness and the criminal justice system, Jackson works tirelessly to connect Dr. Zaccarini and her students to Network Support Services clients.
Doing this interview made me realize there are thousands and thousands of people somewhere out there locked behind bars with the potential to do something amazing.
Mindfulness Documentary Shown at an Adelphi Event
At an on-campus Adelphi event in 2021, filmmaker Art Jones screened a documentary of Dr. Zaccarini’s 2020 First-Year Seminar class, titled History, Mindfulness and Prison Reform.
At the event, Dr. Zaccarini discussed how this film reflected the role her students played in helping those reentering society after imprisonment gain employment and housing.
The course was in collaboration with Network Support Services, whose outreach coordinator, NahShon Jackson, was also featured in the documentary. He explained the classroom experience’s impact on those seeking second chances in society after imprisonment. The course was the foundation for continued collaboration.
NahShon Jackson
The seventh child of nine siblings, NahShon Jackson is a justice-impacted individual who served 25 years of imprisonment for a crime he did not commit. Since his release from prison seven years ago, he has been working with Network Support Services, Inc. and was recognized by the New York State Legislature as “a pillar in his community helping provide necessary reentry services and support to empower those incarcerated and formerly incarcerated in returning home.” He and Dr. Zaccarini originated the Mindfulness Resolution Project, and he is a vital force in this program.
Many students … tell me that learning from these passionate, sincere speakers [in the Mindfulness Resolution Project] has been one of the most memorable and impactful experiences of their entire college careers. … My students felt they could really make a difference in one of society’s most urgent problems.
Cristina Zaccarini, PhD
Professor of History
