February 2021 Updates
View this update as a Google Slides presentation
The BIPOC Fund Council formed and began meeting regularly in August of this past year, and we have come a long way in the last six months!
As far as goals and objectives: We are establishing an organization that will be able to take applications and distribute funding in support of BIPOC-led intentional communities. We are also going to be an organization that provides support for BIPOC-led intentional communities, in the form of workshops and networking calls.
The fund has raised just over $12,600 as of January 31st, and we are in the process of clarifying our fundraising methods and goals.
In the fall we conducted a survey asking self-identified BIPOC folks to identify their main barriers to accessing intentional community. The four main obstacles cited were:
- Financial: many of us are faced with a lack of affordable living options when seeking intentional community
- Cultural clash: many existing communities are not welcoming of, or proactively aware of, cultures that do not fit into white “mainstream” culture
- Hard to find/access: for many, just locating BIPOC-led and BIPOC-friendly intentional communities is difficult; the current options are relatively few, and those that do exist often face legal and safety limitations that hinder their ability to advertise
- Racial diversity concerns: many BIPOC folks want to live in community with other BIPOC people! So many of us do not want to live in intentional communities that are entirely, or even majority, white. So many of us do not want to be token members of communities that do not reflect our identities and experiences. BIPOC-led intentional communities are vital for those of us who want to be more fully seen and represented in intentional community culture.
Since August of this past year, the BIPOC Fund Council has been meeting regularly to build a framework of support to address the needs of BIPOC folks seeking intentional communities that reflect their identities and experiences.
A few recent developments: Within the Council, a networking subgroup has formed to work on providing support calls and workshops for BIPOC folks interested in forming intentional communities. We are forming another subgroup for finances/accounting, and discussing our loan policies. A third subgroup is forming for our board/membership process.
Our focus is intersectional and liberatory, weaving in as many perspectives and voices as possible. In our organizational work, we examine the many barriers that BIPOC folks face in sustaining intentional community led BY us, FOR us. We believe that we can support our communities by creating a new resource for the creation and sustenance of thriving BIPOC-led communities. Our goal is to continue building the Council into an organization that can offer the greatest level of support possible to these BIPOC-led communities, and to those BIPOC individuals and groups who are dreaming new communities into existence.
Donate: https://www.ic.org/bipoc-fund/
Contact: bipocfund@ic.org