The Buzz - Apiary's Monthly Newsletter
Hello friends, new and old!
Welcome to The Buzz, Apiary’s new monthly newsletter where we’ll be sharing updates about our work, our partners, and all things practical support. We’re glad you’re here!
It’s been a hard few months. Though we knew the overturn of Roe was likely, it was, and continues to be, devastating to watch unfold. But despite the awfulness of the news and the cascading hurt it is causing, there has been a bright spot - all of you. People have come out in support of the abortion access movement in unprecedented ways. Y’all are angry and loud and ready to fight for reproductive rights and justice - and we love to see it. We are stronger for it. We and every organization that we work with says thank you.
Another thing has been made clear: practical support (helping people travel for their care and with all the logistics that come with it - food, housing, childcare, transit) for people seeking abortions is more necessary than ever.
Practical support is not new; taking a friend to the doctor has existed as long as friends and doctors have. But as abortion clinics regularly closed, wages stagnanted, and food, housing and basic economic necessities became more insecure for more people, the need for much more practical support over much longer distances has been steadily increasing for years. Abortion access was already a crisis - and then Roe fell. Now, practical support organizations (PSOs) need more help than ever to grow to meet this exponentially growing need.
Apiary for Practical Support was launched just over a year ago after informally working with PSOs for over a year and a half, understanding what they needed and how we could help them. We now stand here with a clear vision - we are here to take labor off the shoulders of direct service organizations as much as we can, so that they have the freedom and flexibility to support as many abortion seekers as possible.
We help the people who help the people.
None of this would be possible without you - the practical support workers, our partners, our donors, our friends and family and co-conspirators. And so in this newsletter we’re going to be sharing not just our stories but yours. Each month we'll highlight a different partner’s work - to kick it off, we’re featuring our longtime friends and collaborators, the Kentucky Health Justice Network (who will be hosting a very rad conference next month!).
Let’s build a new world together,
Marisa Falcon
Executive Director
Apiary for Practical Support
Our team is growing!
We’re hiring two new programmatic staff members to push our major initiatives forward:
The Blueprint Manager will create, manage, and implement our model for training new groups on how to provide practical support. This is a project we have been working on for a minute but this person will get to take what we've built so far and run with it.
The Volunteer Coordination Manager will be building a brand new project from scratch - a system for mass vetting and training potential volunteers on behalf of practical support organizations.
Applications are open until Friday, Sept 16th, 2022.
Your support helps make sure we can keep growing and building
In the Spotlight: Kentucky Health Justice Network
Trans Health Director Oliver Hall (left) and Abortion Support Program Director Savannah Trebuna (right) disrupted the Senate Floor vote on House Bill 3 (anti-abortion omnibus bill) in April.
KHJN supports Kentuckians towards achieving autonomy in their lives and justice for their communities. They advocate, educate, and provide direct services to ensure all Kentucky communities and individuals have power, access, and resources to be healthy and have agency over their lives.
Kentucky Health Justice Network has four programs that champion reproductive justice: the Abortion Support Fund, Trans Health Advocacy, All Access Eastern Kentucky Birth Control Access, and an annual conference (more on that below!)
The Abortion Support Fund provides practical support and procedural funds to Kentuckians seeking abortion. People can call the hotline and be connected to a case manager who will accompany them in navigating the process. They provide funds for appointments, gas, bus tickets, hotel stays, childcare costs, and any other things that may get in the way of their abortion care.
It’s important to say that most Kentuckians have lived in a Post-Roe reality for a long time due to high costs, distance from the clinic, and compounding systemic oppression.
KHJN works to meet Kentuckians where they are at, no matter what external factors may impact their access to care, and no matter what the landscape for abortion access evolves into. KHJN's mission is to accompany Kentuckians in solidarity as a part of a larger movement calling for collective liberation for all. Learn more about KHJN!
Don't Miss It! Take Root: Red State Reproductive Justice Conference
KHJN's annual conference is coming upOctober 14-16, 2022!
The event focus on reproductive justice in red-voting states and serves as KHJN's largest education and outreach program. They actively seek talks across a wide range of related subjects, from first-time speakers, industry experts, and everyone in between. They specifically seek to uplift the voices of BIPOC, trans, gender non-conforming, and voices from underrepresented groups. Past speakers include abortion providers and practical support, bail funds, birth workers, student groups, doulas, foster care workers, health care professionals, legal fellows, lobbyists, researchers, scholars, and more.
In 2022, Take Root's goals are not only to increase student and grassroots focus - but to truly become an intersectional space for mutually beneficial intergenerational learning. Visit www.takerootrj.org for more information.