Ripple Community Collective

Mutual Aid Call-Out for a Community Member in Crisis 💜

Ripple Community Collective is asking our community to come together in support of a Black q***r femme community activist currently facing an ongoing housing and safety crisis.

For months, she has been navigating repeated police interactions, housing instability, and the profound impacts of CPTSD rooted in lifelong experiences of police violence. According to those supporting her, police have repeatedly attended her home, including late-night visits, creating an environment of fear and ongoing distress while she attempts to maintain her housing and wellbeing.

At the same time, she is navigating tenant rights issues and awaiting ODSP support. The combined weight of these circumstances has created significant financial and emotional hardship.

We know that systems often fail people when they are most vulnerable. This is where community can step in.

We're hoping to help raise $1,000 toward rent and immediate stability needs while she navigates this difficult chapter.

💜 E-transfer:
[email protected]

Every contribution, no matter the size, helps reduce pressure and creates a little more breathing room for someone who has spent years advocating for others while carrying an enormous burden herself.

If you're unable to contribute financially, please consider sharing this post and sending words of encouragement.

Community care means showing up for one another when the road gets hard. Let's help remind our neighbour that she doesn't have to walk this alone. 🌿

🎶 Live Music Alert! 🎶

Ripple Community Collective and Auntie Fashion Dance Troupe are excited to welcome Improva to Community Care Day today! 🌈✨

are improvisational musical specialists creating vibrant fusions of world music, funk, jazz, reggae, disco, bossa nova, Latin rhythms, and afrobeats, all infused with their own unique twists and flavour.

Come enjoy incredible live music, community connection, art, food, and mutual aid while soaking up some seriously good vibes. 💃🕺🎷🥁

📍 St. Stephen-in-the-Fields
🕛 Today, 12–4pm
💜 Free, all ages, and open to everyone

We're excited to welcome MAST Toronto (Mutual Aid Self/Social Therapy) to our Community Care Day today! 💜

MAST is an anarchist political care project focused on helping people address trauma, stress, and burnout, particularly within organizing and community work. Through practical skill-sharing and guided practice, MAST helps people build stronger cultures of care, resilience, and mutual support.

They'll be tabling throughout the day and sharing information about their new Toronto chapter, so stop by, say hello, and learn more about this valuable community resource. 🌱🤝

📍 St. Stephen-in-the-Fields
🕛 Today, 12–4pm

🎶✨ Tomorrow Night! ✨🎶

Ripple Community Collective wants to send a huge shoutout to the incredible Andrea Ramolo, musician, community builder, creative powerhouse, and a friend and supporter of Ripple Community Collective since our earliest days. 💜

Andrea's passion for creating spaces where artists can connect, thrive, and be celebrated is part of what makes Toronto's arts community so special. Tomorrow she's bringing that vision to life once again through the third annual Our Music Festival.

🌟 Our Music Festival 📅 Saturday, May 30 📍 The Mod Club, Toronto 🚪 Doors: 6:30 PM 🎤 Show: 7:30 PM

Celebrating and uplifting female and gender-diverse artists, this year's lineup includes:

🎶 Alysha Brilla
🎶 Anyma Ora
🎶 Ammoye
🎶 Kimmortal
🎶 Maia Davies
🎶 DJ Me Time

More than a music festival, it's a celebration of connection, empowerment, creativity, and community.

💜 Even better, Ripple Community Collective has access to a small number of free festival passes for community members who would like to attend but may not otherwise be able to.

If you'd like to join us, send us a message as soon as possible and we'll do our best to connect you with a pass.

Thank you, Andrea, for everything you do to support artists, community, and the beautiful ripple effects that happen when people come together through music. 🌊🎶✨

Let's All Celebrate Lara's 1111th Day of Sobriety! 🎉

Today we want to celebrate something truly remarkable.

Congratulations, Lara-- on 1111 days of sobriety. 💜✨

Your commitment to healing has touched so many lives. Through your courage, honesty, perseverance, and willingness to keep showing up for yourself and others, you've created a ripple of positive change that extends far beyond what any of us can see.

We are so honoured to walk beside you in community, friendship, healing, and mutual support. Your journey inspires us. Your resilience reminds us what is possible. Your example makes our communities stronger, safer, and more compassionate.

One of the ways we'd like to honour this milestone is by helping support your ongoing health and healing journey.

We're hoping to raise $200 toward a water purification system that will help provide cleaner, healthier water and support Lara's immune system and recovery.

Anyone who knows Lara knows how much of herself she pours into helping others. Through her work with Ripple Community Collective, outreach efforts, community organizing, and countless acts of care behind the scenes, she has touched more lives than she will ever fully know.

When we invest in the wellbeing of the people who hold our communities together, that care ripples outward 🌊💜

If you'd like to contribute, you can send an e-transfer to:

💜 [email protected]

Please include the comment:
LARAwater

And if you'd like to celebrate with us in person, join Lara and the Ripple Community Collective family tomorrow, May 30th from 12–4pm at:

📍 St. Stephen-in-the-Fields
103 Bellevue Ave, Kensington Market

We'll be gathering for a paywall-free Community Care Day featuring a free store, clothing swap, radical art jam, face painting, crafting, free food, community conversations, and collective care. Throughout the day we'll also be celebrating Lara's incredible achievement and all that it represents.

Thank you, Lara, for showing us what healing in action looks like. We are grateful for you, inspired by you, and proud to celebrate this milestone with you.

💧 1111 days.
🌱 Countless lives touched.
🌊 A ripple that keeps growing.

💜 THIS WEEKEND 💜 SATURDAY! 12-4PM!

Ripple Community Care Day x Auntie Fashion Dance Troupe ✨

🎨 Radical art jam
🎭 Face + body painting
👕 Free store + clothing swap
🍲 Free meal, snacks + potluck
🧵 Upcycling + crafting
🤝 Community care + resilience conversations

Celebrating Lara’s 1111 days of sobriety 💧
Collecting outreach supplies for APFO 💞

This is an all ages community event for the whole family, organized to help support mutual care, connection, and resource sharing in our city 🌈

There will be arts and crafts activities throughout the day, and folks are encouraged to bring clean, washed, good-condition summer clothing to contribute to the free store and clothing swap ☀️

We’re also inviting community members to contribute ingredient-labeled dishes, snacks, or drinks for the shared potluck meal if they’re able 🍲💞

Especially needed: 👕 t-shirts
🩴 flip flops
🧢 hats
🧴 sunscreen + summer supplies

The entire event is completely paywall free and open to everyone, although donations are deeply appreciated wherever possible to help sustain future community care efforts 💜

Come create, share, connect, and care with us ✨

📍 St. Stephen-in-the-Fields
103 Bellevue Avenue
🗓 May 30 | 12–4pm

DM to volunteer, donate, or get involved 💌
You can also contact us to arrange donations ahead of time or help support donation delivery after the event.

💜 [email protected]
💜 [email protected]

Some days are about more than just gathering… they’re about holding each other through it all 💜🌈

Join us May 30th, 12–4pm at St. Stephen-in-the-Fields (103 Bellevue Ave, Kensington Market) for
Ripple Community Care Day x Auntie Fashion Dance Troupe Art Jam ✨

We’re coming together to honour Lara’s 1111th day of sobriety-- a powerful milestone of resilience, healing, and community care 💧

Together, we’ll be turning shared resources into wearable resistance through a joyful, radical art jam 🎨✂️🧵
Expect a day filled with:
🌿 clothing swap + upcycle & craft zone
🌿 free store + clothing pop-up
🌿 free food for the community
🌿 conversations on care, resilience, and supporting low-income / at-risk communities
🌿 collective sharing of resources in action

✨ All leftover items will be redistributed to local outreach teams and shelters

We’re also inviting folks to contribute to the free store if you’re able: Clothing, art supplies, household items, or ingredient-labeled dishes 💞

In honour of Lara’s journey, we’re fundraising for a water purification system to support her immune system and recovery — donations are welcome, but there is no cost to participate 💙

We’ll also be collecting essential supplies for All Peoples Fighting Oppression (APFO)

including: 🧦 underwear, socks, sweats
🧴 hygiene + care items
🩹 first aid supplies
🥫 ready-to-eat food + snacks
🎫 gift cards & TTC tickets
⛺ tents, sleeping bags, blankets
…and more to support frontline outreach work

If you can’t attend but want to contribute, donations can be sent to:
[email protected]
(comment: WATERLARA)

💌 Want to get involved?
Reach out to us directly if you’d like to donate, volunteer, help with pickups/drop-offs, or if you’re a grassroots outreach team that would like to be a beneficiary of this collective care day and community collection. We’d love to connect and support where it’s needed most.

This is a day to show up as you are, give what you can, and take what you need.
No barriers. Just community 💜

Come through. Bring a friend. Let’s build something beautiful together 🌈✨

Self-care and healthy boundaries are the foundation of any sustainable resistance--- especially for front line organizers, and all those engaging in community care, mutual aid and activism. None of us can pour from an empty cup--- we are here to set🔥 fire🔥 to oppressive systems--- not to burn ourselves out in the process.🫶🏼 Put on your own gas mask first, and be gentle with yourselves, first and foremost.💛 Images from .love .dagba

Heart-led creative energy isn’t a luxury in a crisis.
It’s resistance.
They want us numb, divided, and exhausted.
Creation is how we stay human.
Connection is how we stay dangerous.
Art, community care, dance and collective imagination aren’t distractions from the fight.
They’re how we survive it.
They’re how we win. ✊🏽❤️

Image by the wonderful .dagba