Hi folks,

I hope it's starting to feel a little bit like springtime where you are. The winter sun is just struggling to break through the clouds here on Coast Salish territory as I sit down to write this update!

You may have noticed there was no January update--sorry about that! Between holidays, travel, health issues, and some projects I'll mention below, it just kind of passed me by. Here are the funds we distributed in December and January:

12/2 | Kat | $100.00 | general |  | 
12/2 | MI folks | $10.00 | stamps |  | 
12/2 | NY folks | $11.00 | stamps |  | 
12/2 | Akeem | $100.00 | general |  | 
12/15 | Ida | $104.95 | general |  | $325.95
1/7 | Mario | $103.95 | general |  | 
1/7 | Tariq | $103.95 | general |  | 
1/7 | Empress | $103.95 | general |  | 
1/7 | Kim | $103.95 | general |  | 
1/7 | Cardi | $103.95 | general |  | $519.75

Thank you folks all again for making this possible! Even sharing our fundraiser page on your social media and checking out our members' profiles is a great help.

Speaking of, if you want to become a penpal to one of our members, please email me a bit about yourself ([email protected]). They would love to hear from you!

I'm also delighted to announce that we have received funding from the Emergent Fund to support our work this year! This $10,000 grant will help support the stipend fund, expand our member programming, and help us disseminate members' artwork and writings. I'm personally very relieved as this will help us build the community of OutKast without having to focus so much on direct funding.

We also have a new member, Ms. Kimi Bower. Here is her introduction:

- Kimi Bower, Michigan: Kimi is a 50 year old trans woman currently serving life in Michigan. She is a portrait artist and a mother of 3 kids. Her hobbies are drawing, collecting music including popular 80s one-hit wonders, and lending a helping hand to those in need.

We're all really excited to welcome Kimi!

Also, I'm really grateful for the assistance of Emma Bean and Xolotl Fierro recently! Emma has been corresponding with the members and helping me with our new instagram account (@outkastpeoplenation ). Xolotl redesigned our wonderful new logo based on Akeem's design, which can be seen on our page! Thanks to both of y'all for your efforts <3. If you'd like to help out in a volunteer capacity please email me at [email protected].

That's all for now! Thank you folks again for all your contributions to this project.

In solidarity,

Aaron