She’s Our Sister
Support housing stability for our sister by contributing mutual aid towards her living expenses.
Peace & Blessings,
Safe and affordable housing is essential for our sisters returning home from jail. Housing access significantly impacts a person’s ability to work, receive healthcare, and participate in community life.
After posting bail, a lack of stable housing often leads to a downward spiral. Accessing much-needed support services becomes extremely challenging, creating a revolving door back to jail and the continued need for bail.
It is difficult for our sisters to regain their footing upon release.
Rose from Concrete
The bail fund posted bond for a sister in our community, Ajwa Nadirah Naveen, in April 2021. When she returned home from jail, intruders had broken into Sister Ajwa’s apartment. They stole all of her belongings, and our sister had to rebuild from the beginning.
Despite surviving carceral trauma and a burglary, Sister Ajwa turned pain into presence for our people. Alhumdulillah, she secured a job with a community-based organization and also did volunteer street outreach and food distribution.
Family Separation
Six months ago, our sister experienced another home invasion. A SWAT team snatched away Ajwa’s husband, who is now in federal custody. The violence of family separation has imposed tremendous emotional and financial stress on Sister Ajwa. The prison system also restricts her to 15 minutes of phone calls per day and grants no visitation with her husband during Ramadan.
Our sister is four months behind in her rent and is facing eviction.
Incarceration and Houselessness
In the U.S., formerly incarcerated people face particularly high rates of housing insecurity and houselessness. People who have been to prison just once experience houselessness at a rate nearly seven times higher than the general public. People incarcerated more than once have rates 13 times higher than the general public.
The lack of safe and stable affordable housing for our sisters returning home is a significant issue. As Philly Muslim Freedom Fund co-founder Abbas Naqvi writes in Abolition Journal:
We are caged, and upon release, we are often funneled right back inside because the system is designed to keep us caged: the system perpetuates punishment long after physical incarceration ends. Upon release from imprisonment, individuals carry a tainted permanent record that severely limits their opportunities. Employment becomes difficult to secure, essential benefits are revoked, housing applications are frequently denied, and legal discrimination becomes the norm—despite having “done their time.”
Ramadan #SOS
Our beloved Prophet (s) said:
Whoever relieves a believer’s distress of the distressful aspects of this world, Allah will rescue him from a difficulty of the difficulties of the Hereafter” (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 2699).
We are asking that you relieve Sister Ajwa’s distress and contribute directly towards her living expenses.
Mutual aid through our networks is one of our greatest resources. Show solidarity and strengthen our bonds!
You can also uplift by sharing this LaunchGood among your networks, insha’Allah.
If you’re in Philadelphia, hear Sister Ajwa speak on Tuesday, March 31 at 645-815p. Join us at the Calvary Center (801 S 48th St)in West Philly!
Thanks for your support – tap here and uplift our sister today!