Practitioners working to end mass incarceration are acutely aware of the urgent need to develop models for and examples of solutions for “what we should do instead,” but some of the best work consists of currently-tiny projects that are hard to find and vet. Life Comes From It (LCFI) is a grantmaking collective that supports the development, networking, and operations of restorative justice, transformative justice, indigenous peacemaking, and land-based healing projects and organizations led by communities of color.
Life Comes From It is led by a board of practitioners who are deeply connected to strong work on the ground. They are committed to building the infrastructure, pilots, and relationships necessary to scale these movements. Since its 2019 launch round, LCFI has provided small grants of between $5,000 to $25,000 to over 100 organizations from every part of the country. For many of these organizations, LCFI’s grant was the very first money that they raised.
Map of Life Comes From It Grantees: 2019-2021
The amount of funding going to build up these truly alternative practices is, by my rough count, less than 1% of money going to criminal justice reform overall. This ratio is not a long-term recipe for success. If we’re going to build a system that can provide safety and healing for everyone and ensure that the backlash against reform does not prevent future progress, it is essential for alternatives to be founded, networked, trained, and resourced.
For that reason, I’m recommending that donors consider including Life Comes From It in their portfolio, even if restorative justice, transformative justice, and/or indigenous peacemaking aren’t your thing. The long term success of work across the field requires that these opportunities be funded, and that will require steadily building up this fund over time.