 Dear John, My name is Ella, and I organize with the New Orleans hub. I’ve seen firsthand how leaders in our own Sunrise community are struggling during this crisis, so I helped start a Movement to Movement Mutual Aid Fund to try easing that burden. Can you help? At the end of March, I tested positive for COVID-19. I was one of the lucky ones -- I didn’t have trouble breathing or have to be hospitalized. After a few weeks, I felt better and was able to start working from home again. But the same day I was set to restart work, I received a phone call to explain that I would be furloughed. I was not allowed to continue working and I would no longer be paid. I wasn’t alone. Many of my fellow hub members and leaders had also lost their jobs. While many of us (including myself) applied for unemployment, the financial support varied and, for some, took weeks to kick in. Some aren’t even eligible for unemployment and have been forced to figure out how to manage on their own. Sunrise hubs have raised over $75,000 for folks in communities impacted by COVID, trying our best to pick up the slack for the government’s failure to prioritize people over corporations. But we have working class, poor, and undocumented leaders in our own Sunrise community who are in crisis too, so we’re reaching out for help. Can you contribute to our Movement to Movement Mutual Aid Fund to help give some short-term relief to hub leaders who are struggling right now? Help us raise $10,000 by next Friday, June 5th. Sunrise has provided meaning and community for so many of us, even as we suffer under the economic insecurity amplified by the COVID crisis. These hub leaders have dedicated so much of their time fighting for the change we deserve--even more now that they’ve lost their jobs. We know that the impacts this crisis will have on our society and our movement will be lasting. Mutual aid is not simply a stop-gap for the failings of unemployment systems or other state systems -- it is part of being in community, a mode of building solidarity and not charity, and a means of achieving liberation. This week, I was able to start work again. I’ll be using this opportunity to donate and support our Sunrise community leaders. If you are in a position to help, I hope you’ll do the same. If you’re one of the hub leaders in need of additional funds right now, you can request support here. We trust that those asking for help know their needs best. Thank you, and stay safe out there, Ella, Sunrise New Orleans P.S. - If you’re interested in helping with the process of fund distribution, join the Volunteer Fund Distribution Team by filling out this form. |