My Grandmother's Hands Fundraising Ask

We are excited to announce that we have launched our 5th annual My Grandmother’s Hands offerings.  Amanda’s Summer offering for white folks starts June 5th on Wednesday evenings.  Hazel is offering a white folks group this Sept and Shanda’s Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) group begins in Sept too.  Abbi is currently working with a local organization.  

We want to keep offering these groups and have them stay accessible.  We are starting a fundraising campaign to support our dedicated and experienced organizers and facilitators (Amanda, Hazel, Shanda and Abbi).  

We know that all bodies are impacted by white body supremacy and racism, though these impacts are different and disproportionate depending on positionality. 

To end racism, we know that making space for our BIPOC community to heal and grow together through unpacking the layers of impact is necessary. 

To end racism, we know that white folks will need to see how they too are impacted and invest in anti-racist efforts, and begin to grow anti-racist liberatory white culture. 

We see how racism still exists and moves in our Vermont community and know that unless we are actively being anti-ractist that harm is likely to perpetuate.  The flood last July and the issues around race that came up in the volunteer hubs also highlighted the education and growth still collectively needed in Montpelier.  

We want our Vermont community to be safe for black and brown bodies who live and visit here.  Many best practices on creating trauma informed spaces and the research on the neurobiology of change, point to the importance of including the somatic lived experience, as well as working collectively. 

As somatic practitioners who are a part of the Montpelier community, we are uniquely positioned to support our collective embodied anti-racism education.   

Can you lead the way in supporting this work to continue and be accessible to our community?  

We need your help to adequately pay our facilitators if we want to continue to make this work accessible to our community.  We are currently looking for $3000 to $4000 annually to supplement the participant’s sliding scale fee for 3-4 annual groups. 

​The participants in the white folks group are asked to contribute $150-550, with scholarships offered so no one is turned away.  The fee for the white folks group pays for the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) group’s facilitation, and the BIPOC participants are not asked to pay to participate in the group.  North Branch Nature Center donates their beautiful conference room for the BIPOC group as well.  

Would you consider a donation of $100, $250, $500, $1000, or $3000?  We are in the process of securing 501(3)c fiscal sponsorship, so if making your donation tax-deductible makes a difference, let us know and we will share the details to sponsor us this way.   Your sponsorship support will be thanked on our website, in a newsletter and on an Instagram/Facebook post. 

You can donate here***.  Or send us a check*** made out to The Everything Space, c/o Abbi Jaffe, 1 Bingham Street, Montpelier VT 05602.  *** Please make a note that your donation is for My Grandmother’s Hands.

Thank you for your consideration.  We are grateful to be in community with you.  

Warmly,
Abbi Jaffe, Amanda Franz, Shanda Williams and Hazel Turrone

The Everything Space
15 State Street, #303
Montpelier, VT 05602

Many of the groups end with a potluck where folks bring a food item their ancestors (if known) would have appreciated eating.

Pictured above is a potluck one group shared.  

​The stories about the foods and the ancestors they were connected to were as nourishing as the food.