Frequently Asked Questions

Participating Neighbors are not asked to put any money in in order to participate. However, if a Neighbor Team would like to do so at a certain point, we provide them with the infrastructure to start a susu. A susu is a Caribbean / West African term for what is an ancient and global community approach to sharing wealth. As part of a GatherFor susu, each Neighbor contributes an agreed upon amount (usually $50-$100) into a shared pot. GatherFor matches total contributions up to $500. This means if a Neighbor Team with 5 members each put in $100, they collectively contribute $500 to their susu, with GatherFor adding another $500. The total susu of $1,000 is given to one member of the Neighbor Team that month, which each Neighbor taking their turn.

Currently, we welcome anyone who is a resident of Brownsville, Brooklyn who is willing to:

• Commit to working with and supporting a team of their Neighbors through showing up for regular Neighbor Team meetings with presence and a desire to be of service,

• Commit to receiving the support fo your Neighbor Team,

We’re piloting in Brownsville, Brooklyn with about 30 participants. If we find our model consistently works, we hope to expand across New York and across the US.

You can fill out this form and someone on our team will reach out to you for a phone call or deeper conversation about your situation and the program. As part of the process, we ask that you share two references with us who can also speak to your situation.

When you join a Neighbor Team, we ask that you commit to being a part of it for at least 3 months, and participate in at least 1 weekly or biweekly meeting (usually an hour in length). We also have monthly Town Hall meetings and workshops multiple times per month. These are optional to attend, but hopefully offer valuable chances to build relationship, learn, secure resources, and inform the direction of GatherFor.

We have been piloting this model since late October 2020 with 30 active participants. You can see what currently participating Neighbors have to say in this 2-minute video. In joining now, you’ll help us pioneer and continue to improve this model so it can serve as many people as possible. So far, Neighbors indicate that GatherFor has felt like a “second family.” Neighbors have helped each other to:

• Connect to immigration lawyers

• Find nearby food pantries and subscribe for free food services

• Secure health care

• Navigate mental health challenges

• Secure clothes, cash, and food

• Determine how to parent during the pandemic

• Heal from experiences of domestic violence

• Start businesses

• Find trusted childcare

Absolutely. We will take special precautions to be sensitive to your situation.

We completely understand. You are always in control of what information you share and don’t share and won’t be asked to do or say anything you don’t feel comfortable with.

Yes, we are a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with EIN 85-3982098. You can view our Candid / Guidestar profile, where we have a 2022 Platinum Seal of Transparency.

We chose the name GatherFor because it communicates what we believe: whatever we need to do, whatever we need to endure, whatever we need to find our way through, if we come together with one another committed to each other’s well-being, we have everything we need. What we gather for is determined by the people gathering. That’s why we put the colon at the end of our name. It’s for our Neighbors to determine why their Neighbor Team comes together. It’s for them to determine during each gathering their purpose. Our role is to help bring them together and remove the obstacles to their supporting one another. They are the people who really give purpose and life to this work, and our hope is to support them.