Survivors Organizing for Liberation (SOL) has provided direct survivor support, advocacy and education, and youth empowerment services through Buried Seedz of Resistance (BSeedz) under its new name since 2014. Prior to that, the work of the Colorado Anti Violence Program had been a presence and impact on the Colorado lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual community since 1986. Our letter to you today is to share an important and heavy update regarding the future of SOL.
Our organization has struggled over the last five years to sustain itself. Transitions with staff and board, fluctuating funding patterns, and community harm are among several factors that have made the journey difficult as our latest staff and board members attempted to reground our work. Sadly we have reached a point in our organization’s journey where our fiscal sponsor the Colorado Nonprofit Development Center has determined that we must close our doors and allow for a new effort to emerge.
To our community that has been supporting us through our stabilization: we are so grateful for the love and energy we have exchanged that got us this far. To our community that still feels harm from the existence of SOL: we hope that our announcement to close can help in some way release the emotions and tensions related to the harm caused directly and indirectly by our legacy.
And to all of those that we have served, supported, and struggled alongside: please know that your survival is of the utmost importance to the people who work at SOL. While we cannot say for sure what will come next in terms of direct services, members of our staff, board, volunteers, and the communities we are part of will work towards providing you support in your survival.
Our services as SOL and BSeedz will end on June 30th, 2019. Effective immediately, our hotline will answer calls and texts between the hours of 12pm and 9pm, with calls made before and after attended to within a reasonable timeframe. This is a step towards closing the hotline, which will be announced at a later date. Our staff will be reaching out to other agencies in the hopes to ensure referral networks and supports for the services we currently provide (e.g. 24/7 hotline, advocacy and education trainings, youth empowerment programs and services). Other updates will be shared as we have them by our social media pages and by email.
Thank you for your support, and for sharing this with your networks. If there are any additional questions, follow up, or feedback regarding our closing please reach out to us using the contact information provided above.
With gratitude,
Survivors Organizing for Liberation and Buried Seedz of Resistance
