“Juneteenth marked the end of slavery for Black people in America but [Black] people are still not liberated from financial stresses. Black people are not financially free,” said Aja Shumate, the marketing coordinator for Urban Triage who is heading up the organization’s Juneteenth efforts for this year.
This year, to celebrate Juneteenth, Uban Triage has established a fundraiser with the hopes of raising $25,000 to be allocated to families in the Dane County area who are in need of rental assistance.
The deadline for donations has been set tentatively for the end of this month, just in time for the end of the federal eviction moratorium, June 30th.
“The entire segregation of the housing market really kind of struck a chord with me and that still is evident today, where people are living in conditions where it’s just honestly borderline not livable, Shumate said, “People are still unable to pay for quality housing, especially in the city [and] in Madison, there’s tons of luxury apartment buildings going up everywhere all the time. They say that there’s not enough housing but when it comes down to it, there’s not enough affordable housing.”
Once the money has been collected, individuals will be able to fill out a form to request money from the $25,000 pool.
According to Shumate, this money will be completely “unrestricted” and available to anyone in need.
Urban Triage has also been helping individuals applying for the CORE Rental Assistance Program provided by the Tenant Resource Center fill out their applications completely and correctly to avoid long holds due to application errors.
Although Urban Triage will not be hosting any of its own events for Juneteenth this year, the organization will be sponsoring events hosted by Black Umbrella and Young Moms of Madison.
As of Monday morning, just under $2,400 had been donated.
Donations for the Urban Triage Juneteenth Fundraiser can be made here.
