News + Events

Back to list

You’ve seen the news. I’m guessing you feel the same way I do — 2017 has been a difficult year.

The extent of human suffering we’ve witnessed this year is heartbreaking. Every week, you’ve seen the Trump Administration waging another brutal attack on immigrants, LGBTQ communities, Medicaid recipients, or working families. You’ve also seen unprecedented climate events and so-called “natural disasters” — from massive hurricane destruction in Puerto Rico, Houston, and south Florida to devastating wildfires in Montana, Oregon, and California.
 
The news may be heartbreaking but even more than that: it’s a call to action.
 
It’s a call to people like you who see world as it is today but believe a better world is possible. Social Justice Fund NW shares that belief with you. Together, we can do something about it.
 
By making a year-end donation, you can be assured that even on days when you feel the world’s problems are too big and too daunting, Social Justice Fund NW and our grantees will be there — fighting in your name as a united, unstoppable force for good.
 
Bad news is easy to find. I hope you have also had a chance to savor some of the remarkable wins within the Social Justice Fund NW community in 2017.
 
Good things are happening thanks to donors like you.
  • 140 people have participated in Giving Projects already this year and they are on pace to raise over $1 million for grantmaking. In total, SJF has already made 66 grants in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming.
  • The Environmental Justice Giving Project alone raised an astonishing, record-breaking $305,000 — making 15, two-year grants to grassroots organizations.
  • SJF launched a Rapid Response and Seed Grant program in early 2017, and granted $34,000 to help local communities respond quickly to the changing political climate and to give brand new groups much-needed startup funding.
  • We hosted our two largest-ever grantee summits over the summer (in Seattle and Portland) with almost 200 attendees.
  • SJF staff and volunteers have hosted monthly workshops on grassroots fundraising, communications, and how to make a social justice giving plan that have trained 80 participants.
You should feel proud that you’ve helped fund these victories and more. Your support today will keep up the momentum into 2018!
 
Onward,
 
Burke Stansbury
SJF Development Director
 
VICTORY: Reproductive Health
Equity Act (RHEA)
 
By supporting Social Justice Fund NW, you support our grantee organizations like Momentum Alliance, which was involved in two major policy victories in Oregon earlier this year.
 
Momentum Alliance and other SJF grantees were part of a broad-based coalition that put pressure on legislators to pass the Reproductive Health Equity Act earlier this year.
 
Along with coalition partners like APANO and Western States Center, Momentum Alliance helped champion the leadership and experiences of people of color, low income people, and queer and trans people.