Building Capacity: 2024 Year-in-Review & Summer 2025 Fundraiser
The volunteers at Decarcerate Western Mass Bailout Project are excited to share a bit about what 2024 looked like for us (and, we’re also eager to loop you in to recent 2025 happenings!). Last month we officially released our 2024 Annual Report, with statistics on bailouts, educational events, and new initiatives. As for some highlights:
Our collective efforts led to the release of 64 people from the Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden County jails—all of whom were held solely because they could not afford bail.
Our total bail contributions totaled $52,000, which was a 50% increase from the previous year.
We broadened political education opportunities, which included a summer film series, formally launching our Abolitionist Book Club, and coordinating a student organizer workshop series.
We laid groundwork for launching the first participatory defense hub in Western Massachusetts—an initiative aimed at building community power in the courtroom that we are continuing to work toward in 2025.
We’re immensely grateful to all of the volunteers, donors, and supporters who made last year possible and whose contributions are keeping us strong in 2025! So far this year, we have bailed out 35 people to date from the Hampshire and Franklin County jails, expanded our work with the participatory defense hub, and organized community and political education events (from monthly court watches, to the recent re-entry kit packing event, to our anti-inauguration party).
As we plan for the remainder of 2025 and beyond, sustainability is at the forefront of our minds—especially by ensuring we retain the capacity to meet community demand for bail. To make sure that our work intervening in the carceral system remains ongoing and well-resourced, we recently launched a $20k for Summer 2025 fundraiser.
This $20,000 fundraising goal will allow us to bail out 20 to 25 people from pretrial detention. Importantly, once the money is returned to Decarcerate after someone’s court hearing, those same funds can be used to free even more people. We ask that our community please help spread the word about (and participate in!) this fundraiser to help us build capacity and foster greater sustainability.
We also encourage you to keep an eye out this summer for special events and initiatives as part of the $20k for Summer 2025 campaign.
Thank you so much for your support!
