Bay Area Freedom Collective Reentry House
Donation protected
Dear Community,
Greetings from the Bay Area Freedom Collective! Though it has been a tough season for all of us, we are really excited to share some good news and exciting opportunities for our community. If you are not yet part of the BAFC community, feel free to learn more about our mission and values HERE, and visit us on FACEBOOK and Patreon .
BAFC is a grassroots reentry support community and mutual aid network organized by and for formerly incarcerated people and community members from all walks of life. Our mission is to ensure that community members returning from prison are connected to the resources and support they need to be safe, healthy, and empowered to rebuild their lives. In the past several months, we have done multiple gate pick-ups, trained community members in reentry support, hosted several community-building events, assisted many individuals in obtaining official identification, celebrated 100% employment among our formerly incarcerated community members, and organized direct-support teams for recently released individuals.
And now for our biggest piece of news: we bought a house! Thanks to the dedication of many of our community members, the beautiful house in the PICTURE became ours on October 26th, to be used as a community reentry house.
For many of us who have experienced incarceration, prison is a “big house.” In that big house we take care of each other when we get sick, share our pain when we are down, and defend each other when acts of violence, discrimination, and systemic oppression are forced on us.
We have a new vision for our reentry house. We want this house to be a place of freedom, diversity, and tolerance, where people can rebuild their lives after incarceration and find shelter from a judgmental world. Specifically, we want this house to be a safe place where 8 formerly incarcerated community members can live for up to a year, rent-free. We want to build a strong community within this house where residents will support each other. And we also want to build a strong community around this house that will support residents during a critical phase of their reentry, helping them find jobs, learn new skills, and gather the resources they need to move on and succeed.
Without a strong community of volunteers caring for this house and its residents, the house will only be an empty shell. We are reaching out to you, our community, to ask you to collaborate with us on this dream. There are a variety of ways for you to get involved.
We need donations to cover operating costs of $2500 per month for the next 12 months. This will cover utilities, property taxes and provide housing security for recently released community members. We are operating as an informal collective, and not as a non-profit or a government program, because we don't want to take funding from sources that will impose restrictive rules on our community and our formerly incarcerated members. We believe in coming together as a community of volunteers to cover these overhead costs collectively.
We also need furniture, appliances, and other things to make the house feel like home. So far, we have some beds and chairs, but we need more furniture for the bedrooms and common areas. We also need appliances, including a TV, refrigerator, and other kitchen supplies. Since the house will include an office, we need computers and other office supplies as well. If you or someone you know can donate these things, please let us know!
Finally, we need our wonderful community members to keep showing up and volunteering. Even if donating isn’t a possibility for you at this time, you can help us build a stronger collective by showing up and getting involved. We invite you to attend our meetings and events; share your ideas, your networks, and your skills; and pitch in your time and energy to support our formerly incarcerated community members in their reentry.
In gratitude and solidarity,
Bay Area Freedom Collective
Greetings from the Bay Area Freedom Collective! Though it has been a tough season for all of us, we are really excited to share some good news and exciting opportunities for our community. If you are not yet part of the BAFC community, feel free to learn more about our mission and values HERE, and visit us on FACEBOOK and Patreon .
BAFC is a grassroots reentry support community and mutual aid network organized by and for formerly incarcerated people and community members from all walks of life. Our mission is to ensure that community members returning from prison are connected to the resources and support they need to be safe, healthy, and empowered to rebuild their lives. In the past several months, we have done multiple gate pick-ups, trained community members in reentry support, hosted several community-building events, assisted many individuals in obtaining official identification, celebrated 100% employment among our formerly incarcerated community members, and organized direct-support teams for recently released individuals.
And now for our biggest piece of news: we bought a house! Thanks to the dedication of many of our community members, the beautiful house in the PICTURE became ours on October 26th, to be used as a community reentry house.
For many of us who have experienced incarceration, prison is a “big house.” In that big house we take care of each other when we get sick, share our pain when we are down, and defend each other when acts of violence, discrimination, and systemic oppression are forced on us.
We have a new vision for our reentry house. We want this house to be a place of freedom, diversity, and tolerance, where people can rebuild their lives after incarceration and find shelter from a judgmental world. Specifically, we want this house to be a safe place where 8 formerly incarcerated community members can live for up to a year, rent-free. We want to build a strong community within this house where residents will support each other. And we also want to build a strong community around this house that will support residents during a critical phase of their reentry, helping them find jobs, learn new skills, and gather the resources they need to move on and succeed.
Without a strong community of volunteers caring for this house and its residents, the house will only be an empty shell. We are reaching out to you, our community, to ask you to collaborate with us on this dream. There are a variety of ways for you to get involved.
We need donations to cover operating costs of $2500 per month for the next 12 months. This will cover utilities, property taxes and provide housing security for recently released community members. We are operating as an informal collective, and not as a non-profit or a government program, because we don't want to take funding from sources that will impose restrictive rules on our community and our formerly incarcerated members. We believe in coming together as a community of volunteers to cover these overhead costs collectively.
We also need furniture, appliances, and other things to make the house feel like home. So far, we have some beds and chairs, but we need more furniture for the bedrooms and common areas. We also need appliances, including a TV, refrigerator, and other kitchen supplies. Since the house will include an office, we need computers and other office supplies as well. If you or someone you know can donate these things, please let us know!
Finally, we need our wonderful community members to keep showing up and volunteering. Even if donating isn’t a possibility for you at this time, you can help us build a stronger collective by showing up and getting involved. We invite you to attend our meetings and events; share your ideas, your networks, and your skills; and pitch in your time and energy to support our formerly incarcerated community members in their reentry.
In gratitude and solidarity,
Bay Area Freedom Collective
Fundraising team (3)
Simon Liu
Organizer
Castro Valley, CA
Ruth Gerstle
Team member
Kelsey Sheppel
Team member
