The summer buzz is building 🐝
Hey friends,
Whoever said summer is quiet for nonprofits was gravely mistaken. The Apiary team has been buzzing all season, and we’re very excited to share the fruits of our labor with you.
Last month, I got to lead a panel discussion at the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago with some of my favorite people about the connections between anti-abortion and anti-trans laws—both in terms of how rightwing extremists are replicating anti-abortion policies to block access to gender affirming care, but also how communities are coming together to create systems that get people the care they need.
Our audience was fired up to hear about how the vast network of local and national practical support organizations and legal systems for abortion access can be understood and leveraged to support trans and gender non-conforming people people who will need to travel more and more. You can watch the whole thing here.
Apiary is also delighted to announce that our in-person(!) Practical Support Summit is happening next month! Read all about this gathering below, and please consider supporting our effort to bring the Hivemind together for this timely exchange of resources, strategies, and joy.
And finally, our partner spotlight for August is crisp, refreshing, and provides a buzz all of its own. (Yes, I’m talking about beer.) Scroll down to find out where you can taste the Apiary Honey IPA from our generous friends at West Kill Brewing.
Cheers!
Marisa Falcon
Executive Director
Apiary for Practical Support
It’s Summit Season ⭐
In 2021, before Apiary was even technically a thing, we hosted the first ever national summit specifically about practical support - a two day virtual event where 125 people from 45 organizations came together to talk about the intricacies of helping people travel for their abortion care. This year, the Practical Support Summit is back and bigger than ever - we now have a network of over 65 organizations and are inviting 150 people to join our in-person event, plus up to 75 virtual attendees. In just a few short weeks, people from all across the country will be swarming together at an undisclosed location for two days of learning, community building, and brilliant scheming for abortion access.
In a post-Dobbs landscape where the logistics of traveling for abortion appointments continues to get more and more complicated, this conference will be a much-needed space for shared learning between organizations and people working every day to get people safely to and from their care with the dignity they deserve.
We’ll be hosting workshops and panels that focus on practical, actionable tools that people can walk away with to do the work better—both literal toolkits and also best practices around client support and deeper understanding of structural issues that can hinder our work. We’ll also be hosting office hours with technical assistance collectives who can offer free or low-cost services to abortion access organizations.
We are working to include as many of our Hivemind members as we can to join us. But to pull this off, we need your support: Please consider becoming a sponsor or ambassador of this incredible event.
Because so many practical support organizations are run by volunteers and have limited budgets, we are not charging for tickets for attendees. Instead, we rely on sponsors to cover the costs of the event, from speakers fees to venue to catering. There are no tiers of giving, we just ask that folks give at a level that is comfortable to them. Every sponsor is listed equally on all our materials.
Know an individual, company, or organization that could chip in to support our efforts? Please pass this along to them or reach out to development@apiaryps.org and we can send you additional materials to share. Thank you!
Partner Spotlight: West Kill Brewing 🍻
After all, it’s going to take EVERY SINGLE ONE of us to achieve liberation, brewers included.
This month, we’re shouting out one of our incredible sponsors for the Practical Support Summit: West Kill Brewing in New York’s Catskill Mountains has gone so far as to craft a special beer called Apiary Honey IPA and a percentage of proceeds will be donated to the Summit! We are obviously over the moon about this whole thing.
West Kill beers are sold all over the region, so if you’re in the area, head to their taproom or check out the “Where To Find Us” section on their website for additional locations!
Just look at this gorgeous can. How amazing is that?!