A Space for Chalk It Up to Flourish & Grow

We are fundraising to invest in a permanent space in the West-End of Louisville for "Chalk It Up", A community-led collective and non-profit that provides safe healthy experiences and opportunities for children at no cost.

This would help creator Amber Brown take this work further by allowing her to organize more effectively. This would be a space for donations for clothing drives, book fairs, parent-child and other events. This would be a space for free community classes for children and parents. This could mean events, classes, donation drives still being able to continue despite the weather or season. Stay tuned for an interview with Amber to hear her vision for this space and Chalk it Up.



More info on Chalk it Up Below:

If you know Amber Brown, you know that she lives and breathes 'Chalk it Up'. If you don't, I can absolutely clue you in on who and what I'm talking about and why you should want to be a part of Chalk it Up's growth. Amber's vision is to be able to continue to create space for children to be able to BE children. What does that really even mean though? While many children do get the chance to just be kids : to play, grow, and feel safe, with food on their belly around people they trust and love, many children don't have that option. Many children have to grow up way too fast due to socioeconomic factors. There are so many kids who have barriers to basic healthy and positive experiences that are integral to developing little bodies and minds. One of the biggest barriers is money, hence her hashtag #childhoodshouldbefree.

At current, Chalk it Up hosts multiple free inclusive events a month providing food and activities for any children in the community who want to participate. Currently, these include regular community birthday parties so that every child feels celebrated, father's day celebrations, pride celebrations, book fairs as well as events where we're just playing and chalking it up. These have all been held at public parks. Amber hauls tons of equipment, food, toys (and of course chalk) out of a storage unit to various parks and sets it up (sometimes as often as twice a week) to create this space with a small collective of rotating volunteers, artists, medics, activists, parents and others. Amber and Chalk It Up as a whole is committed to intersectionality and advocating for marginalized folks, fostering community, resources and freedom of expression.

 

Amber has done so much already but we know this is only the beginning for her. With the proper funding and resources, this community collective can do so much more for the kids in our commmunity(ies). While she is in the process of transitioning Chalk It Up to a non-profit we want to start to raise the funds to get Chalk It Up the space it needs flourish. Amber would like to find a space in the West End of Louisville to house Chalk It Up's office, supplies and events. That is what these funds will be dedicated to. It would be ideal to have this space before winter but we are appreciative and grateful for any and all help you can provide. She has run everything this far with her own time, funds and resources as well as community crowdfunding, which we are all extremely grateful for but we need to keep going ya'll.