Support SURJ Bay Area’s Racial Justice Emergency Relief Fund

As we practice physical distancing and continue the fight against the structural inequities of our society, we must persevere through the leadership and guidance of our local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities. Now more than ever, we must rely on mutual aid, mutual dependence, and solidarity.

SURJ Bay Area is taking a critical step forward by creating a Racial Justice Emergency Relief Fund. 100% of donations will be passed on to local organizations providing critical immediate aid to our most vulnerable communities while continuing to fight the structural inequities that turned a novel virus into a global emergency.

SURJ Bay Area is collaborating with local organizations on the front lines of this crisis. We are supporting work that is providing vital hygiene supplies, food, water, emergency shelter, and information-sharing on COVID-19.

Our partner organizations are also continuing the pressing political work of stopping evictions and shut-offs, supporting low-wage workers who are losing jobs, fighting against xenophobia, and releasing those currently incarcerated and detained. You can see a list of these local organizations below.

If you are in a position to do so during this transformative time, please donate to the Racial Justice Emergency Relief Fund. Your tax-deductible donation to support racial justice at this time, no matter the size, is significant.

$10 will provide a hot meal
$50 will provide food for a week
$120 for a day of missed work at minimum wage
$1000 for rent

COVID-19 is a crisis but it is also opening doors to new ways of organizing and policies we could only dream of a month ago. We must seize this moment. We will continue to update you on emerging efforts as we all move forward in solidarity and mutual dependence. Please donate today.

100% of your donations will be distributed to the following organizations:

Immigrant Justice:

• Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) COVID-19 Emergency Community Stabilization Fund is providing basic needs support to working-class Asian immigrant and refugee families while running campaigns to make information about COVID-19 accessible to immigrant and refugee communities in the East Bay.
• Mujeres Unidas y Activas, an organization of low-wage immigrant women workers, aims to provide cash assistance to at least 400 immigrant families, prioritizing those who might not qualify for federal relief due to immigration status.
• Al Otro Lado (AOL) does critical work with asylum seekers in Tijuana. AOL has launched The Humanitarian Migrant Fund to provide emergency funds to asylum seekers and their families impacted by MPP (Migrant Protection Protocols) or “Remain in Mexico,” deported individuals, and other immigrants.
• Oakland Undocumented Relief Fund, created by Centro Legal de la Raza and community partners, provides critical financial support to undocumented workers (who live or work in Oakland) who have lost their income and, as undocumented workers, are largely excluded from federal and local relief programs.
  

Housing Justice:

• The Village, led by unhoused community members, is building tiny houses and distributing food and sanitary supplies to curbside communities in East Oakland.
• Causa Justa::Just Cause (CJJC) challenges displacement and gentrification at local and state levels to confront corporate development with strategic community demands that serve the people.
  

Mutual Aid:

• Disability Justice Culture Club, a collective of disabled queer people of color, is coordinating volunteers who deliver groceries, prescriptions, and other survival essentials to disabled and elder people in the East Bay.
• Community Ready Corps (CRC) has expanded their Safety, Survival, and Self-determination program to support the Black community with coronavirus readiness kits, community education, and emergency financial assistance for people who have or will lose income.
• Poor Magazine is a poor/indigenous people led organization redistributing healing, sanitation & cleaning products to unhoused and poor communities.
• Sogorea Te, led by urban indigenous women, is preparing the land they steward to support the community during extended disasters — with e.g. solar power, water filtration, growing food and medicine.
  

Mass Incarceration:

• TGI Justice Project (TGIJP) is raising emergency funds for black transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community members coming out of California prisons and San Francisco jail so that they can provide housing, food, hygiene supplies, and financial support. They will also provide funds for people on the inside to put money on their books to buy hygiene supplies. Additional funding is being used to provide unhoused black Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming community members with emergency hotel rooms and food during the shelter-in-place orders.
• The Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is advocating for the immediate release of people with high risk of COVID-19 and the elderly at Santa Rita Jail.
• Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) and All of Us or None (AOUON) have created an emergency fund to provide gift cards to formerly incarcerated people and their families so they can pay for groceries and other essential needs.
  

All donations are tax deductible and appreciated.

Do you work for a tech company or other business that uses Benevity? Your donation can be doubled or even tripled! Learn more here.

Prefer to make a donation by check? Make it payable to SpeakOut (with SURJ RJ Fund on the memo line) and mail to SpeakOut, PO Box 22748, Oakland CA 94609.

Would you consider sharing your stimulus check with someone who won’t be getting one?
Before you answer, read this powerful, thought-provoking article.

Remember, every dollar makes a difference as we collectively grow SURJ’s Racial Justice Emergency Relief Fund. Please donate today.