Dear Friends,
It’s June. This is when Art-Reach normally fills your inbox with newsletters asking you to donate before the end of our fiscal year. We bombard social media with the same request. We look at the time before June 30th as the last shot we have to fill our budget gap.
This year we’re not going to fill it. So instead of asking you to send support to an unfillable hole, we’re asking you to support organizations that are trying to save Black lives. We want you to donate to organizations that support Philadelphia’s Black community and organizations serving disability communities of color. We’ve got a few suggestions below.
I promise you that Art-Reach will be here in July. Nobody can make the same promise about every Black life. We’ll catch up on your Art-Reach support in September.
Sincerely,
John Orr
Executive Director
Disability Organizations:
- The Color of Autism Foundation a Non-Profit (501 c3) organization committed to educating and assisting African American families with Autistic children. Click here to donate to The Color of Autism Foundation.
- HEARD Helping Educate to Advance the Rights of Deaf Communities (“HEARD”) is the only organization in the nation that supports deaf, hard of hearing, deafblind, deafdisabled, and disabled (“deaf/disabled”) people at every stage of the criminal legal system process, up to and including during and after incarceration. Link to HEARD donation page.
- The National Black Disability Coalition is a response to the need for Blacks with Disabilities in America to organize around issues of mutual concern and use our collective strength to address disability issues with an emphasis on people who live in poverty. Link to the National Black Disability Coalition.
- The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. **Specifically their Criminal Justice Fund: Click here to make a donation to The Arc.
Philadelphia Organizations:
- The Youth Art & Self-Empowerment Project YASP is building a youth-led movement to end the practice of trying and incarcerating young people as adults. Through its work in the Philadelphia jails, YASP provides space for incarcerated young people to express themselves creatively and to develop as leaders both within and beyond the prison walls. Click here to visit YASP website and be sure to follow them at @yasprojectphilly.
- Peoples Emergency Centers People’s Emergency Center (PEC) and Youth Service, Inc. (YSI), serve families and youth experiencing homelessness and communities of color who are disproportionately affected by poverty, health disparities, and other challenges which are often exacerbated by ineffective policies and systems which are meant to help them. Click here to visit Peoples Emergency Centers.
- Oshun Family Center: a Jenkintown-based nonprofit focused on providing therapy services to women, children and families from communities of color. They are raising money to provide free mental health resources for people of color. Click here to learn more about Oshun Family Center and here to donate.
If you are still interested in supporting Art-Reach so that we can continue to lift up our community and make the arts accessible to everyone, click the blue button below.
