Nov ‘24 Financial statement
Gulp… Here I go. My first statement of financial transparency as an individual. I’m not exactly sure how to talk about this since this is a brand new experiment for me.
I will share some updates about what my need is, followed by the generosity I have received. My intention is to share this kind of update every quarter or so. Click here to read why I do this.
My Need
For the first time in over two decades, I find myself without a full-time salary. Which is scary and exciting. Here are a few highlights to give you a sense of my current financial need.
In May of this year, I began a three-month leave to prepare for the birth of my first child (who was born May 7th!).
We purchased a new (used), more child friendly car before our baby was born.
I began working again at the end of July. However I am trying to work 3 to 3.5 days a week to continue to be able to be with my expanded family.
My partner and I pay a mortgage on a small, two-bedroom house in Oakland.
My elderly mother moved in with us a little over a year ago. We largely support her financially, including covering all of her bills.
My partner is very slowly starting to work again, but I am mostly the main income earner for a family of four.
We occasionally find ourselves supporting other members of our family who are in need.
Our house is very old, and is in need of consistent repair and maintenance. We have not had a working heater in three-years. But now with my mother and a baby in our home, we will need to install a heat pump this year - something that could cost us $15,000-20,000.
We plan to take a family trip to Asia in January of 2025, introducing our baby to extended family in Japan and Taiwan. We also plan to take a trip to Florida to visit other family over the December holidays.
I have a pretty significant contract for this year (more below), but that may no longer be available after the first month or two of 2025.
I regularly engage in projects for which I get paid nothing to very little. This includes some of my work with incarcerated communities and other grassroots communities who do not have the capacity to pay.
I make an attempt to redistribute 10% of my income to movements I care about, communities in need and individuals that I support.
Generosity
I am so aware of the incredible generosity that allows me to live comfortably. I feel incredibly lucky and privileged in so many ways.
I am a resident of Canticle Farm in Oakland - an intentional, multi-generational, multi-racial community of 45+ people living together, building community through the Great Turning and experimenting with the Gift Economy. This means many things, including:
Canticle Farm owns half of our home, which means we only had to pay for 50% of it - the only way we would be able to afford to buy a home in the Bay Area.
There are many other resources we have access to, including regular communal meals, produce from the land as well as our weekly food distribution program, etc.
In addition to those resources, we try to raise our children together and take care of our elders together. So we have perhaps more resources for childcare and elder care than the average family.
In addition to Canticle Farm paying for 50% of our home, a donor also gave us $100,000 to pay off our portion of the mortgage.
When I stepped away from work for parental leave, my partner and I held a GoFundMe since neither of us have a salaried job. We were so humbled to receive just over $16,000, which allowed me to not work for three months, and for my partner to still not feel any pressure to work.
I am a Core Member of Building Belonging, for whom I work 20 hours a week. This contract runs through at least February of 2025, and offers me $50,000. They were generous to offer me 50% pay during my family leave.
I get regular contracts for workshops and speaking gigs. Some pay nothing (literally), while others pay over $8,000 for one lecture. I have been humbled on more than one occasion recently with the generosity of some of my collaborators.
As I move forward, I plan on providing a more detailed breakdown of my needs and income. This is an ongoing experiment for me, as I am still in discernment about what information I share, and how much of it is actually useful to you - my community. I welcome any feedback you may have about what it is like to receive this information, what questions come up for you, and what other information may be helpful for you to see.
Thank you for reading!!!