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In response to
"ST Poll — What’s good?"
by
znufrii
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this one is long...
Posted by
colin (aka colinski)
Jun 6 '22, 06:37
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i don't know how to say this without it seeming like virtue signaling, but i'm excited, i'll share.
there is a group in our city that spun up in 2020 in response to the pandemic called Mutual Aid Distribution RVA (MADRVA). they raised almost $600k, gave out $135k in mini-grants, the rest in AC units, household goods, and food (all delivered to people's homes). they're 100% volunteer, not a cent goes to staff. we've done a good bit of volunteer work with them.
they got a warehouse, operated out of that spot for 2 years until the landlord jacked the rent by thousands for whatever reason. they started looking for a building and found one that was promising, but due to new 501(c)3 status and funds, there was no way they could buy it.
we sold an investment property in Houston early 2020. that money just sat for two+ years because we had no idea what to do with it. we didn't need it, but it felt like a nice safety net. we were on a MADRVA meeting, the building came up, and Allie and I both decided we wanted to purchase the building, rent it back to them at cost (which frees up several thousand extra a month to go towards other stuff and didn't wipe them out financially).
so we did. two weeks ago, we closed on the building, signed a 5 year lease with them, and we're moving quickly towards opening the first Free Store in the city. we'll still do deliveries of goods, but this is a way for more people to get access to food and household goods, plus provide additional space for other small mutual aid groups and community gathering.
if you feel like donating.. https://richmondmutualaid.wixsite.com/resources
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