Social Good Fund

About Homies Empowerment
Homies Empowerment is a community development organization based out of Oakland, California. WE believe that everyone has a warrior, healer, hustler and scholar inside of us, and we are in the process of our collective emancipation.


The FREEdom Store
One week after the local and State Shelter In Place (SIP) order, Homies Empowerment shifted from school design project, and into the deployment of the FREEdom Store. We realized that as schools, churches and public service agencies closed, it was imperative for the FREEdom Store to OPEN our doors to our people who historically have been made invisible and neglected.

For the past 8 weeks, the FREEdom Store served on average 500-600 individuals/families weekly. During the week of May 18th, we served over 1,500 individuals and families. We expect the need to grow during the summer months when the local Unified School Districts potentially may limit or eliminate services for our students and families. Moreover, as the economy struggles and unemployment rises, our families and communities will require basic needs for survival.

Every donation matters.
Every share matters.
Thank you for standing in solidarity and for all that you do!

To do this work, WE need YOUR solidarity. We are blessed to provide food and health/hygiene supplies to the people on a weekly basis, but WE need your support to continue to do so. 

Our Call to Action
The COVID-19 viral pandemic is real and has affected the lives of many. While we face the turmoil it has  unleashed, WE at Homies Empowerment, have witnessed that the pandemic is not affecting us all the same. Conditions of violence, such as neglect, poverty, and racism; existed prior to COVID-19, and the viral pandemic  exacerbated these conditions disproportionately for specific communities.

While we repeatedly hear proclamations that “we are all in this together,” and that the virus sees no color, Homies believe that our systemic structure of oppression and conditions of entrenched violence (intergenerational poverty) forces us to not only see color, but to stand with the people most impacted.

Homies standing in solidarity with YOU and OUR community gives us HOPE and RESOURCES to counter such structures and conditions of violence. We believe in Social Equity and Radical (re)Distribution of Resources. Solidarity and NOT charity!

YOUR Impact
Given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 viral pandemic and the imposed Shelter In Place (SIP), partnering and contributing to the Homies Empowerment FREEdom Store will respond to the critical needs of our community.

As we anticipate limited support services and programs due to:
(1) Reduction/Elimination of Unified School Summer Service Programs and
(2) Unemployment Rising within People of Color (POC) communities,

....with YOU standing with Homies, WE are able to provide the some basic human needs for our elders (seniors), children and families.

The ASK?
This campaign is designed to maintain services during the 9 weeks of the month of June and July, 2020. With the summer approaching and services to our students and community is potentially reduced or eliminated, Homies Empowerment, along with our partners, will ensure our communities remain visible, supported and served.  

(9 weeks in the month of June and July) x ($3,500 per week of food and health/hygiene expenses) = $27,000 of projected total summer expenses.
 
YOUR partnership and contributions will help the Homies Empowerment FREEdom Store maintain support and services to our community for the months to come.

Not only are we standing in solidarity with our people, we are also taking steps in UNDOING INJUSTICE.

If WE truly are “all in this together,” we need you now more than ever. 100% of the contributions raised will go straight to the people of our community. Outside of the required fees charged by GoFundMe, no funds generated by this campaign will be used towards salaries and benefits of individuals/employees.

Other ways YOU can help

1.      Help us spread the word, Use the GoFundMe link to share on social media and email

2.      Come stand with us, we could always use new hands and your warm hearts during our weekly actions. Contact us at [email redacted] to volunteer.

3.      Support the FREEdom Store fundraising  by contributing to our GoFundMe campaign. 

Our Collaborators
In uplifting our community, we collaborate with individuals and organizations in entering mutual aid partnerships and cooperative economics.

These practices allow for the radical (re)distribution of resources that typically are slow to get to our communities.

Our partners include:

·         Eat. Play. Learn. Foundation

·         World Central Kitchen

·         Akonadi Foundation

·         TRYBE

·         BASIC Ministries

·         Youth Food Project

...and most importantly, YOU!  The individual contributions that come from our community is what has provided us the foundation to begin this work, and WE lean on you to continue it.

Thank you so much for all of your support. We would not be able to complete this project without you.

Peace and Blessings Always!

.The Harlem All Stars Youth Foundation was formed in 2017 by Steven Waters and Kevin McBride, two former Harlem Police Athletic League members. The Non Profit 501c program provides mentoring, community service, leadership training and basketball for young teens aged 13 to 18 years. Our slogan is B.E.L.L, Basketball, Education, Life Lessons.

Over the past 4 years, we have sponsored out of state all-expense paid trips to various cities in order to expose our youth to positive experiences outside of New York.

We host an Annual Cancer Walk, Food Giveaway, and Coat/Toy Drive to assist less fortunate children and families. Our main focus remains  to inspire young at risk teens.

The purpose of this Go Fund Me is to advance the Foundation's mission of providing opportunities for  at risk teens. The funds will be used to cover the expenses for out of town tournaments which includes uniforms and travel expenses. Funds will also be used to support the annual food, toy and coat drives.

The Harlem All Star Youth Foundation would like to thank you for your support. All Donations are 100% tax deductible through Social Good Fund.

Harlem All Stars Youth Foundation / Steven Waters

Who We Are?

The Castlemont High School Green Scene is a unique one plus acre organic farm, educational garden space, permaculture forest, multiple greenhouses and the beginning of an outdoor kitchen all connected to a public high school in Deep East Oakland.  For the past 11 years Students and Community Organizations through the Sustainable Urban Design Academy (SUDA)  and Community Health Equity Academy (CHEA) have been planting seeds and amending the soil, working to restore a thriving ecosystem where once sat a vacant lot. Students experience every part of creating an equitable food system while nourishing their bodies and growing their knowledge of Food as Medicine. We spend time in both the garden and kitchen, learning to cultivate (how to grow the food), to process (how to harvest, clean and cook) and to distribute (how to store it, sell it, share it). We need $200,000 to continue cultivating and stewarding the farm spaces with students and families of the Castlemont community over the next four years.


Funding the Future, Funding the Now

When the schools closed because of COVID-19, it was our collaborative approach and strong foundation that allowed us to rapidly respond to our community’s need for fresh fruits and vegetables. Activating teachers and community members to carry on the work of the students, we harvested and distributed over 2500 pounds of fresh food alongside OUSD Nutrition Services and the Alameda County Food Bank at the school’s distribution site. 


As the Shelter-In-Place continues to evolve, we are beginning to look forward and design for the future when schools reopen and students return. We want to be ready for their creativity and excitement to carry on the work of feeding their community. Before school was closed, students had successfully popped up their first community produce stand of the year and were dreaming of their own hyper local produce box distribution business (CSA) and prepared food businesses. 


Students are at the heart of all our work. Following the Black Lives Matter Movement, we feel the urgency of increasing capacity at the community level, with the focus on developing Black and Indigenous leadership. Students and Community members have been germinating and sprouting their ideas for many seasons and  are ready to deepen our roots, grow our leaves wide, and share the fruits of our labor with the community. We ask you, what would it look like if we were resource rich? What kind of food sovereignty could we solve for if we had what we needed?


We are looking for funding or the raw materials to build an: 

- Outdoor Standardized Processing Station to safely wash and package vegetables 

- Money for an Equitable Wage for Student Stipends and a Community Member for Summer Program

- Off-Grid Solar Refrigeration Unit Solar Panels, Converter Box, Batteries

- Shipping Container

- Materials to start our CSA and distribution to local corner stores (boxes, rubber bands, bags)

- Pedal Power! Bicycles with trailers to haul vegetables and tools between the spaces on campus + a Pedi-cab to bring visitors from the entrance gates and parking lots to the farm.

We appreciate monetary donations and are also open to in-kind donations.


The people are in place, the ideas are clearly formed and, with your help, we can increase our food production and distribution by adding fundamental infrastructure. With this we can increase our impact on how many people are eating fresh organic produce  and healing from the Green Spaces at Castlemont High School. 


One Final Bite About Who We Are and Our History

Our programming is rooted in Castlemont High School’s two pathway programs of Sustainable Urban Design Academy (SUDA) and Community Health Equity Academy (CHEA) Students explore concepts of Food Sovereignty, Food as Medicine, and the importance of Regenerative Design in their career related classes. 


Our collaborating partners are The Butterfly Movement, Raised Roots, Black Earth Collective, Sankofa Gardens, Oakland Leaf, Phat Beets, Growing Together, Apothecary to the People, Planting Justice, Peralta College and Oakland Kids First. These organizations hold space and design programming for students, maintain our growing spaces and kitchens, and advocate for us in regional and national spaces. 

Check out this video  of Castlemont graduate and deep developer of the work, Brandi Mack of The Butterfly Movement on The Brilliant Resilience.

Thank you in advance for your contribution to our farm program. Many blessings to you and your family.

More information about Social Good Fund, our fiscal sponsor. They work to establish positive influences for individuals, communities, and the environment by sponsoring charitable projects through out the country and the world.

Greetings! We are 'Beyond Books', a group of women from the San Francisco Bay Area, who share a passion for the written word and have been coming together monthly for over twelve years to discuss, argue, laugh and share ideas. Though we represent a diverse group with varied origins and professions, we all share a strong commitment to social justice. And as mothers and residents of our beloved Bay Area, we agree that now is a critical time to take a stand to help those who are struggling in our community. 

We researched organizations to support in our local area and have chosen the East Oakland Collective , an organization engaged in doing great work to help the residents of East Oakland.  Right now they are on the front lines of this crisis and need additional support.  East Oakland is an area where the hardship and suffering is agonizing and the effects of the pandemic will continue to reverberate for years. During the COVID-19 crisis, the focus of the Collective is on serving the unhoused, seniors, disabled and other vulnerable populations by providing food, critical sanitation needs and supplies. 

Here is a video overview of the important work they are doing right now. 

Their many programs and initiatives help to galvanize and empower the community, such as their 'Homeless Rapid Response Team', their 'East Oakland Susu Lending Circle Program' and their participation in local government issues.  We believe that once you learn about their incredible commitment to local Oaklanders, you will want to support them along with us!  


During this crisis, we are not all able to safely get out and help those in need, but the East Oakland Collective is in the field, acting as a lifeline for many people who need them. They are doing critical work during this quarantine and will continue to work to build a healthy and vibrant community in East Oakland long after this trial has passed. We proudly stand behind this inspiring organization and we ask you to join us in donating right now when the need has never been greater!

Visit their website at http://www.eastoaklandcollective.com/  for detailed descriptions of their community work, and their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.


Our book club, Beyond Books, is launching this campaign to raise $10,000 for the EOC.  We invite you to join us in supporting this outstanding organization and hope you (and perhaps, your fellow book club members) will help us reach our goal. Thank you so much for your generosity, and please stay safe!

In response to the continued hatred, violence, and health disparities directed towards the Black community along with the current Covid-19 pandemic Freedom Community Clinic is raising money to provide access to preventive and supportive herbal medicines for those who have been tirelessly protesting for the equality of Black lives. Our mission is to help reduce the spread and deadly effects of Covid-19. Because stress, grief, anger and exhaustion all hinder the immune system it is imperative that Bay Area’s Black communities and trusted allies receive access to medical modalities that can help to keep themselves and their loved ones healthy. 


We will be conducting outreach about this project at various sites in Oakland where informational pamphlets on herbal efficacy in treating Covid, along with herbal doctor’s contact information will be handed out. 


All money donated goes to outreach and the purchasing of herbal formulas which are specifically built to fit each patient’s body type. The herbal formulas will come in the form of tincture, powder, or pills. Patients will have phone consultations with a doctor and then herbal formulas will be filled at a pharmacy and shipped out to patients, free of cost to the patient. The team of doctors will be donating all of their time. 


$35 covers the cost of treating one person; specifically one herbal formula plus shipping. 


 *There are also many studies out about the efficacy of Chinese herbs on the Coronavirus because of the experience in treating SARS. Both COVID-19 and SARS are caused by coronaviruses. The virus that causes SARS is known as SARS-CoV, while the virus that causes COVID-19 is known as SARS-CoV-2.

“In 2004, a clinical study including 524 patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) showed that the duration of major symptoms in the group of patients treated by integrated Chinese and western medicines was significantly shorter than those in the group treated by western medicine alone [6]. The satisfied therapeutic effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in preventing and treating SARS suggested the superiority of TCM on severe infectious diseases.” 

Link to article: Treatment efficacy analysis of traditional Chinese medicine for novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19): an empirical study from Wuhan, Hubei Province, China https://cmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13020-020-00317-x#citeas


Organizations involved:

Freedom Community Clinic
https://www.freedomcommunityclinic.org/

TCM for The People

If you or someone you know needs access to herbs please email Emily at
[email redacted] or text  [phone redacted] to book an herbal consult

Lets PARTY, CELEBRATE PRIDE, and MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I am raising money to benefit the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, and any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to me.

More information about Marsha P. Johnson Institute: We work to protects and defends the human rights of BLACK transgender people. We do this by organizing, advocating, creating an intentional community to heal, developing transformative leadership, and promoting our collective power.

We intend to reclaim Marsha P. Johnson and our relationship as BLACK trans people to her life and legacy. It is in our reclaiming of Marsha that we give ourselves permission to reclaim autonomy to our minds, to our bodies, and to our futures.  We were founded both as a response to the murders of BLACK trans women and women of color and how that is connected to our exclusion from social justice issues, namely racial, gender, and reproductive justice, as well as gun violence.

Women To The Front  is thrilled to support The Human Utility as they help families in need pay their water bill.

Why are we excited about The Human Utility?

In 2014, Tiffani Ashley Bell, a software developer, read the Atlantic article, “What Happens When Detroit Shuts Off The Water To 100,000 People,” and posed the question to Twitter, ‘What if we pay some water bills?’ From that The Human Utility was born.  


The Human Utility, a 501c3 non-profit,  provides assistance to families and makes sure they always have running water at home. In places such as Detroit, Baltimore, and other cities in the United States, families unable to afford their water bills have their water service disconnected. When this happens, kids can't bathe, people can't wash dishes, and grandparents can't flush their toilets. In extreme situations, people have had their homes taken away  and lose custody for their kids over an unpaid water bill.


Besides paying water bills for families in need,  The Human Utility's ultimate goal is policy change. Water is the one utility in Michigan that isn’t regulated. While Detroit’s median income is less than half the national average, the average Detroit water bill is twice the national average. The Human Utility is working with politicians and activists in Michigan to pass legislation that makes water a regulated, affordable utility. Water is a human right.

Who are we?
Women To The Front is an NYC-based, intersectional, feminist action group. Its mission is to fundraise for the many hard-working organizations that protect, defend and advocate for the issues we believe in

The Youth EmpowHERment Sleepover (YES) is a two-day conference for girls that will take place on June 8-9 at California State University, Northridge. 

At YES, professional facilitators will connect teen girls with mental health specialists, life coaches, peer mentors, and – just as importantly – with one another. It's a celebration of sisterhood that strikes a unique balance between the sincere and honest exploration of the challenges facing today's youth and the fun-filled camaraderie of a sleepover event.

Topics include:
*Building self-confidence
*Learning body positivity
*Understanding relationships
*Navigating social media
*Improving communication
*Adopting healthy living habits
*Practicing mindfulness and meditation
*Increasing mental health awareness
*Parent workshop (optional)

My goal is to make this event available at little to no cost for all girls, regardless of their family income, many of whom wouldn't normally have access to these services. To help me reach this goal, the speakers, staff, and volunteers have all offered their services for free. You will be helping us to cover the housing and meals for each attendee.

I greatly appreciate your consideration to demonstrate support for youth in general, and for young female empowerment in particular. On behalf of the YES participants and their families, I look forward to your support of this project!

Please say "Yes" to YES!

The Youth EmpowHERment Sleepover is a fiscally sponsored project of Social Good Fund , a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible. Tax ID: 46-1323531

Click here to read Brianna's story.