07/21/2026
We have in the past spent much time focusing on the support needs of single mothers, children, women fleeing domestic violence, reproductive care and now we turn our gaze towards a community that once paved the path we walk upon.
Our Elder IBPOC Women have built mountains, driven progress, and had to carry a pain known to far too many women generations over.
What we are watching is a plight. A plague upon our Elder Communities as they face a lack of resources, absence of support, gatekeeping, government programs shutting down, denial of benefits, and a shame that was past down whispering on their shoulder that they can do it on their own.
Yes. There are programs out here that can help in a multitude of ways. There are groups, social workers, churches, aid, and even Elder Care specialists but can we tell you a not so well kept secret?
Our support provides, caretakers, social workers, and churches are burning out. Tapping the mat. They are exhausted in ways that not only bleed them of their labor but impact the communal spaces they pour themselves into. Aside from that fun fact, many of our Elders having these silver years alone do not know how to find help. They lack resources, knowledge, and in some case the language to seek out this support.
When a situation becomes an emergency, that is where mutual aid comes in. We admittedly are about the reach for the ropes. Our spaces are trying white knuckle their way through this hardship. It’s not easy. For any of us.
In our Elder years, dignity is paramount. We all deserve that. A space to rest. To find comfort. Be card for. No one deserves the worry that eviction brings, no one deserves to go without water or a utility while data centers poison our ecosystems. The incline in costs for basic necessities are a burden on too many. A paycheck away from catastrophe, no space for peace can be had when that is your lived reality.
We have decided to take on several needs of support for Elder IBPOC Women. This care campaign will cover past due rent, utilities, necessities, stability, and we will provide the access to those who can help those magnificent women find support in their years to come.
Of the entire goal, which is $5000, $2200 of this is absolutely dire. These funds are specifically for eviction prevention and the sand if swirling through the funneled glass.
When the Elders of our communities are gone, their stories, they lived experiences go with them. We could dig into the complexities of being their children, the nuances are not lost nor are they easy to carry. In a world that fed us tall tales of monumental dreams achieved through painstaking work and sacrifice, the fade of that fable wears heavy on our shoulders. We find ourselves tending to our families, born into, created, and chosen alike. The pillars of support are us.
The sadness in that booms. It is the catch in your chest.
We know this is onus. To tend to those who need it. We, all of us, have been doing it for years. For some since childhood. That is what can often make this a nuanced set of circumstances that feed big feelings.
The system is failing. It’s failing us, them, our children, our communities and the absence of that support is palpable. The promise we make is to create better for the generations after us is a choice we made the day we leaned into being helpers. The day we intertwined with the collective in an effort to create more than what we had. Now we look to help the generation that brought us into this world in some case, in others those Elder guardians who took us in when we needed it. We now look to lean in to this moment and help them.
You can contribute with our links below. Please do so now. Every opportunity to help is one that can never be wrong in a world when the worst of us is rewarded and the best of us are made to suffer. It’s how we bleed hope back into the spaces it has been choked from for far too long.
Venmo -MN
PayPal
CashApp $WomenOfCultureMN
