We're fundraising to get Birthworkers of Color Collective a physical community space in Long Beach, CA! 

For the past 5 years, we have been organizing online and renting spaces to support our trainings and in-person gatherings. Training materials are currently stored at people's houses. Having our own in-person location would eliminate many of our administrative and logistical issues and provide a reliable community-centered space.

Because of all this, we are looking for a local space that reflects our roots in Long Beach and can fit 20-30 people with storage capabilities. Our most ambitious goals include room to host 50 people for trainings, a kid-friendly space for littles, a kitchenette and other amenities for the comfort of anyone using the meeting space, and a retail/storefront set-up to build community engagement through political education, mutual aid initiatives, and more. We think $100k is a good estimate for leasing costs.

We are hoping to hit our fundraising goal by the end of the year, but will keep going until March 2023. This is a gauge for community interest. If the full $100k is not funded, all donations will be used to provide scholarships for our birthworker trainings.

Why is a Birthworkers of Color Collective brick and mortar important?
-Long Beach is a large city, with incredibly diverse and distinct communities. Our communities deserves to have their own dedicated space for birthwork that represents and uplifts who they are and where they come from.
-This will be a dedicated space for pregnant people and their families to gather, learn and be in community.
-This will be a dedicated space in for birthworkers of Color to learn, support their clients, and grow their businesses and financial sustainability.
-This brick & mortar will function as a space to share knowledge, promote advocacy, build resources and expand the number of culturally relevant doulas of Color.
-This brick & mortar will help to host our doula of Color trainings, our advanced doula of Color training, and our abortion doula trainings.
-This brick & mortar will be a community space to host events, workshops and community gatherings
-This brick & mortar will be a space for community-wide healing and health markets
-This brick & mortar will represent the growth and expansion that Birthworkers of Color Collective has had over the years and is a natural next (big) step for us. 
-Collective members can use the community space instead of their address when providing services, which is especially helpful for our small business owners who may want to keep their home addresses private. Especially important in an age where healthcare providers are being prosecuted and threatened for providing abortion services.
-Many organizations need to register a physical location in order to receive support services or be included in a registry.

The Birthworkers of Color Collective was born from the lack of diversity, visibility, and representation of doulas and perinatal care providers in Los Angeles County. We began as a doula training that was for People of Color to train in a safe space that was culturally relevant and representative. Our intention was not only in increasing representation but in advocacy. Today, our purpose has expanded, as has our base. We have trained and are made up of collective members from across the country, and internationally, and are continuing to grow our numbers and expand our reach.

This is the first of many brick & mortars that we will open with the investment and support of our community. Throughout our existence we have been firm believers in community investment and responsibility to each other and this work. Our community time and time again has supported our work and poured into us and we are so grateful to you all. We once again hope the community will see this as a necessary investment. Our continued growth, expansion and what we offer has and will look, feel, and sound like what our community puts in. Our collective has always been intentional about reflecting the diversity of the BIPOC umbrella in our membership, offerings, trainings, events, and in our work AND we remain steadfast in that mission and vision.

What do we do?
Birthworkers of Color Collective supports marginalized communities by providing full spectrum doula services that are accessible and inclusive. We connect pregnant, birthing, & postpartum individuals, their families, and larger communities with educational, emotional, and physical support through all pregnancy & postpartum outcomes. We conduct workshops and trainings to share knowledge, promote advocacy, build resources & expand the number of trained/competent/& culturally relevant doulas. As a collective we strive to bring our diverse skills, ancestral practices, and unique experiences to the people and communities that we support. You can find out more about us on our instagram: @birthworkersofcolor and our website birthworkersofcolor.com