Human Rights
ICE OUT!
We have been working hard to understand how small nonprofits- our core constituency- are having an immediate and meaningful impact on the families and communities most at risk. We are meeting with immigrant rights experts, grassroots organizers and individuals who have been targeted by ICE. We are talking with directors of organizations that work nationally as well as groups in currently impacted cities including Minneapolis, MN and Portland and Lewiston, ME
We are utilizing our Urgent Response Fund to Meet this Moment. We will be supporting small nonprofits taking action on the streets while longer term pathways out of this crisis are navigated.
Our emergency grants are:
Paying bonds to help individuals get free from ICE detention
Supporting families of detained individuals with groceries, child care and access to information technology
Helping people get home after being released from detention, often far from where they live.
Buying gas for ride services for those afraid to walk the streets of their own cities
Providing resources for families losing income because they are afraid to go to work.
Contributing to rental assistance and other programs addressing the medium term impacts of ICE occupations
And so much more. Unrestricted resources provide our partners on the ground with the flexibility they need to react in real time to changing needs.
Pennywise Urgent Response Grants are prioritizing BIPOC and Immigrant led organizations operating in communities being directly impacted by ICE.
midwest immigration bond fund
The Midwest Immigration Bond Fund (MIBF) operates a revolving bond fund that frees people from ICE detention across its service area, including Minnesota, where the need for bond support is rapidly increasing. MIBF pays bonds with no repayment required, using returned funds to free others, a self-sustaining, pay-it-forward model that Pennywise proudly supports, especially in moments of urgent need.
Learn more about their work here: https://www.mibfc.org/
we the gente
We The Gente is delivering food and essential supplies to families sheltering in place as ICE occupies the Twin Cities. They are prioritizing security by using technology to protect volunteers’ and recipients’ identities. This innovative, Hispanic immigrant-led organization also includes Know Your Rights and Resource Referral information with every delivery, increasing their impact and making themselves available for a wider array of emergency support.
Learn more about their work here: https://wethegente.org/
Seeds Worth Sowing
Seeds Worth Sowing is an African American–led nonprofit in South Minneapolis that strengthens families through trauma-informed, culturally grounded services rooted in safety, dignity, and representation. In response to ICE-driven fear, they are providing safe space and emergency resources, with a focused commitment to supporting Black African immigrants who are often overlooked.
Learn more about their work here: https://www.seedsworthsowing.org/
Community Organizing Alliance
Community Organizing Alliance is a Somali-American social justice and civic engagement organization centering Black and Immigrant voices, with a strong focus on youth empowerment. In response to ICE targeting over a thousand people and heavily impacting Somali communities in Greater Portland and Lewiston, ME, COA is providing safe rides, direct support to families sheltering in fear, coordinating with local agencies, and actively organizing and advocating against ICE abuses.
Learn more about their work here: https://www.communityorganizingalliance.org/
Brightside Produce
BrightSide delivers fresh produce to corner stores and individuals in underserved Minneapolis communities, meeting urgent food insecurity needs for families sheltering in place. Their sustainable model- funding free produce through farmers markets and reducing waste via buyback, upcycling, and composting- has proven resilient and impactful through crises from COVID, the unrest after the murder of George Floyd, the present emergency and beyond.
Learn more about their work here: https://brightsidefoundation.com/
June 2022 - Present
We are angry. We are engaged. We are taking action.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overruling Roe v. Wade and denying women constitutional protection of their reproductive rights.The Pennywise Foundation has been working diligently to identify organizations that are meeting this moment in resourceful and effective ways, working to ensure that women can still access full-spectrum reproductive care.
Our grantees:
Offer direct services in states where abortion will remain legal
Generate safe, legal pathways to abortion access for all women in the US
Work at the intersection of reproductive rights and voter engagement to demand policy reform
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CARE ACCESS PROJECT (RHAP)
trains and supports clinicians to make reproductive health care accessible to everyone. The organization grew out of efforts to mainstream, destigmatize, and increase abortion access by integrating early abortion care into primary care settings.
RHAP is a leading resource for education, advocacy, and support in integrating full-spectrum reproductive health care into primary care.
RHAP’s core goal — incorporating reproductive health care services into existing primary care systems — is exactly the type of approach that Pennywise values. By working within more mainstream health care settings, their services can reach a larger scale while minimizing additional costs.
Learn more about their work here: www.reproductiveaccess.org/
Noise for Now
is a national initiative that enables artists and entertainers to connect with and financially support grassroots organizations working in the field of Reproductive Justice, including abortion access. Noise for Now is the link between touring musicians, progressive promoters, athletes, artists, and local reproductive rights organizations in cities across the country.
Reproductive health care services, including access to legal abortion, are under attack. By organizing benefit events and campaigns, Noise for Now provides opportunities for artists and entertainers to use their talent to raise money and send a clear message that Reproductive Rights are human rights.
Learn more about their work here: https://noisefornow.org/
ABORTION CARE NETWORK: KEEP OUR CLINICS
The Keep Our Clinics campaign is the Abortion Care Network’s latest effort to protect access to care and support independent clinics across the country. It is a fundraising campaign for independent abortion clinics across the USA. The campaign directs funds into making necessary security improvements, replacing and updating medical equipment, covering legal costs to maintain compliance with politically-motivated regulations, clinic building maintenance, and more.
In the US' increasingly hostile political environment towards reproductive freedom, it is more important than ever that clinics providing abortion care in states where it will remain legal can continue to operate. The brick and mortar type support offered through the Keep our Clinics program will literally keeps doors open. It offers a highly visible way that donors can see returns on their investments and- as demand increases as women from states where abortions are banned come to depend on these clinics- it will have increasingly large impacts over this difficult time. It is an initiative Pennywise is proud to support.
Learn more about their work here: https://keepourclinics.org/
