<>/ExtGState<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 23 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 6 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S>> But she said she was proud of what she had accomplished at Brave Space Alliance, the first Black- and transgender-led LGBTQ center on the South Side. Almost a month ago, I was called to the apartment on the floor just below mine. Financial and Housing Stability Group BSAs Housing Insecurity Mutual Aid Groups builds on our successful Homelessness Prevention counseling to link participants with safe and stable housing. It was now a little after 3 p.m. at Ghazipur, and most of the pyres had been built. Brave Space Alliance | Black Led, Trans-Led, LGBTQ+ Center PayPal or Brave Space Alliance's Venmo. This program will work directly with trans people, and partner organizations, to fight back against the employment discrimination and systematic un/ underemployment that is widespread in our community. Brave Space Alliance | Chicago IL - Facebook As we spoke, construction workers used cement and red brick to quickly build human-size platforms just outside the crematorys walls. Due to the overwhelming success of our initial donation drive, Brave Space Alliance opened permanent supply rooms at our Hyde Park office in October, where members of the Black and Brown Trans community can come and pick up free beauty supplies. BSAs Employment Justice Program works to align trans people with jobs and opportunities in union/protected workplaces all over Chicago. Pushing brand recognition in multiple ways, including positively leveraging newly acquired BSA merchandise as fundraising efforts. We will also be launching a number of new programs and initiatives aimed at meeting the complex needs of our community, including a Housing Navigation Assistance Program and a Telehealth program. We tried to revive him using a portable oxygen cylinder he had at his bedside. Tushar Mehta, one of the governments lead lawyers, recently claimed that nobody in the country was left without oxygen. Yet crippling shortages, of oxygen and hospital beds, have resulted in many deaths including of a former ambassador who passed away in his car while waiting for care for hours outside a fancy private clinic. ]c\RbKSTQ _ ` 6 participants, (all numbers measured from a 6 month time frame). and access to care, must be central to our efforts. It was almost 5 in the evening now, and the parking lot looked like a small, congested village of low, pointy-roofed homes. A spokeswoman said Brave Space Alliance is financially solvent and that the amount misappropriated is in the six figures. This program will work directly with trans people, and partner organizations, to fight back against the employment discrimination and systematic un/underemployment that is widespread in our community. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our. The mission is to increase the representation of quality candidates of color. Brave Space Alliances former director of communications, Jae Rice, is serving as interim CEO. About 60% of those who sign up are members of the LGBTQ community. But the graphic images of mass cremations have cut through this wall of noise, misinformation and propaganda, capturing what epidemiologists call excess mortality in gruesome detail. Mourners and staff members of the Ghazipur crematory, in New Delhi, performing rituals in a parking area on Wednesday. Thank you so much for making food accessible to my partner and I, we appreciate the delivery because we dont have a car. Its hectic at times traveling via CTA to go to a grocery store, especially with this weather. There were 20 more at the back, Bikki said. (Other crematories, especially those with pyres powered by electricity or gas, burn corpses from morning to sundown.). We are working hard to make sure BSA survives and thrives.. Hundreds gathered to mourn Malary on Sunday evening at a vigil that began outside of Women & Children First bookstore in Andersonville, one of Chicagos historic LGBTQ+ neighborhoods. The philosophy of VAMP is that if we help our communities improve all parts of our lives, our health will improve as well. This fund was set up to support nonprofits + charities, which were selected by Pantheon staff + community members, in improving the lives + expanding the rights of those in the LGBTQIA+ community. Brave Space Alliance had $3.3 million in total revenue in 2021, according to the organizations annual report. Currently, very few LGBTQ+ social services or advocacy networks exist on the South and West Sides of Chicago. Them may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Thats power., Todays group was very responsive and inviting. stream And heres our email: letters@nytimes.com. Over 16 donation pods. Inside Hayley Williams Radically Queer Tennessee Hair Salon, A Trans Teen Is Debunking an Article That Attacked Their Gender Clinic. Brave Space Alliance | Bright Funds Them is the award-winning authority on what LGBTQ+ means today and tomorrow. Donate & Help Sustain Brave Space Alliance! Read our statement on the rebellion for Black Lives. 3. All rights reserved. There was an error processing your request. Get Updates and Stay Connected - Subscribe To Our Newsletter. Please continue to keep up the phenomenal work because it does not go unnoticed. are trans or gender-nonconforming. The ambulance arrived soon after. Chicago police have found the missing activists car, but Malary herself is still missing. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. LaSaia Wade, former Brave Space Alliance executive director, poses on May 27, 2021, at the alliance's Hyde Park offices and food pantry. Jenna is always a great facilitator. Wood is strictly rationed, so mourners began by fashioning what looked like a makeshift stretcher: First three short, heavy logs were laid on the ground parallel to one another; then longer, narrower planks were put on top, perpendicular to the logs. in union/protected workplaces all over Chicago. I am proud to join my fellow LGBTQ+ and allied legislators in partnering with the amazing advocates of Brave Space Alliance (BSA) to establish a dedicated fund to support funeral expenses for victims of the epidemic of murders of Trans women in Chicago. The Den has received 141 items in in-kind donations worth $3,466. They serve 100% Latinx households Grocery bags distributed: 6000 Furthermore, the few trans-specific resources in the city are located in majority-white neighborhoods on the North . In the written statement, Parker said the board is committed to keeping the Brave Space Alliance staff fully employed.. Low 41F. A special thanks to our over 1,000 volunteers! In 2018, BSA referred 300 people to Project VIDA for HIV testing, and 40 tested positive, a new infection rate of 13%. But Im proud of where I left the organization., Wade, 35, noted that she was in her late 20s when she founded Brave Space Alliance, and she said she could have learned to manage a little better.. The Evanston Fire Department recovered her body from the water and transported Malary to the Cook County medical examiners office. Volunteers also form donation pods, which are groups of community members who raise funds in order to purchase specific supplies needed and using the funds collected by the pod, and delivering those items to a previously coordinated location. The goal of each group is to provide continuous social support and educational resources to members while developing and implementing an initiative that addresses the groups chosen issue in their general focus area. She added that the organization grew rapidly. I wasnt sure before I guess. Chance of rain 70%. She chose compassion, and she chose time and time again to lift others up.. Ms. Parakh and her caretaker walked out, hailed down an auto-rickshaw and went home to the house she had once shared with her father. BSA has a robust history to creating initiatives that are informed by the communities in which the founders are a part of including: our mutual aid project that houses our HIV/AIDS Manifesting Prevention (VAMP) initiatives; support groups specifically created to meet the needs of transgender and non-binary community members; service provider navigation services; community organiziang; as well as our Crisis Food Pantry Network. Employment Justice Group BSAs Employment Justice Group works to align trans people with jobs and opportunities For Giving Tuesday, we are making it easy for employees to give directly to causes supported by Braze ERGs. Annual Report 2020 | Brave Space Alliance April 30, 2021. Once the body was placed on the stretcher, mourners arranged sticks upright around it in a sort of wooden tent and stuffed that with bales of dry straw. This promotes accountability and direct community building. Brave Space Alliance Funeral Fund - gregharris.org My neighbor, a retired Air Force officer in his 70s, had been in bed for a week with a high fever but had tested negative for the coronavirus. In addition to donations from private individuals, we received in-kind donations from the following brands: Midas Cosmetics, Drench Cosmetics, Reese, KimChi Chic Beauty, Arda Wigs, Maybelline, and Nyx Cosmetics. Kimberly Lightford and Robert Peters. This conversation is candid and organic. The Brave Space Alliance Board of Directors has sent an independent accountant's report to the state attorney general alleging former CEO LaSaia Wade of inappropriate spending, to unknown bank accounts alongside other questionable expenditures. Hes been with us for over 20 years, she said. If you do donate, remember to also ask your employer if theyll match your donation. We love our community, and we will never be silent in the face of the loss of yet another one of our siblings. Due to the need and success of our support groups all of our support groups will occur twice a month starting March 2021 (updated days have been noted below) from 7 pm to 9 pm for trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. Within our pantry network volunteers redistribute supplies from the drop off locations listed above to different pantry sites within our network. <> The first round of donations raised approximately 3500-4000 new, unopened make- up products and accessories worth around $60,000 in total. In addition to her tireless advocacy, Malary was also remembered for her shining light and angelic spirit, in the words of Chicago Therapy Collective assistant trainer Angelina Nordstrom, who also referred to Malary as their bestie., Whether Elise needed a place to stay and I helped her, or if I needed just a little bit of support just to get through the week, she helped me multiple times, Nordstrom said in a video of the vigil that was posted to Chicago Therapy Collectives Instagram. Since April, our Crisis Pantry Program has assisted over 200,000 Chicagoans on the South and West sides of the city. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. for trans, non-binary, and intersex individuals. Its like one of those movies in which the world has been attacked, and there are bodies everywhere, she said, as she looked at the rows and rows and rows and rows of pyres in various stages of completion. Brave Space Alliances (BSA) is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ+ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, dedicated to creating and providing affirming, culturally competent, for-us by-us resources, programming, and services for LGBTQ+ individuals on the South and West sides of the city. We will be expanding our Crisis Pantry Network so that we can reach even more community members in need, through building new partnerships with local organizations and growing our staff. We extend our gratitude to the Center on Halsted for supporting us in this capacity. This is an intimate and intentional, interactive conversation between Brave Space Alliances Community Outreach Coordinator, and a Chicagoland small business owner or entrepreneur. Donation pods promote intentional and efficient mutual-aid throughout the city. BraveSpaceAlliance (@BraveSpaceChi) / Twitter This program is intended for Black and brown trans- identifying people. He needed an I.C.U. Cant wait for more!, You guys are such wonderful people the food has helped my family get by tremendously we are all incredibly grateful with all that this organization has done for us thank you.. We propose revising our language, shifting away from the concept of safety and emphasizing the impor Wade said there was no organizational framework to approve expenditures until the Brave Space Alliance board came into existence.