Where to Donate in Greater Boston
Here’s a list of groups doing powerful work to unite and build a city by and for the people, providing healing, educating our siblings, and keeping each other safe. This was compiled by the Mei Mei team as a resource for our staff and we wanted to share it with the community.
If you have considered donating recently, check out this list. If you’ve already donated recently, consider setting up recurring donations, which help organizations plan for the long-term. If you don’t have the funds to donate, follow their socials (but don’t worry if they aren’t active on social media! Some of these orgs youth-run/small teams/on the frontlines and don’t have the bandwidth to maintain their social media).
Key - 🔁 = option for recurring donation available
Last updated 8:15 PM ET, Thursday June 4, 2020
Alternatives for Community & Environment - Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE) is a neighborhood based, environmental justice and transit-oriented development nonprofit. ACE is the first environmental justice nonprofit organization in Massachusetts and has defended the rights of Roxbury residents for over 25 years. 🔁
Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW) - AARW works for the empowerment of the Asian Pacific American community to achieve its full participation in U.S. society. They are a member-based organization that uses arts, education, and activism to build the skills and political analysis of our pan-Asian membership.🔁
Beantown Society - The vision of Beantown Society is to unite youth in Boston across race, class, culture, and neighborhood to end youth violence. They believe in changing youth's oppression, neglect-ion, rejection, and depression into youth power.
Black Lives Matter Boston - BLM Boston galvanizes our communities to end state-sanctioned violence against Black people. They support the development of new Black leaders, as well as create a network where Black people feel empowered to determine our destinies in our communities. They follow a queer Black feminist theory of creating change within the Black communities. 🔁
Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network (BIJAN) - BIJAN is a network of faith communities, individuals and other activist groups raising money to help our neighbors get out of immigration jail right here in Boston. They provide accompaniment, which can include support in court or at ICE check-ins, legal referrals, fundraising for bond or legal fees, letters of support from the community, rides for families to visit loved ones in detention, and logistical assistance with paperwork or bond payments. They also help with housing, transportation, and other immediate needs of people released on bond who have no other resources in the community. 🔁
Boston Ujima Project - Boston Ujima Project is working to organize Greater Boston area neighbors, workers, business owners, and investors to create a community-controlled economy. They are challenging poverty and developing our communities by pooling our investment, consumer and political capital, to grow local wealth and ownership while meeting our own needs. 🔁
City Life/Vida Urbana - City Life/Vida Urbana is a 46 year old bilingual, community organization whose mission is to fight for racial, social and economic justice and gender equality by building working class power through direct action, coalition building, education and advocacy. 🔁
The City School - The City School works with young people ages 14-19 living in Boston and its surrounding suburbs who are emerging leaders and have a passion for social justice. Our community intentionally crosses lines of race, class, gender, and neighborhood. 🔁
Families for Justice as Healing - Families for Justice as Healing is working to end the incarceration of women and girls. 🔁
Massachusetts Bail Fund - The Massachusetts Bail Fund pays up to $2000 bail so that low-income people can stay free while they work towards resolving their case, allowing individuals, families, and communities to stay productive, together, and stable. The Massachusetts Bail Fund is committed to the harm reduction of freeing individuals serving pre-trial sentences, and to abolishing pre-trial detention and supervision in the long-term. 🔁
As of 6/2, Mass Bail Fund has asked folks donate to other orgs
Material Aid and Advocacy Program - an org that supports and empowers community members experiencing homelessness or living in poverty, through material aid, access to resources, and advocacy opportunities
Muslim Justice League (MJL) - MJL’s mission is to organize and advocate for communities whose rights are threatened under the national security state in the United States. Led by Muslims, our organizing brings justice for ALL communities deemed “suspect.” 🔁
New Beginnings Reentry Services, Inc. - A non-profit geared toward helping women effectively rejoin their communities after incarceration, with programming for both physical and mental health as well as personal development.
People Not Prisons - The Building Up People Not Prisons coalition is a group of formerly incarcerated women, women with incarcerated loved ones, and allies. The coalition is steered by Families for Justice as Healing, based in Roxbury, and membership largely includes people from the most incarcerated communities in Massachusetts.
Sisters Unchained - Sisters Unchained connects with young women of color whose loved ones are currently or formerly incarcerated. They aim to work towards a world without prisons.
Violence in Boston - The mission of Violence in Boston is to improve the quality of life & life outcomes of individuals from disenfranchised communities by reducing the prevalence of violence and the impact of associated trauma.
Youth Justice & Power Union - Youth Justice & Power Union, run by black and brown youths in Boston, centers black and brown voices, builds community, and develops leaders in order to address systemic issues. Be sure to include the designation "Defending Black Lives" with your donation!!! 🔁
Other resources -
Greater Boston Black-owned Restaurants
Somerville Immigrant/Women/Minority/Service-Disabled Veteran/Veteran/LGBTQIA/Disability-Owned Businesses
Massachusetts Mutual Aid Networks
How to help locally without money
Mijente Petition - Massachusetts! Honor the Dead by Protecting the Living and Stabilizing our Communities - Tell our governor that efforts to open the economy without adequate protections and without proper relief for frontline workers reveal a willingness to let Black and Latinx communities and poor people die in exchange for the economic gain of a privileged class. Our communities need relief not re-opening.
Families for Justice as Healing Petition - Gov. Baker Invest in our Communities - The legislature needs to address a lack of investment in predominantly Black and Brown communities and an over-investment in their criminalization. Massachusetts has one of the lowest rates of incarceration in the country, yet we spend more money than any other state on jails and prisons.
#FreeOurFamilies - Newcomers’ Action Guide - For over two months, Families for Justice as Healing and the Building Up People Not Prisons Coalition have been releasing an action guide each week in response to the COVID19 humanitarian crisis. Our long-term work is to end the incarceration of women and girls. We are organizing to STOP spending on police and prisons and REINVEST that money in Black and Brown communities. We are led by incarcerated women, formerly incarcerated women, and women with incarcerated loved ones from these communities. Anyone can jump in and get started on the current Week of Action, but we thought it would help for anyone new to this work to begin here.
How to help nationally without money
Other nationwide calls for support