2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund
Donation protected
The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund is an emerging initiative based in Kjipuktuk/ Halifax that seeks to provide members of our 2SQTBIPOC Community with discretionary funding for therapy and other mental health focused resources.
While we as a collective acknowledge that late capitalism and white supremacy are powerful and oppressive forces that harm us all at different levels, it is undeniable that members of these specific communitites are subject to obscene and disproportionate levels of systemic violence, particularly when living at the intersections of other marginal identities (ie those who are: trans feminine, on the trans spectrum, LGBTQQIA+, (dis)abled, femmes, women, low-income). 2SQTBIPOC people today experience racism in their daily lives through everything from racial profiling and micro aggressions to police brutality and murders that our government and police force allows. On top of holding generational trauma, members of the 2SQTBIPOC people are expected to navigate a system that directly harms them without accessible resources that contribute to their mental wellbeing. While anti-black racism is nothing new, and discrimination based off of race, orientation, and the two combined, this is an acutely traumatizing moment for members of thse communitites. Watching your own humanity be debated and our basic safety being disregarded in real time. The global social uprising Of the BLM movement in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic has forced white and non-Black people of colour to actively check into these issues, but it also means that 2SQTBIPOC folks are being re-traumatized daily; witnessing death and our communities being brutalized, and bearing witness to dehumanizing conversations in the news, online and in our social circles. Given our current political climate where low-income 2SQTBIPOC remain extremely marginalized and subject to new and growing forms of reactionary conservatism and white supremacy, the need for resources and initiatives that contribute to the mental well-being of Black communities is urgent.
The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund believes that the cost associated with seeking mental health and wellness should not further burden those who need access; that therapy and other forms of healing should be free for members of these communities. We also believe that the limited amount of 2SQTBIPOC therapists and healers (another symptom of white supremacy) should not be asked to perform free labour. 2SQTBIPOCHF holds both of these values at heart through providing low-income 2SQTBIPOC with financial means to access mental health services led by community members of their choosing. A necessary component to the destruction of white supremacy is to offset the devastating effects of our abhorrent colonial histories; this includes re-distributing funds from non-Black and non-Indigenous people into Black and Indigenous communities. This is not a charity, but rather a small step towards the dismantling of our violent systems together.
The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund is in its early stages, and with the help of this GoFundMe campaign we will be able to start distributing funds to those community members who are seeking services that contribute to their mental health within the next few months.
We also hope to; Pay a stipend to the QTBIPOC community members who are behind the development of this project and working on the tasks mentioned above. 2SQTBIPOCHF is currently a small team of individuals who have significant experience working in DIY collectives and non-profit organizations that engage in anti-racist work as well as trauma informed Sex Education As a long term goal and with the receiving of funding, The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund will be able to pay a small team of employees. For now, the project is volunteer-based, however the 2SQTBIPOC offering their time will receive an honorarium.
- We Currently have a google form for those seeking these supports to apply
Thank you
While we as a collective acknowledge that late capitalism and white supremacy are powerful and oppressive forces that harm us all at different levels, it is undeniable that members of these specific communitites are subject to obscene and disproportionate levels of systemic violence, particularly when living at the intersections of other marginal identities (ie those who are: trans feminine, on the trans spectrum, LGBTQQIA+, (dis)abled, femmes, women, low-income). 2SQTBIPOC people today experience racism in their daily lives through everything from racial profiling and micro aggressions to police brutality and murders that our government and police force allows. On top of holding generational trauma, members of the 2SQTBIPOC people are expected to navigate a system that directly harms them without accessible resources that contribute to their mental wellbeing. While anti-black racism is nothing new, and discrimination based off of race, orientation, and the two combined, this is an acutely traumatizing moment for members of thse communitites. Watching your own humanity be debated and our basic safety being disregarded in real time. The global social uprising Of the BLM movement in tandem with the COVID-19 pandemic has forced white and non-Black people of colour to actively check into these issues, but it also means that 2SQTBIPOC folks are being re-traumatized daily; witnessing death and our communities being brutalized, and bearing witness to dehumanizing conversations in the news, online and in our social circles. Given our current political climate where low-income 2SQTBIPOC remain extremely marginalized and subject to new and growing forms of reactionary conservatism and white supremacy, the need for resources and initiatives that contribute to the mental well-being of Black communities is urgent.
The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund believes that the cost associated with seeking mental health and wellness should not further burden those who need access; that therapy and other forms of healing should be free for members of these communities. We also believe that the limited amount of 2SQTBIPOC therapists and healers (another symptom of white supremacy) should not be asked to perform free labour. 2SQTBIPOCHF holds both of these values at heart through providing low-income 2SQTBIPOC with financial means to access mental health services led by community members of their choosing. A necessary component to the destruction of white supremacy is to offset the devastating effects of our abhorrent colonial histories; this includes re-distributing funds from non-Black and non-Indigenous people into Black and Indigenous communities. This is not a charity, but rather a small step towards the dismantling of our violent systems together.
The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund is in its early stages, and with the help of this GoFundMe campaign we will be able to start distributing funds to those community members who are seeking services that contribute to their mental health within the next few months.
We also hope to; Pay a stipend to the QTBIPOC community members who are behind the development of this project and working on the tasks mentioned above. 2SQTBIPOCHF is currently a small team of individuals who have significant experience working in DIY collectives and non-profit organizations that engage in anti-racist work as well as trauma informed Sex Education As a long term goal and with the receiving of funding, The 2SQTBIPOC Healing Fund will be able to pay a small team of employees. For now, the project is volunteer-based, however the 2SQTBIPOC offering their time will receive an honorarium.
- We Currently have a google form for those seeking these supports to apply
Thank you
Organizer
Aaliyah Paris
Organizer
Halifax, NS