Updates from your local bail fund

In the month of September, our staff paused operations at the Bail Fund to rest. We believe rest is resistance and the path toward liberation must make space for sustainable healing.
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In October we re-opened, and are now hard at work again. As we look forward to colder weather, we wanted to share with you what we have accomplished this year so far and what we are excited about that’s coming soon.

In spring and summer...

• Resource Bags: We are now offering resource bags to folks we have bailed. When they are released, often times our friends are hungry or thirsty. They don’t have PPE, hygiene products, or warm clothing. We are now bringing resource bags to jails that include: snacks, water, resource flyers, PPE, hygiene products, Narcan, a smoke kit, and 20 dollars cash for ride support. Our lovely community partners at  Justice 4 Housing and Whose Corner Is It Anyway have supported us with supplies. Partnerships are essential in our work! Without their support, we would not be able to provide post-bail care.

• Harm Reduction Training: In our vision for the future, the state of Massachusetts will have safe consumption sites that folks can access easily and anonymously. In the meantime, we want to offer solidarity, support, and resources to people who will be using after they have been bailed. To that end, we have invited our volunteer cohort to join us in a harm reduction training led by one of our community partners at Whose Corner Is It Anyway. It is our hope that these conversations will be ongoing.

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• MBF's statement on No Cost Calls, Pre-Trial Detention & Prison Moratorium: We have released a statement responding to Governor Baker’s attempt to expand the number of crimes that qualify for a dangerousness hearing. Folks who are given dangerousness hearings are held pre-trial without access to bail. Gov. Baker used an existing proposal to make prison phone calls free for inmates and their families as leverage to pass his ‘tough on crime’ agenda. In the end, the no cost calls law was not passed, and a narrower version of Gov. Baker’s agenda was passed. If you are interested to learn the details of this legislative session, this resource is very informative. In our statement, we also included our demands for the Massachusetts legislature. ​

Looking forward...

• ​Coat Drive: As the temperatures drop in the coming months, MBF is collecting new and gently used coats to hand out to folks at the jails. We have already seen an outpouring of generosity from our community members for which we are so grateful! Find more info below and consider donating at one of our site locations.

• Holiday Bailout: Each December MBF goes straight to the courts and bail folks before they are ever sent to jail for holding because we want as many people as possible to be home with their love ones for the holidays. In preparation for the Holiday Bailout, here is our donation link. Please give freely.

Lastly, we thank you for your continued support. We could not do the work we do without all of you!

in love and solidarity,
​mass bail fund