After some delays, we're so excited to announce our 2020 grantees. We were able to fundraise almost $75,000 to award 30 youth-led mutual aid projects up to $2500 each. We are so grateful to everyone who applied.
This mutual aid project would be a needle exchange. It would start as simple needle and sharp container distribution. The main goal is to provide clean and safe needles for community members, as we know not everyone has access to medical necessities. If there is community need, the project will shift to clean needle pick-up/drop-off and used needle pick-up and disposal with the hopes of offering a space for community members to help administer IM injections for folks with prescriptions. This project is modeled off of the Shot Clinic in Minneapolis.
Organizer: Raynise D Cange
Bio: i am a nonbinary trans Black person. i love Black youth, baking, and science. I haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up, but I spend my time teaching and organizing digitally.
Amount awarded: $2500
Queer Coalition is providing $200 in mutual aid to Black and Indigenous, Nonbinary and Transgender people, and $100 in mutual aid to other Transgender, Queer, and Non-binary people of color in the Inland Empire.
The project’s goal is to collect books through monetary and resource donations and provide them to juvenile detention centers. We want to move away from the United States’ punitive justice system by providing positive outlets to incarcerated children. We also want to provide personal protection equipment for those who donate.
Organizer: Sa’Real McRae is a sixteen year old Black girl with a love for literature and writing. Her goal in life is to help other Black people trapped in the criminal justice system, and eventually dismantle it. She is determined, ambitious and a creative problem solver.
Amount awarded: $748