KSEC & STAY Project Youth Mutual Aid Fund

Requests for funding are open!

If you have the means, please donate or share. Love and solidarity.
The state of Kentucky and central/southern Appalachian in purple behind the words
The state of Kentucky and central/southern Appalachian in purple behind the words "Youth Mutual Aid Fund" in green. The KSEC and STAY Project logos are present.
The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Network and the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition are fundraising support young people in our networks and communities impacted by COVID-19.
Across the United States COVID-19 is exposing our horrifying lack of a social safety net, and the history of divestment from the South and Appalachia are setting our region up to be hit even harder.

We are already being contacted by young people in our networks asking for support around housing and transportation. In the coming weeks we expect young people will need support paying bills, childcare, hot-spots for internet access, etc..

We only have each other.

The STAY Project and KSEC are committed to practicing our values in this time of crisis, having a mutual aid fund to ease the suffering of young people in our communities is just one way we are working together to get through to do that. We may be quarantined but we ain’t gonna let this isolate us.
What is Mutual Aid? - mutual aid is a voluntary reciprocal exchange of resources and services for mutual benefit. Basically, when we practice mutual aid we are acknowledging that nobody in our community is expendable and it benefits the whole community when everyone has their needs met.

In the coming weeks we expect young people will need support paying bills, medical care, childcare, hot-spots for internet access, etc… The STAY Project and the Kentucky Student Environmental Coalition are working on getting a mutual aid fund for young people in our networks who are being displaced and put out of work by COVID-19. This fund will prioritize Black, Indigenous, PoC. LGBTQIA, disabled, chronically-ill, and immunocompromised youth.

For the time being we will be able provide up to $200 in aid to young people under the age of 30 in the network of the STAY Project and KSEC.

You don't have to be a member to apply, but you do have to live in their service areas. For KSEC, that is the entire state of Kentucky. For STAY, that is the Appalachian counties of Kentucky, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Once you have submitted your form, you will receive an email requesting a W-9 and your payment information. We will also provide instructions on how to fill out the W-9.

Please contact Caci Gibson at cacigibson94@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Mutual Aid Resources

Mutual Aid Projects & Resources
5 Demands for Emergency COVID-19 Survival. Free Healthcare: Free testing, treatement, and healtchare for all. No work: Suspend work obligations, guarantee food stamps and sick pay for all. No paying - no debt: Suspend all rent, mortgage, utilities, loans, foreclosures, evictions, and parking enforcement. Free the prisonsers: End bail for jails, deactivate ICE, release detainees, and stop all sweeps of homeless camps. Homes for All: Open up unoccupied homes to anyone who needs them.
5 Demands for Emergency COVID-19 Survival
Education, Toolkits, & Guides
Phone Zaps
A phone zap is a coordinated call-in campaign to put pressure on an organization. Those listed here will help incarcerated people and migrants held in detention by ICE.
Petitions & Statements

    Need support? Have support to offer? Want to connect with us?

    You can also reach us at kystudentenvirocoalition@gmail.com.