Dutton Family Parental Leave Fund

Parenting is one of the most magical and wondrous things I’ve chosen to do in this life. As a queer and nonbinary solo parent by choice, it’s also been one of the most challenging. I am parenting a fierce and fabulous almost 5 year old kid with chosen family and in queer community in Philly, and it is truly a dream come true. Since Asa Lowry Pearl came along, I’ve dreamed of growing our family. It’s been a years-long tumultuous journey to get here. At last, I’m beyond grateful that I am eagerly anticipating my second child to come earthside sometime around July 18th.

I’m casting this net to my people and my people’s people, asking for care and support in the form of donations that will allow for me to have 3 months of parental leave. These funds will help me meet my basic needs during that time, cover some postpartum doula care, childcare, and give me an acceptable amount of time off with this new tiny member of our family. This is an incredibly vulnerable ask to make, and a necessary one.

I came up in a working class family in the southern US. I would now consider myself to be situated in the middle class, yet I still live a somewhat ‘paycheck to paycheck’ lifestyle. I don’t have access to resources nor do I have enough savings to float myself and my kid through parental leave, and we all know that the US doesn’t support families by providing paid time to adjust and transition as they hold and care for a new little one.

I’m holding my great-grandmother, Pearl, in my heart as I cast this net for care from ya’ll. Pearl is one of my 5 year old’s namesakes. She died from an infection that she developed after having an abortion in 1941. My grandmother, Ruby Jewel, was 9 when Pearl died. So in making this ask, I am centering this story in my lineage, reproductive justice, a person’s right to choice, and the care that we’re all so deserving of around this. I know that there are a lot of places that could use this same kind of care, so any amount that I receive over the goal will be given to Yellowhammer Fund in honor of Pearl, and towards local orgs Finding Ceremony and Ubuntu Center, who are in movement work for Black Feminist Reproductive Justice.

Thank you so very much, from deep down in my bones.