R4S:  How does the site work?

Didi: People of color post their requests and white allies make payments to fulfill those requests.

First, everybody has to read the rules and agree to abide by them. Once you’ve done that, you can request up to $100 with pay links, i.e. your PayPal account, Cash App, etc. People provide a little information about why they're seeking funds. We review all posts to make sure they seem legit, then we post them, and our allies contribute where they can. We have a system of, “post bumps;” as people read your request, they can bump the post so more people can see it. You can even bump your own post, but only if you also bump someone else’s. We call that, “Community Care.” Facebook’s algorithms are a real mess; bumping helps make sure posts aren’t lost in the shuffle.

We use a system of tags so that folks can easily find things they want to fund, for instance, food, car repair, gas, diapers.

The most folks can ask for is $5,000 - that’s for anything someone might want or need.

People are allowed three requests a year. If you need extra, you're going to pay $5 into one of our pools. That way you will respect the group more since you’ll have to put something into it to get something out of it.

What’s been inspiring is watching people work together to meet a need – like we crowdfunded $4,000 to help someone with housing.  It takes time, but it's wonderful when they get into the new place and post pictures of the keys, and the allies can say, "Hey, we did this!"

R4S:  What sort of success stories have you seen?

Didi:  What’s been inspiring is watching people work together to meet a need – like we crowdfunded $4,000 to help someone with housing.  It takes time, but it's wonderful when they get into the new place and post pictures of the keys, and the allies can say, "Hey, we did this!"

Another example was a young lady who ended up with child, had no support structure and didn't know what to do.  The support this girl received, both financially and emotionally, was just amazing.  This was really her first adult moment and she didn't want to be judged.  She just really needed help.  In the end, she had all sorts of women giving her resources or offering emotional support.

Another donation that stands out: a woman gave away her car on RRO.  The post just appeared out of the blue.  I initially thought, is this for real?  But it was a legit offer and that inspired somebody else to give away their car.  So, we’ve have had a total of three cars given away in the group.

There're so many small acts of kindness on the site every day. We have several members who have children who are autistic. One of our allies might be at the store and they see something, and think, “Oh I remember from your posts that your child has autism, would you like one of these?” It’s not just the contributions; people are making connections. You get to know people through their posts, through comments on their posts. You scroll and think, Oh, this person, I remember they had this kid that was sick. Hey, how's the kid doing? Next thing, you know, you’ve struck up a friendship.

R4S:  Let's talk about impact. Since the inception, how much has the site raised in reparations?

Didi:  Overall, in the past four years I would guess we’ve raised about $250,000 through the various posts. In a good month we might bring in $7,000. That’s in months when people are knocking posts out left and right and crowdfunds are getting filled. In uncertain times, we are lucky to get $1,000 flowing in to cover posts. We also try to prepare and pad the funds for slow times because people still need groceries, things of that nature when donations are slow.

R4S:  Do you ever launch specific campaigns?

Didi:  Yes, every year we do a Christmas match. We also have pooled funds for specific purposes. For instance, about 10% of our members are either homeless or living in hotels or shelters. So, we try to keep a Shelter Pool for the people who need a hotel room or just a way to go take a shower. And then we keep a Parent Pool for diapers, formula, winter coats, a treat for your kid for getting a good report card. We also have a pool for LGTBQ members. Binders are a big thing for that community. And we have a tip pool for the Modmins to help with our costs.

Modmin Tip Pool: https://paypal.me/pools/c/8lhF7vBBcf
Shelter Pool: https://paypal.me/pools/c/8lfOpAqOaU
Parent Pool: https://paypal.me/pools/c/8lfO296Act
LGTBQ+ Pool: https://paypal.me/pools/c/8llFOPAG9N

R4S:  What do demographics of the site look like?

Didi:  73% of members are women. 65% of members are people of color, and the remaining 35% are white or Asian, because we have a lot of people who will join and they'll identify as Asian, but say they would prefer to function in the group as a white member, or ally. Also, about 14% identify as LGBTQ.

R4S:  Any problems with scamming on the site?

Didi:  Sure, it occasionally happens, but we rigorously check each post before we approve it. For instance, if somebody submits a request with a picture saying, “This is my child and we need food,” we reverse Google search it to make sure it’s not someone else’s child. I remember years ago when I first became a Mod, this lady submitted a request with a picture of this baby. I didn't approve the post, I immediately closed it. I knew it was not her baby. Some of the other Modmins asked, “How would you even know that's not her baby?” I said, “That baby is on my grandmother's favorite telenovela!” When people realize that we are paying attention, abuse goes way down.

Why do people sometimes scam? Ultimately, it's purely survival. Someone will say, “Oh, I have three kids that need to eat,” when it may just be only them. It's a little bit of social conditioning; they know people usually will do for kids before they do for a single adult. So, they're going for what they think people will give money to. For people who have urgent needs, we recommend they come to one of us instead of making something up.

But we also have problems on the other side of the fence - there'll be white people who join claiming they want to help. They don't want to help; they just want to make fun of people. We take care of problems on both sides.
For allies who are nervous about these sorts of things, I recommend using our pool funds. For instance, our Shelter Pool; we pay the hotel directly. You need to show proof that you're there. An ally gave us a ton of gift cards to hotels.com and she pointed out that if we paid centrally, we could earn free nights. Gifts like that have been very helpful.

R4S:  Any plans to expand the platform?

Didi: We’re applying to get a nonprofit designation. We’re hoping to expand what we do with the pools. For instance, charities can register with Amazon Smile. If people use Amazon Smile and designate us as the beneficiary, we hope to increase our funding for the pools.

We're also offering mentorship opportunities , where a white ally with skills posts an opportunity and BIPOC members can contact them to become mentees. We will soon begin offering a 6-month financial workshop.

R4S:  Why should white people invest in repair on RRO?

Didi:  When white people pay reparations on RRO, they end up interacting with people they wouldn’t normally meet. They discover, “Hey this person is not that different from me. We may have different backgrounds, but we have similar traits and interests.” It's a nice way to connect, a way for people to ease into closing that racial divide. It’s not threatening, and for $10 or $20, you’ve helped this person and maybe learned a little bit about them. RRO has touched a lot of lives. I've been doing this almost four years and I'm amazed at what I've seen.