Hello supporters,

Thank you again for your ongoing support. As you know our region was recently rocked by unprecedented wildfires. Thousands of people lost their homes and are still struggling. In response, Symbiosis PDX and our community partners organized to provide mutual aid essentials across Oregon and Washington. We delivered supplies to tens of thousands of people across the state, all the while maintaining our programs supporting those hardest hit in Portland. Today we are being required to start paying rent at one of our spaces critical to maintaining our operations. As such, we are looking to the community for continued support! But first a bit about our recent efforts...

Fire Solidarity Work

As a result of the forest fires, thousands of people were displaced. Indigenous and immigrant communities who were already suffering from high rates of Covid infections now found their challenges compounded. In response, Symbiosis PDX and our BIPOC community partners in Covid relief work since March (Fire Ignites the Spirit & Don’t Shoot Portland) were able to rapidly mobilize to bring critical necessities to those who needed solidarity. 

Displaced people were often placed in shelters that presented elevated risk of infection. As such, we organized to supply PPE, sanitation items, tents, food and more to over 20,000 people across the state. We made over three dozen individual supply runs across Oregon and Washington, often featuring large caravans of vehicles. Overall our collective efforts have supplied hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of in-kind donations to those in need. Our coalitions brought supplies to indigenous communities throughout Oregon and Washington in Klamath, Colville, Coquille, Yakama, Nisqually Warm Springs and to displaced peoples throughout Salem, Eugene, Medford and Ashland. 

The organizing work that you, our supporters have made possible since Covid hit has made a difference in thousands of lives. When people were left to fend for themselves with little to no government help, our communities stepped in with mutual aid, in Covid and now even more so with these fires. You were a huge part of the effort. 

Maintaining our Programming

Critical to this has always been maintaining open doors at our Symbiosis Hub and Resource Exchange (SHaRE) program. When the fires hit we opened our doors seven days a week to collect donations from hundreds of community members. Since March we have utilized this space as a donation site for materials to be delivered to rural and indigenous communities hit hard by Covid. In addition to, holding regular hours providing PPE, sanitation & hygiene items and hot prepared food to houseless community members. As you know, houseless people have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, facing constant exposure and a decrease in services. So, we have provided thousands of warm meals and countless other necessities. 

Continuing to operate our SHaRE program has become critical to continuing our work supporting communities hardest hit by the pandemic; however, we have been required to begin paying $600 a month to keep our doors open. As other groups focusing on Covid relief have come and gone, we continue our work. As you know Symbiosis PDX is an all volunteer, unfunded project. We rely on the solidarity of community members to keep our project rolling. As such we have decided to utilize $600 a month from this fundraiser to continue to keep the doors open on our essential operation. 

With our current monthly sustainers our fund nets about $1,400 a month. As such we will still have over half of our monthly funds available for other community needs. A huge part of this fund has always been about funding community mutual aid programs directly serving impacted communities, and we believe this move continues to serve this mission. We will continue to make periodic disbursements to individual community members and other unfunded projects with the remainder of the monthly balance, on a case by case basis. If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback you would like to make about this decision please feel free to email us at [email protected]. Your continued support has been critical to our success and we always prioritize full transparency with our solidarity fund. 

Thank you for your continued support,

Symbiosis PDX

Pictures of Our Fire Solidarity Work

Pictures of SHaRE