Community Cash!
ONE DOLLAR A DAY.
It’s simple: our friends, family, and community are suffering and need support and stability *right now*.
They need help we can actually give them.
Easily. Cheaply. Now. Just like that.
Community Cash is a simple, grassroots project to fund the stability of poor women and queers by having the community make a simple, ongoing commitment: one dollar a day.
If 200 people sign on to sustain with a dollar a day, we can fund 6 people in dire need at $1K a month. No questions asked. Just a serious boost in stability.The details: We have set up a PayPal account just for this. The money will go in, stay there, and get distributed monthly. We are asking a yearlong commitment to this $30/month sustainer program. Of course if your circumstances change, you should take care. But if you can, the goal is to remove the burden of unpredictabilty that plagues the lives of our people who live in poverty. When you’re poor you can’t make plans or create a future because you can’t guarantee you’ll even make rent next month. To change the dynamic that makes escaping crisis impossible, you need to be able to spend some money knowing there will be more. To allow people to break the cycle of trauma and stress and actually build stability, we hope you’ll stick with this.
We are trying to price this so people working minimum wage jobs can afford it, but our ultimate hope is that people with more cash can take on this community sustenance. People with good jobs, your parents and coworkers, folks with financial security could take on one or even two $1/day commitments to keep this going, ongoing. Transparency: anonymized screen shots of the transfers will be available to keep things accountable. Further, this will be in community enough that accountabilty is real: you know us, or someone you know and trust knows us and vouched for us/ this program. You know where we are and whether you think we’ll act honorably with this funding source and with any questions or concerns that may arise.
Neither of us are beneficiaries or will be receiveing any of the money.
The first beneficiaries: we have contacted 6 people, who shall remain anonymous but who are: 3 queer cis women. 3 NB or genderqueer folk. 2 with debilitating progressive diseases. 2 with disabling mental health struggles. 4 with disabling physical limitations. 1 with an as yet undiagnosed chronic illness. 2 white, 3 black, 1 latinx. 1 is an immigrant. 4 are unable to work at all, 2 have severe limitations. 1 was a sex worker until they became too ill to work. 1 is in an ongoing struggle with the criminal justice system. 3 have deep roots in social justice struggles. 5 have government health care only (which as we know is
very precarious right now.) All 6 are valuable and beloved community members with a lot to offer to us all- we all win if we can keep these people with us and doing as well as possible. 0 have families of origin who can support them financially.
Some of these people will need support for the long term; others may be able to transition off the fund and give their spots to others in need. The fund may be the only thing that makes achieving that stability possible for them; for others it may mean staying off the streets or being able to get the treatment they need or simply allowing for self care and breaking the cycles of trauma and panic that come with not having security.
Our initial goal of 200 subscribers can provide these 6 with stability for a year; with additional subscribers we can add more people and maybe even set aside one share for an emergency fund. Please spread the word and help us make this happen! This is our opportunity to move beyond crisis control, beyond gofundmes for ER bills, and into preventative care, real mutual aid solutions. It’s our dream to be able to take care of and help each other in a real sustainable way that takes the burden off the people closest to a crisis and doesn’t unduly tax any of us. Too often the people with the least end up giving the most because we are closest to the people in the greatest need.
If we can get this off the ground we can break this pattern! Please just sign up for the first year, get some people you know to sign up, help us get this going. This can be real, sustainable mutual aid, and we’re only going to need it more in the coming years. We only have each other but that can be enough. We can be enough. We can take care of our own. Please be a part of that. So that’s it. It’s straightforward, lightning fast, direct action for less cost than a utility bill. It’s mutual aid plain and simple. Will you join us to see if this can work?
We are Anandi Wonder and Annie Danger. Feel free to contact us with questions:
communitycash@protonmail.com
