The new stimulus bill has now been passed and some people will soon be getting a second stimulus check. You may be one of them!
This time last year, this community got together and together pledged to redistribute $120,000 from our stimulus checks. After the uprisings this summer and the pandemic that laid bare the depth of racism and injustice in this country, SURJ NYC membership swelled tenfold. So: we are aiming to double the amount we are pledging to redistribute to $200K by Mothers Day.
Throughout a year of pandemic, white workers have been disproportionately likely to have jobs that let us work from home, so many of us were able to stay employed. We’ve seen that many of us can exist just fine on furlough pay, savings, or with help from family to weather job losses; nationally, the median wealth of white families is 10 times that of Black families. But for too many New Yorkers, this check won’t go nearly far enough towards meeting basic needs—or even be received at all.
That is why we are asking you to join us and thousands of other people across the country in pledging to redistribute your stimulus check!
At SURJ, one of the key values guiding our organizing is “enough for all.” There are enough resources in the world for everyone’s basic needs to be met. The problem is that they’re distributed unfairly. Our society, with its culture of white supremacy and racial capitalism, teaches us to believe there’s a shortage of resources, so we need to hoard, avoid sharing, and compete with others. But living in a world with greater wealth equality and more mutual support is good for all of us
If your basic needs are met, join us in passing along all or part of your stimulus check to Black and POC-led grassroots organizations, groups, and relief funds that work directly with people most affected by this pandemic. If you can, we urge you to give more than what you receive from the government. And if your income is high enough that you won’t be getting a check, we encourage you to give at least $1400 from your own resources.
Together, we’re going to move $200K by Mother’s Day - because there is still #EnoughForAll.
We’ve made a list of groups and funds below, but we encourage you to direct this money wherever you want.
RAPP: Release Aging People in Prison Campaign
QDEP: Covid-19 Emergency Fund for LGBTQIA+ Immigrants
Manna-hatta Fund: Supports the American Indian Community House, serving the health, social service, and cultural needs of Native Americans residing in New York City
CAAAV: Works to build grassroots community power across diverse poor and working class Asian immigrant and refugee communities in New York City
Parents Supporting Parents: Harlem Laptop Initiative for Students
Justice for All Coalition: Covid-19 Fund; (JFAC) works to support and organize public housing residents living in Western Queens
Housing Fund for Lady O and King F: Direct support to neighbors in Brooklyn
Brooklyn Movement Center: a Black-led, membership-based organization of primarily low-to-moderate income Central Brooklyn residents
Justice Committee: a grassroots organization dedicated to building a movement against police violence and systemic racism in New York City
Parole Prep Project: Covid-19 Mutual Aid Campaign
G.L.I.T.S: Gays and Lesbians Living In a Transgender Society
Picture the Homeless: a grassroots organization, founded and led by homeless people, organizing for social justice on issues like housing, police violence, and the shelter-industrial complex
Join us AND THE #SHAREMYCHECK MOVEMENT by filling out this form:
If the form is not working, access it directly here.