Meet Your Neighbors
By Interns Jashan Dalal and Amara Mathew
Date & Location: November 1, 2025 | 11:00 AM–3:00 PM | USC Campus, Founders Park
Hosted by: Jashan Grewal, APASA Co-Advocacy Chair & Advocacy Liaison
To kick off November, APASA invited our Los Angeles neighbors from The Midnight Mission for a tour of the campus we call home, as well as a community picnic to build powerful relationships. On a beautifully sunny day, we were so happy to connect with our student community and our friends at Midnight Mission over some food and games.
WHAT IS THE MIDNIGHT MISSION?
Based in Skid Row, The Midnight Mission is a nonprofit human service organization dedicated to uplifting people facing homelessness towards a path of self-sufficiency. Through a plethora of services—food, shelter, clothing, personal hygiene needs, medical care, recovery services, counseling, education, training, workforce development, and continued care services—The Midnight Mission helps people get back on their feet with empathy and shared humanity.
Last spring, APASA visited the organization’s facility to host an art workshop, but this semester we brought our friends to us to deepen our inter-organization connection and more importantly foster meaningful bonds and understanding between our communities. As APASA serves USC’s APIDA community (that is, Asian Pacific Islander Desi American), we understand the great diversity in our communities across nationalities, cultures, and practices. So it’s only right that we embrace that same vibrant diversity that flows through our Los Angeles community by meeting and celebrating those around us, like our neighbors from The Midnight Mission.
THE TOUR
We started off by giving our visitors a tour of the University Park Campus. To reflect USC’s diverse student body, we took them through our many schools like Marshall, Thornton, and Annenberg, explaining some of our passions. We also visited some iconic locations like Doheny Memorial Library and Tutor Campus Center to recount some of our favorite memories and experiences at the university. In conversing with our guests from The Midnight Mission, we were reminded how genuine interest and thoughtful sharing can instantly initiate closeness and understanding between us. It was difficult to sum up the university and keep the tour pushing as they had so many earnest curiosities to bring up.
THE PICNIC
After our pleasant stroll and conversation, we wound up in Founders Park, the site of our community picnic. Open to all USC students to join The Midnight Mission guests, we continued our conversations about both our lives and theirs over some delicious Thai grub. We also explored different modes of connection: playing sports, painting, practicing Chinese calligraphy, and competing in Jenga. One of our favorite memories was just discussing how diverse USC students’ cultural backgrounds and academic aspirations are, and each teaching our guests a little about our heritages and fields. Truly, the conversations should’ve never had to end.
OUR TAKEAWAYS
After such a fun day, it was sad to say bye to our new friends, but we’re sure to see them again. Volunteering and visiting The Midnight Mission is so easy, and APASA is excited to continue our relationship with their organization. Though USC exists as a bubble in LA, we were able to connect with part of our community through art, games, food, and thrilling discussions. We look forward to our next encounter with The Midnight Mission!