Thank you so much for your continued support of Build Repair Grow as we all grapple with the challenges of 2020. The silver lining amid these challenges has been an outpouring of strength and resilience in our community, our partners, and in the many people who are helping this organization adapt and grow.
We are so grateful to those of you who are following our journey for your support and well wishes, and we’re glad to be able to share a bit about our progress over the summer.
Build Repair Grow Stands with Black Lives Matter
With many national and local challenges pressing for attention, we believe it is important to continue to affirm our sustained commitment to standing up for racial justice in solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The systemic and institutional racism in this country must stop. As a predominantly white-led organization, Build Repair Grow is committed to the process of educating ourselves to learn how to listen, to stand up, and to act.
501(c)3 Status!
In July Build Repair Grow was granted 501(c)3 tax-exempt status by the IRS. All future and past donations made to BRG since February 2020 may be tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Additionally, our charitable status makes BRG eligible for competitive grants which will help us scale up our programs and build a sustainable staff in the coming years. Thank you to all of our generous donors who contributed money to help us cover the cost of filing for 501(c)3 status.
Announcing “BRG in a Box”
BRG shifted from its original focus on in-person workshops to creating take-home projects in order to continue to teach young people hands-on, practical skills in the current environment of social distancing.
This summer, Build Repair Grow launched the distribution of these skill-building kits with an agency partner in Holyoke, MA, called Neighbor to Neighbor, a collaboration supported in part through grants from The Pollination Project and The New England Grassroots Environment Fund. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Neighbor to Neighbor coordinated free meal distribution at Holyoke Public Schools and asked Build Repair Grow to create projects for students to work on at home and to distribute these at the meal pickup sites. The summer program distributed 300 kits in June and another 300 in July, providing families with materials and instructions for growing a pollinator garden and sewing a mask by hand.
As unemployment rates continue to rise, many households are facing difficulties meeting their basic needs. Since March of this year, the food insecurity rate in Western Massachusetts has increased from 15% to 47%, with 63% of children facing inadequate access to food
(from Feeding America https://www.feedingamerica.org/research/map-the-meal-gap/by-county).
With budgets stretched thin and many families struggling to meet basic needs, we believe that now more than ever in the urgency and importance of our mission to help young people learn and practice the fundamental skills critical for boosting self-sufficiency and community resiliency.
Based on the success of our take-home project program, Build Repair Grow is preparing to launch a new initiative: BRG in a Box.
BRG in a Box will provide monthly take-home kits, covering our full curriculum of skills through a range of projects that allow young people to learn and practice growing and cooking food, sewing, basic concepts of bike/mechanical repair, and simple woodworking — while building confidence in their ability to learn hands-on skills and solve practical problems. Each box will contain all of the materials, instructions, and tools necessary to complete each project, including links to supplementary online video tutorials, making the projects accessible for participants of all backgrounds and skill levels.
With widespread anxiety and uncertainty about the impacts of self-isolation and economic recession, these programs will not only provide an educational opportunity for young people while they are out of school but will also help young people play a proactive role in fostering the resilience of their families and communities.
In the coming months, we will be seeking additional support from grantors, individuals, and foundations to fully develop and launch the BRG in a Box through a program.
Thanks to our Summer Interns
This summer, we were fortunate to have four talented interns from Smith College helping us build our BRG from a one-person show to a scalable, sustainable organization. Many thanks to Phoebe John, Danielle Vishlitzky, Sophie Hatcher Peters, and Ling Qian for helping us develop our video instruction program, strategic plan, grant writing efforts, and so much more. We wish all of our summer interns the very best in the future, and we are thrilled that Ling is continuing on with BRG as a volunteer.
Strategic Plan
In September BRG Board, Staff, and Interns completed a six-week strategic planning process. As part of this process, we defined a series of goals and objectives to benchmark our progress, to ensure our activities align with our values and mission, and to hold the organization accountable for ensuring our programs provide real, measurable, positive outcomes for our participants. Additionally, we created a roadmap for scaling up the organization over the next two years.
Seeking Additional Board Members
During our strategic planning process, BRG recognized that in order to grow the organization and expand our programs, we need to add additional skills and talent to our current Board of Directors.
We are currently seeking candidates for three positions:
- Treasurer
- Grant Writing and Fundraising Chair
- Communications Chair
Descriptions for each of these volunteer board positions can be found on our website. If you, or someone you know, would be interested in helping our organization scale up please take a look at the descriptions and consider submitting an application.
New Office
Thanks to an anonymous donor, Build Repair Grow now has a physical office location at 160 Main Street in the heart of downtown Northampton. We moved in in late August and are grateful to now have both office space and storage for all of the generous tool and equipment donations received over the past several months.
How You Can Help Build Repair Grow
Donations in any amount will help us launch BRG in a Box, bringing practical skills to young people across Western and Central Massachusetts!
Donation Levels
$25
Helps 7 local youth learn about growing their own food
$50
Helps 10 local youth learn basic cooking skills
$100
Helps 20 local youth complete a sewing project
$200
Helps 50 local youth build confidence in using tools for basic repairs
If you would like to support us, donate here.
Whether or not you are able to contribute financially, we appreciate your support, and hope you will help us by spreading the word and telling other people in your community about Build Repair Grow.