<div>Help Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights continue our grassroots efforts by donating. As our roots grow and get stronger, funds are needed to support our organizing. We are completely grassroots, and any little bit helps. 

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Support Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights

<div><strong>Friends of Spider-Man everywhere: your generosity is astounding!</strong> We are profoundly grateful to every single person who has chipped in to support our Minneapolis superhero, from the Twin Cities and all around the world. <strong>As we bring this fundraiser to a close, we want to offer an update for all of you.</strong>
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<li><strong>WHO WE ARE:</strong> As the press has already figured out, “your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” is none other than the valiant <strong>William Nicholas Love</strong>. His fiancée <strong>Keyssy Figueroa</strong> is the beneficiary of this fundraiser <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-minnesota-spiderman-recover" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">and another</a>. <strong>Ash Chudgar</strong> (that’s me) is just a guy from Minneapolis who was inspired by Spider-Man’s actions and wanted to support him.
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<li><strong>NEED IS MET!</strong> Keyssy and I started our fundraisers with very modest goals. But as people donated more and more, GoFundMe raised the funding goal automatically. As of today, we’ve disabled that feature. <strong>We ask for no further donations.</strong>
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<li><strong>THE RISKS HE TOOK.</strong> Our Spider-Man took real risks to combat hate in Minnesota, with his family’s full support. Sadly, the sudden spotlight has made him and his family <strong>a target of racists everywhere</strong>. Your prayers for their safety are welcome.
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<li><strong>NO LEGAL FEES.</strong> Wonderfully, <strong>Spider-Man is being represented on a pro bono basis</strong>. No funds will go toward legal fees related to Spider-Man’s actions on August 22. The police charged Spider-Man with assault, and GoFundMe’s terms specify that “funds raised on the platform cannot be used to cover legal fees for an individual who has been charged with a violent crime.”
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<li><strong>WHERE YOUR MONEY WILL GO.</strong> Instead of paying for legal fees, your gifts will help Spider-Man pay for other needs such as <strong>medical treatment</strong>, helping <strong>secure his and his family’s safety</strong>, and funding his ongoing work to <strong>entertain, inspire, and organize</strong> local community efforts to combat hatred in all its forms.
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<li><strong>REFUNDS AVAILABLE.</strong> If you’d like to request a full refund in light of this update, <strong>just <a href="https://support.gofundme.com/hc/en-us/articles/204150420-Request-a-refund" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">contact GoFundMe support directly</a> by September 10</strong>. After that, your gifts will be released to Spider-Man.
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<div><strong>Thank you again for your solidarity, your generosity, and most of all for your joy!</strong> We in Minneapolis are are deeply grateful that you and thousands of others around the world chipped in to support “our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”
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Support Minneapolis Spider-Man

<div>Margie's Hope opened a nonprofit Trans-affirming clothing store in 2021, at 1384 W 117th Street, in Lakewood, Ohio, where the community may shop in peace and safety. It made such a community impact that it was voted as one of the best of Cleveland 2021. In subsequent years, the space has grown to become not only a place to shop but a designated space to rally around the Transgender, Non-Binary, and gender-expansive community in ways of support. From resources of peer-to-peer support groups, or just a place for the community to escape the harsh realities of targeted trans attacks, both legislatively, as well as socially. <strong>Margie's Closet has become a safe haven for the Trans community in Northeast Ohio.</strong> It's the only physical space owned and operated by Transgender leadership in the area.

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<div>In recent years, most marginalized groups have come under hardships due to political executive orders, forcing most foundations who aid in much-needed funding and relief to re-address how they support local LGBTQIA+ organizations, if at all, and Margie's Closet/Hope has become just one of the many who has suffered the weight.

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<div>Once heavily supported by our local NBA team amongst other institutions, we now struggle to keep the lights on and the doors open in a Safe Space that took years to cultivate and the trans community can depend on.

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<div>We understand that funding towards Trans issues may be limited, but preserving physical spaces where the Transgender Community can seek refuge in Ohio cannot afford to disappear.

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<div><strong>"We are not ready to throw in the towel just yet. We have so many ideas to provide a space that is long overdue in Ohio, from creating employment opportunities for the Transgender community to building Ohio's first Transgender community center full of one-stop-shop resources for all under the trans banner to take advantage of. All flourishing ideas that can only be beneficial to the Trans community, as well as the state of Ohio, but in order to do this, we are desperately relying on community support, grant funding when applicable and available, as well as our allies to tune in and turn up." -<em>Monika Veliz, President of Margie's Hope.</em></strong>

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<div>To learn more about Margie's Hope/Margie's Closet and the work we have committed to, please visit us at:

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<div><a href="https://www.margieshope.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">WWW.MargiesHope.org</a>

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Keep Margie's Closet Open for Trans Support and Safety

Jessica Cahoon

<div><strong>Ratner Montessori wasn’t just a school — it was a community built by extraordinary teachers and staff </strong>who poured their hearts into our children year after year. They helped shape who our kids are. They created a place where families felt safe, supported, and connected. They built a world that we all benefitted from and loved.

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<div>And then, in late July, with no time to prepare, the news came: Ratner is closing. <strong>A community that took over six decades to build was uprooted overnight.</strong>

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<div>The faculty and staff who dedicated their lives to our children are now facing the shock, uncertainty, and emotional devastation of an abrupt layoff. They didn’t choose this. They didn’t cause this. They were blindsided by this news. No one who dedicates their life to educating children expects to lose their school in late July — this is when classrooms are planned, lessons are prepared, and the year is already imagined. As a proud and grateful alumni parent, I feel a duty to now give back to them. <strong>They need us now.</strong>

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<div><strong>The powers that be may have taken away our building — but they cannot take away our community.</strong>

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<div>These educators and staff gave us everything: stability, love, guidance, patience, creativity, and a safe and loving home for our children. While we can never fully repay what they’ve given us, we can and will show up for them now, the way they've alway shown up for us.

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<div><strong>This fundraiser will go directly into the hands of Ratner teacher and staff members suddenly left without a school</strong>. Each member of the faculty and staff will receive an equal share of the money raised. It will be via checks or cash depending on what Nadia and the rest of the staff feels is best. They can use the fund to help cover any unexpected financial gaps they’re facing. Whether you were a part of Ratner or simply believe in supporting educators who have been nothing but incredible, giving everything they have to children, your contribution matters. Every donation is a message that this community stands strong, and that these incredible people are absolutely not facing this alone.

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<div>They made Ratner what it was.

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<div>They guided and cared for our children.

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<div>They built our community.

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<div><strong>It’s our turn now to return the favor.</strong>

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<div>We stand with them.

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Jessica Cahoon

Jessica Cahoon

What they care about

Featured causes

Urgent Community Support Needed for Ratner Teachers & Staff

Support Cleveland Heights for Immigrant Rights

Support Minneapolis Spider-Man

Keep Margie's Closet Open for Trans Support and Safety

About me