You can skip all of the blah blah blah below and just take a look at the wonderful #Map4Youth 2019 grantees here. We had over 90 applications and they were all terrific. Congratulations to the 14 projects selected for grants! You can also read the stuff below if you want some context and information for how we got to selecting these wonderful projects.

#Map4Youth or the Mutual Aid Project for Youth is a temporary grassroots initiative launched by me @prisonculture. As stated on the Big Door Brigade website: “Mutual aid projects are a form of political participation in which people take responsibility for caring for one another and changing political conditions, not just through symbolic acts or putting pressure on their representatives in government, but by actually building new social relations that are more survivable.” Read more about mutual aid here.

More than ever, it’s important that we work together to create the world we want to live in. There are many ways to do this, mutual aid is a critical one. This summer I and other donors invited U.S. based young people ages 12 to 29 to apply for a one-time grant to execute a summer mutual aid project of their choice. This project offers a different type of political engagement: it’s a politics focused on supporting people in our communities and is not mainly about voting. There are many ways to do politics in the world.

The idea and process were simple. 

1. Applications were made available on May 24. Applicants were asked to complete the application by May 31 (midnight ET).
2. A small group of volunteers read applications and decided who should receive a grant. We alerted selected grantees on June 14th that they received a grant and asked them to get back to us by June 17 if they were still planning their project and accepted the grant.
3. Funds will be disbursed by June 21st via check or electronic transfer.
4. Applicants could ask for up to $2500 for their mutual aid project. We funded everyone at the level they requested.

Other relevant information:

We received over 90 applications. We awarded 14 grants (up to $2500 each). Thanks to generous support from donors who contributed to a crowd fund and also donated directly we raised $34,440 (after all of the fees). We awarded $33,680. The remaining $760 will be donated. You can see all of the wonderful grantees here!

The selection committee included:

Adrienne (@adrienne_cw) who is a new elementary school teacher in New York City.

Susana (@chipoblana) who is a volunteer with the Chicago Community Bond Fund.

Adelaide Matthew (@MatthewDicken92, she/they) who is a white non-binary transwoman organizing in solidarity with abolitionist movements moving resources to criminalized survivors & QTPOC. 

Eesha (@eramanujam) who works at Color Of Change as a campaign researcher focusing on media, culture, and economic justice.

Mariame (@prisonculture, she/her) who is an organizer and educator who directs @projectnia.

Juli (@julimsw_juli) who is an organizer with Survived and Punished NY.

We wish that we could have funded every single project. They were all so terrific. There were seven (7) other projects among the finalists. We were unable to support them. The total amount needed to fully fund them is $16,700. 6 of the projects asked for $2500 and one asked for $1700. If anyone is interested in sponsoring one or more of these projects, please reach out to @prisonculture at [email protected].

“Liberation is the knowledge that we are not alone. It is mutual support, encouragement, and trust that others will be there if we fall, and that we need to be there for others.” – Bobbie Harro