Dear loving community💌

I'm writing because my friend Rae has offered so much to our community and I've identified a way we can give back that I believe will make a huge difference not only for Rae and Rae's 9-year-old kid, but will also have reverberating positive impacts on our larger community. With Rae's permission, I'm sharing a bit about their situation and my ask for support.

Who are Rae & S?

Rae is a trans, disabled, widowed domestic violence survivor who also survived 2+ years of homelessness before finding peace and solace in Vermont. Rae is a single dad living in South Burlington who is now homeschooling 9yo S, "who has become a strong and fiercely independent individual whose future is so bright it's blinding."🔥 (Rae's beautiful words!)

How does Rae show up in community?

🥕I first met Rae 4 years ago through Food Not Cops mutual aid. It became instantly obvious that Rae is a generous, resourceful, and community-minded person. During covid lockdown, even while struggling with food security, Rae helped multiple neighbors/families in their building access food deliveries via FNC. I soon learned that this is just how Rae operates day-to-day: locating/collecting resources and redistributing them to those in need. Rae does this year-round via gardening, foraging, dumpstering, and cooking food - for unhoused folks and anyone else who appreciates some yummy nourishment!

🌈Rae is also a powerful force for queer & trans liberation, having organized multiple related events locally. In 2023 I was so excited that Rae stepped up as a main organizer of People's Pride, and truthfully Pride may not have even happened that year without Rae's labor and enthusiasm.

I could go on and on about Rae's various other contributions that makes this world a better place to live - medicine-making, grant writing, ecological knowledge sharing, harm reduction, parenting, tie dying, the list goes on - but I will stop here😉

(I also don't want to insinuate that anyone needs to be an absolute rock star like Rae to deserve community support and getting their basic needs met! But still, what goes around should ideally come around and all that...)

What's Rae & S's current situation & how can we help?

🛝It recently became clear that public school was not a liberatory place for S to be and at times it even felt unsafe. Although Rae had put in a great deal of effort advocating on behalf of S and other vulnerable students in the school district, eventually Rae made the difficult decision to pull S out of school and homeschool. Recently Rae has connected with like-minded families and trusted adults who believe in youth autonomy, liberation, and student-directed education. Integrating into this community will give S the opportunity to socialize, learn, and thrive in a non-institutional/oppressive environment

However! Rae & S live in South Burlington and don't have a car, while most of their community supports are in Burlington. Riding their "shitty ragged squeaky way too small" bike on busy roads attracts concerned look and is not sustainable😬 Coordinating rides from others and relying on the bus leads to a lot of hassle, unreliability, and isolation.

🚙First and foremost, having a car would make it much easier for Rae & S to access community on a day-to-day basis. Bonuses of having a car would include the ability for the family to travel, go on camping trips, and offer rides to play dates & field trips for other kids (homeschooled and otherwise.) It would also free up some time/energy of trusted adults in the community who want to support Rae's family; we can channel our capacity more towards childcare & educational/enrichment activities rather than shuttling S around. A car will also give Rae even more ability to do what Rae does best: redistribute resources amongst our community🦝 Not that this will be the explicit purpose of the car, but considering how much of this Rae's already motivated to do just by bike, I have a feeling this will amplify their superpower🦸‍♂️

If we're able to raise enough funds to buy a car, Rae is able to pay for the ongoing expenses of gas, insurance, and maintenance. The more money we raise, the more reliable a car we can get! (If anyone has leads on a car for sale for good value, please do be in touch!)

Thank you so much for reading this far and considering💗 No donation is too big or too small:) Please also consider sharing this with your networks~ We will post updates for all donors in the coming weeks and Rae & S would love to craft/tie-dye gifts for a few larger donors🪅

Let's get Rae & S some wheels!

By BTV Copwatch

Let's get Rae & S some wheels!

Support a rad community organizer / single dad & child access transport

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