UPDATE: We’ve met our goal and funds have been distributed to 12 young people who we will announce soon. The fund will be closed soon and the remaining will go to expanding the recipient pool.
What is this fund?
The Pittsburgh Without Police Fund is a temporary mutual aid effort that supports young people who have been engaging in the necessary work to create conditions to build a police free future. Each recipient will receive $1,200 and has full autonomy in how they utilize the funds from day to day subsistence to existing projects and campaigns to the creation of new endeavors and collaborations.
How are they selected?
The recipients are identified by the organizers of the fund. The organizers of the fund, Dustin Gibson and Nia Arrington are in community with individuals across the region working toward police abolition.
When will they receive the money?
Once the goal of $14,400 is reached, the funds will be distributed immediately to the recipients. The incoming and outgoing funds can be tracked at: bit.ly/pwpftracking
In the event that we exceed our goal, organizers will expand the recipient pool.
Why Now?
For years, young people in and around Pittsburgh have been organizing to decrease the scope and size of police with little to no support from the larger community. They act with urgency that their lives and our lives depend on our ability to create and implement models for collective safety, wellbeing and justice. The movement to invest in our communities and defund the police has gained traction nationally, in part due to the young people who have been stretching the realms of possibility and organized for a police free future.
Please email questions to dustinpgibson@gmail.com