Sure We Can Satellite Site
A nonprofit fundraiser supporting
Sure We CanWe're opening a new redemption center in East New York!
$5,952
raised by 27 people
$30,000 goal
1 month left
Update #2
Dear friends,
There’s a lot of anxiety floating around right now. New York City has this special quality where it can feel like all eight million people are sharing a kind of vast collective emotional experience, and when that experience contains stress and fear for the future, it can get pretty intense. It can also feel like you’re carrying around emotions that aren’t totally your own, and that can’t be completely understood. That lack of understanding can be scary in itself, and make it hard to express or share your feelings, even with others who may be feeling basically the same thing. At the same time, we know that New Yorkers are capable of collective experiences of incredible joy, solidarity, and transformation. So what makes the difference between one and the other, beyond just reacting to the vicissitudes of national or global events beyond our control as individuals?
I think what matters is being available to others, which in the end means accepting that part of other people that, like the future, will always be unknown to us. Through simply being with others, the terrible hold of anxiety can be dispelled, making it possible–sometimes very suddenly–to face the unknowns of the future with love and grace, instead of fear. I think this attitude is cherished by Sure We Can’s values and the community that has formed around them, and is exemplified in no one better than Josefa Marín, the President of the Alliance of Independent Recyclers of New York City (AIR-NYC), and the canner who will lead our satellite expansion in 2025. She has faced so many unknowns–geographical, political, medical, personal–and has at every step drawn strength from those alongside her. Today she’s preparing without fear to cross a new threshold, into the realm of entrepreneurship and management. She’ll need her community to stand beside her and support her! Take a look at the video above, and please consider giving a tax-deductible donation to help make her latest dream a reality. If you’ve already given, we are so grateful. For those waiting for the right moment, don’t be afraid–join us, and we’ll walk into the future together.
Yours,
Ryan
We’re announcing a very special milestone–the opening of our first expansion site, a new redemption center in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York!
Sure We Can is a non-profit organization that operates a New York City recycling center, community space and sustainability hub that serves independent recyclers, or "canners" – people who collect bottles and cans to earn income to provide for themselves and their families – as well as the local community in general. For the past 17 years, Sure We Can has served as the only redemption center in New York State that supports canners’ lives as well as their livelihoods by providing space and amenities that meet their holistic needs, access to low-barrier work, and offering a sense of belonging and community. From our recycling work to our education, advocacy and outreach programs, we promote social inclusion, environmental awareness and economic empowerment.
For years, we’ve dreamed of starting a second redemption site and meeting and working with a new community of recyclers., We’re so thrilled to be making that dream a reality with the opening of a brand new satellite redemption center in East New York! We'll be transforming an empty 3,500 sqft lot right under Broadway Junction into another community oriented and supportive redemption center. In this new neighborhood, we'll be able to reach a whole new group of canners and connect with a new community. The site will provide a space not only for redemption services, but also for mutual aid and holistic support to the community, including the newest New Yorkers who have come to our city quite recently, and are looking for opportunities to work and participate.
Josefa MarínThe new site will be led by Josefa Marín, a canner for over 15 years, founder and President of the Alliance of Independent Recyclers, and vital member of the Sure We Can community. Josefa works daily to expand Sure We Can’s community, introducing others to the important work of recycling, and sharing with other canners the unique opportunities and values manifested by Sure We Can and recruiting them as members.
“At Sure We Can, canners can find support that doesn’t exist elsewhere. But it doesn’t reach every canner in the city. Shouldn’t every canner have the same opportunities to thrive?”
We're so grateful for the support we've already received from our partners Impact 100 and NYC Connect to initiate the process of making this project a reality. Now, in order to get the new site ready to open, we're asking for your help in making it the best it can be, by supporting key purchases like an office trailer for staff and reused shipping containers to store the bottles and cans. We'll also need the smaller things that will help make the site comfortable and welcoming, like office supplies and PPE for canners. We'll have our work cut out for us in getting the site ready, but we're so excited to get started! With your help, we will raise $30,000 by the end of the year towards this exciting expansion!!