Posted by People's Plumbing on Jun 23, 2024
People’s Plumbing is kicking off our summer fundraiser and we need your help to continue our work and grow!
Who We Are
Our worker cooperative exists because we believe all people have a right to clean, safe drinking water and working plumbing, no matter their ability to pay. The two co-founders and worker-owners of People’s Plumbing are Cristobal and Emma. Cristobal was a licensed plumber in California for over seven years and has led workshops on nonviolence using a gift economics model. They knew from previously owning a plumbing company that they would need help with paperwork and recruited Emma. Emma has experience doing bookkeeping, administrative work, and fundraising with nonprofits. We also collaborate with Devon, a plumber local to Cleveland, who currently works with us as a volunteer service technician. We hope to hire Devon in the next year–and you can help make this happen!
We've been in business since October 2023 and have worked with over 50 participants. Projects have ranged from handy repairs like hanging art and fixing door knobs to electrical jobs like fixing an outlet to plumbing work like installing a garbage disposal and a water heater.
Our Model
Our gift economics model means that when we show up to a participant’s home or business, we are asking for a relationship instead of a fee. Participants are responsible for paying for materials and equipment rentals, but our labor is a gift. They get to choose how much money they want to gift us. We’ve had jobs that did not pay for our gas, and we’ve had jobs that have paid half a month’s salary. There’s going to be variation and some people will pay more and some will pay less, and it really only works if folks who have more money contribute more. Would you consider making a monthly gift to join us in this work?
Why We Need Your Help
Our goal is to raise $1,000 in monthly gifts. This will help us reach our goals of buying a van and drain cleaning equipment as well as paying our workers fairly. We are all about transparency, so you can find our quarterly reports with our income and expenses on our website here. If you’re considering making a one-time or monthly gift, below are some numbers to consider.
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Buying a van will cost us approximately $600 per month.
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Our first priority is to buy a van. A van is critical at this point because it would allow us to more effectively buy and move larger equipment, such as drain cleaning machines and plywood, and organize our tools and stock. This amount includes insurance.
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Two drain cleaning machines cost a total of $3,000.
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Drain cleaning machines are key for plumbing work. Up until now, we have either rented drain cleaning machines or borrowed small ones. Owning our own drain cleaning machines will make it possible for us to help many more people because clogged drains are a common issue.
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To pay two of our workers $18 an hour, it will cost us about $3,000 a month.
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Emma and Cristobal have received wages and are working toward this goal of getting paid $18 an hour in 2024.
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Hiring an additional worker would raise our monthly salary expense to $6,200.
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We are working toward the goal of hiring a second service technician, Devon, in the next year. This could cost an additional $3,200 per month.
Thus, we are seeking monthly gifts totaling $1,000 to help us meet these needs so that we can focus on providing necessary, high quality, people-centered service. We invite you to donate via Comradery, a worker co-op alternative to Patreon, PayPal, or by mailing a check to Emma Folkerts at 1575 S Wyandot Street, Denver, CO 80223.
Recently, we went live on Instagram @Peoples_Plumbing and Facebook at People’s Plumbing. Follow us!
We invite you to reach out if you have a plumbing, electrical, or other handy repair need. Please feel free to share this invitation widely to support accessible plumbing services, gift economics, and cooperative economies. We appreciate you!