Tips and Resources for Economic Relief
As economic hardship continues to impact our communities, finding ways to supplement income to cover basic needs continues to be a necessary way to sustain our households.
Inspired by conversations with friends, family, and community members, below are a list of tips, resources, and opportunities to support our community in accessing different forms of economic relief.
Utilize local community spaces like food pantries, flea markets, and estate shops for free food and/or to negotiate prices on household items
Check for local food cooperatives, mutual aid fairs, community fridges that have free, low cost, or pay-what-you-can grocery distributions.
This extends to connecting with friends, family, and/or local community members to barter food, toiletries, and other household items.
Check for local organizations sharing mutual aid facebook groups, IG pages, discords, or other trusted groups to find local community support (the Mutual Aid Hub can be a starting place for learning about mutual aid organizations based in your local area)
Organize and/or participate in potlucks, cookouts, or other food-centered events with your trusted community to split/share food.
Find research studies that compensate participants with gift cards that can be used for groceries, toiletries, and other basic necessities:
Please note: it’s important to be intentional about vetting the platform, organization, college, research investigators, etc connected the study to confirm validity and to determine comfortability in sharing personal information prior to participating. If folks are hesitant to answer questions or properly explain and provide consent forms, those are red flags.
Some keywords that can be helpful to find studies to participate in are trans research studies gift card, Black mental health research studies gift card, gender diverse research studies gift card, or other research topics you may be interested in contributing to with gift card or compensation tagged at the end of your search. You can use these keywords on web search engines and/or through social media platforms (i.e. LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook)
For paid research studies, they don’t include immediate payment opportunities, but once you’re scheduled and complete them, compensation could be provided within 1-2 days or a couple of weeks (depending on the terms of the study)
Here are a few of active research studies / platforms folks can use to find additional research opportunities:
How Do You Community - open to folks (ages 18-30) who experience mental health concerns that make work, school, or your personal life challenging and identify as BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or with experience in the justice or child welfare systems. Participants receive a $30 Visa e-gift card for participating in a one-time Zoom interview (up to 90 minutes) with a young adult interviewer.
Savvy Cooperative (referral link) - shares a variety of studies for folks with verified health conditions.
LGBT Life Westchester Research Studies - share numerous research studies for LGBTQIA+ community members.
Seattle’s LGBTQ+ Center Research Studies - shares LGBTQ+ related research studies to advance culture, health, and well-being in our communities.
National LGBT Cancer Network Research Partnerships - compiles research studies related to LGBTQ+ health, including cancer research, screening, and prevention services, treatment, and policies.
Apply and/or bookmark unrestricted funds and microgrants focused on covering costs for basic needs and gender-affirming care:
Point of Pride Thrive Fund (closes August 31) offers small grants to trans folks who can’t afford gender-affirming care and wellness services not covered by their other programs.
Trans Safety Emergency Fund (reopens September 1) supports trans, non-binary, genderqueer, agender, gender nonconforming, and any other person with a non-cis identity with emergency situations such as (but not limited to):
Basic Living Costs (Food, household items, clothing, public transport etc.)
Monthly Bills(Electricity, Gas, Internet, Rent/Mortgage, Water, etc.)
Crucial Medical Bills (Hormones, Medical Recovery, Health Casualties, Therapy, etc.)
Safety (Self-Defence Courses, Relocation to safer environments)
Stimpunks Foundation Mutual Aid Grant (reopens January 2026) provides 2 mutual aid grants of US$500 each to fellow neurodivergent and disabled people. These grants cover anything you need for your welfare and survival.
Do you have an artistic talent in performing, literary, and/or visual arts or are interested in freelance work? Tap into spaces amplifying prizes, call for submissions, RFPs, fellowships, etc as other ways to supplement income. Here are a few spaces and people regularly sharing opportunities:
Galleyway shares poetry, theatre, tv/film, and nonfiction/fiction opportunities.
Grace Anderson has a compiled list of virtual, nationwide, and global writing residencies.
Funds for Writers shares grants, contests, fellowships, and other paid opportunities for writers.
Kaitlyn Arford has a weekly newsletter with a wide variety of freelance opportunities related to journalism, graphic design, video production, copywriting, content editing, SEO, marketing, web development, and more.
Creative Capital has a regularly updated list of grants, residencies, open calls, and career opportunities for artists working in all disciplines.
Looking for more funding opportunities and gender affirming resources? Visit our Q3 resource roundup for an updated list of funding opportunities and other resources to support our collective livelihood and well-being.
