- B
- S
**UPDATE: 12/08/20** WE GOT IT!!!
TL;DR for the Homies:
This page is the result of a lot of wonderful people around me who have asked how they can contribute to my efforts. I know a lot of people need a lot of support right now, so, please only give if you're able. It will be okay.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share this with your network.
Contributions can also be made directly through venmo: @DareArowe, dark drop cash envelope, or zelle/transfer and will also go directly toward this fund.
This was very hard for me to write.
What care and support do I need?
I’ve been conditioned not to think of me. Rewarded, in fact, for not thinking of me. One day, I hope to have my needs and desires on the tip of my tongue, because I’ve been asked so many times that I know people want to hear the truth of my answer.
Thank you for asking.
I came into the food system via the culinary industry a decade ago. I wanted to nourish as many people as possible. Instead, I found an industry designed to exploit my mind, my body, and my heart for profit. It is such a corruption of the honor that comes with feeding others.
I come to this land less than a century after it was brutally stolen from the Xa-Ben-Na-Po Band of the Pomo, whose descendants, the Big Valley Band, continue their work toward the rematriation of the lands their peoples have shared for over 10,000 years.
.The first, and every, year of my work will focus on building relationships with my neighbors to better understand how I can support their visions for the area, rather than producing for market.
It will be the first time in my life that my housing and food security won’t rely on the services and pleasures I can provide for others. It will be the first time that I have the autonomy to actually work in relationship with others as my purpose calls for, instead of obeying and compromising my integrity to survive.
I want to spend the Winter the way we are meant to. Healing, telling stories, preparing myself and the land for the Spring. I want to grow for seed, to build bonds with my new community, and to celebrate elders and youth on the property.
This takes time and space, and that is not something that is given readily to people like me.
So, I guess that is what I need -
I think it is what most of us need as BIPOC in this industry: Self-Determination.
Tangibly?
I need help paying for the downpayment (GoFundMe link in bio @darearowe) as well as equipment and infrastructure.
I need mentorship that won’t put me into debt. And I need to know that I’m not in this work alone.” #realfarmercare
**UPDATE: 12/08/20** WE GOT IT!!! I AM ON THE PROPERTY. Any remaining funds will go towards remaining closing and moving fees and preparing the land for winter.
***********
OCTOBER 2020:
I am currently in escrow on this property - I've paid the $5k title fees, am midway through the inspection process, have a signed contract, etc. This is not a theoretical use of funds, and anything you gift me, including your attention and signal boosting, will have a direct impact on my ability to acquire this home for real.
This is not a question of me not being able to qualify - it is simply about what sort of loans the property is eligible for. If I was able to pay cash [$330k], this wouldn’t be an issue, and if I could use a conventional loan, it would also be fine.
Any funds raised will be going first toward the remainder of the downpayment and closing costs, then toward moving fees, and finally toward preparing the land and its inhabitants for Winter.
Growing up, I've always looked ahead - I told myself things would get better, that I could push through and have a life that was more loving, more joyful, more just, and more giving.
I thought that when I was finally an "Adult" at 30 years old, I would have land to tend to and be tended by, a place to welcome others and foster our growth and stories. A place to gather and celebrate. To remember and heal. That community would be tangible, always within arms' reach, and ready to raise barns.
Guess what? I almost wasn’t wrong.
Despite a tumultuous few years of inter-continental relocations, apprenticeships, medical procedures (and associated crutches, wheelchairs, braces), and the passing of a beloved matriarch (all during a global pandemic, beneath the boot of of white supremacy, through the smoke of fire season), I am two weeks away from my 31st birthday and (I thought) two weeks away from closing on my first property.
I've got a pre-approval for a mortgage in hand, an offer accepted by the seller, a signed contract with the title company, and inspections underway. The chickens even come with the house. I knew that getting approved for a mortgage and finding the right property couldn't be the hardest part of buying a home, and boy howdy has it been a rollercoaster!
Despite the permanent foundation, my future homestead can't qualify for a conventional loan [I have now been through this with 3 conventional lenders, who otherwise would be more than happy to work with me]. It does, however, qualify for a portfolio loan - which comes with a higher fee and down payment.
I have spent the past few years building my credit point by point and paying off my debts, but my work has not been motivated by the accumulation of wealth. I've got 10% for the down payment, and if this was a conventional loan, we would be finishing up this process, already. Now I have a larger down payment, closing costs, plus moving fees and additional rent from a delayed closing.
But... I love this place - it's exactly what I've been looking for and at a scale that is entirely manageable, with room to expand and contract as necessary down the line. I've also already invested energy and money in the escrow process.
That's where y'all come in. This is not a polished fundraiser or kickstarter, it's not a sign up for the CSA, or an investment in any of the projects I'm really excited to get to work on and share with you next year. I’m just asking for support from my family, friends, and their broader communities. I'll borrow whatever I can't raise to make this happen, but every dollar y'all can contribute is one toward getting me on the farm.
With Gratitude,
Dare
TL;DR for the Homies:
This page is the result of a lot of wonderful people around me who have asked how they can contribute to my efforts. I know a lot of people need a lot of support right now, so, please only give if you're able. It will be okay.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share this with your network.
Contributions can also be made directly through venmo: @DareArowe, dark drop cash envelope, or zelle/transfer and will also go directly toward this fund.
This was very hard for me to write.
What care and support do I need?
I’ve been conditioned not to think of me. Rewarded, in fact, for not thinking of me. One day, I hope to have my needs and desires on the tip of my tongue, because I’ve been asked so many times that I know people want to hear the truth of my answer.
Thank you for asking.
I came into the food system via the culinary industry a decade ago. I wanted to nourish as many people as possible. Instead, I found an industry designed to exploit my mind, my body, and my heart for profit. It is such a corruption of the honor that comes with feeding others.
I come to this land less than a century after it was brutally stolen from the Xa-Ben-Na-Po Band of the Pomo, whose descendants, the Big Valley Band, continue their work toward the rematriation of the lands their peoples have shared for over 10,000 years.
.The first, and every, year of my work will focus on building relationships with my neighbors to better understand how I can support their visions for the area, rather than producing for market.
It will be the first time in my life that my housing and food security won’t rely on the services and pleasures I can provide for others. It will be the first time that I have the autonomy to actually work in relationship with others as my purpose calls for, instead of obeying and compromising my integrity to survive.
I want to spend the Winter the way we are meant to. Healing, telling stories, preparing myself and the land for the Spring. I want to grow for seed, to build bonds with my new community, and to celebrate elders and youth on the property.
This takes time and space, and that is not something that is given readily to people like me.
So, I guess that is what I need -
I think it is what most of us need as BIPOC in this industry: Self-Determination.
Tangibly?
I need help paying for the downpayment (GoFundMe link in bio @darearowe) as well as equipment and infrastructure.
I need mentorship that won’t put me into debt. And I need to know that I’m not in this work alone.” #realfarmercare
**UPDATE: 12/08/20** WE GOT IT!!! I AM ON THE PROPERTY. Any remaining funds will go towards remaining closing and moving fees and preparing the land for winter.
***********
OCTOBER 2020:
I am currently in escrow on this property - I've paid the $5k title fees, am midway through the inspection process, have a signed contract, etc. This is not a theoretical use of funds, and anything you gift me, including your attention and signal boosting, will have a direct impact on my ability to acquire this home for real.
This is not a question of me not being able to qualify - it is simply about what sort of loans the property is eligible for. If I was able to pay cash [$330k], this wouldn’t be an issue, and if I could use a conventional loan, it would also be fine.
Any funds raised will be going first toward the remainder of the downpayment and closing costs, then toward moving fees, and finally toward preparing the land and its inhabitants for Winter.
Growing up, I've always looked ahead - I told myself things would get better, that I could push through and have a life that was more loving, more joyful, more just, and more giving.
I thought that when I was finally an "Adult" at 30 years old, I would have land to tend to and be tended by, a place to welcome others and foster our growth and stories. A place to gather and celebrate. To remember and heal. That community would be tangible, always within arms' reach, and ready to raise barns.
Guess what? I almost wasn’t wrong.
Despite a tumultuous few years of inter-continental relocations, apprenticeships, medical procedures (and associated crutches, wheelchairs, braces), and the passing of a beloved matriarch (all during a global pandemic, beneath the boot of of white supremacy, through the smoke of fire season), I am two weeks away from my 31st birthday and (I thought) two weeks away from closing on my first property.
I've got a pre-approval for a mortgage in hand, an offer accepted by the seller, a signed contract with the title company, and inspections underway. The chickens even come with the house. I knew that getting approved for a mortgage and finding the right property couldn't be the hardest part of buying a home, and boy howdy has it been a rollercoaster!
Despite the permanent foundation, my future homestead can't qualify for a conventional loan [I have now been through this with 3 conventional lenders, who otherwise would be more than happy to work with me]. It does, however, qualify for a portfolio loan - which comes with a higher fee and down payment.
I have spent the past few years building my credit point by point and paying off my debts, but my work has not been motivated by the accumulation of wealth. I've got 10% for the down payment, and if this was a conventional loan, we would be finishing up this process, already. Now I have a larger down payment, closing costs, plus moving fees and additional rent from a delayed closing.
But... I love this place - it's exactly what I've been looking for and at a scale that is entirely manageable, with room to expand and contract as necessary down the line. I've also already invested energy and money in the escrow process.
That's where y'all come in. This is not a polished fundraiser or kickstarter, it's not a sign up for the CSA, or an investment in any of the projects I'm really excited to get to work on and share with you next year. I’m just asking for support from my family, friends, and their broader communities. I'll borrow whatever I can't raise to make this happen, but every dollar y'all can contribute is one toward getting me on the farm.
With Gratitude,
Dare