Interested in joining our email list? Please read our protocols + details prior to applying:

BAWS Listserv Purposes

What the Listserv is for

• Sharing news, info, or opportunities (e.g., ads, listings, job opportunities) 

• Requests for peer support

• Requests for advice and resources

• Low and moderate support requests (see support request examples below)

• Events promotions

• Selling/seeking items 

What the Listserv is not for

• Yucks on others’ yums, judgment

• Any racism, transphobia, homophobia, whore-archy, threats of violence, and other forms of oppression

• High support requests and emergency needs support requests (see Table 2

• Regular and substantial monetary support and mutual aid requests

  Listserv Protocols

1. No posts including racism, transphobia, homophobia, whore-archy, threats of violence, and other forms of oppression

2. Confidentiality and Privacy 

• Maintain the anonymity of your fellow workers. Do not share information, names, or stories about other workers without consent.

• Never share anyone’s legal name. This is a zero-tolerance issue.

• If posting pictures, make sure you have the consent of everyone included and blur non-consenting folks in your image.

3. Assume positive intent in others

• Listen to understand and replace judgment with curiosity.

4. Clear and concise subject lines with any relevant trigger warnings

• Example: [Request for Support] TW: [Domestic Violence]

5. No explicit, graphic details of violence

• Feel free to share that you are struggling. Please refrain from sharing specific details regarding trauma, abuse, self-harm, suicide ideation, and specifics that may be activating for others.

• Ex: You can share that you are experiencing Intimate Partner Violence, but do not go into specifics of what that looks like.

6. One mutual aid request per season (roughly every 3 months)

• The Listserv can help you with low—to moderate-level support requests. However, it is not a good place for regular and/or high-level of support. Our community and TOPS team are not equipped to support these of needs through the Listserv (please see support request level examples in the next section).

• See our website for additional resources.

• If you need additional help, please email us at bawsgrants@proton.me. We will connect you to resources that can better support you.

7. Do not post anything to incriminate yourself or others in the eyes of the law

• Our Riseup listserv provides strong encryption, anonymizing services, and minimal data retention. And yet, this listserv goes out to 100s community members, and we can not ensure that every email sent will remain confidential. Please post with that awareness. 

• We suggest forming private Signal text threads with each other to discuss more sensitive information.

8.  If found violating these protocols, folks will be contacted and removed from the Listserv, at the discretion of the TOPS team. You may request for readmittance by reaching out to bawsorg@gmail.com. 

Support Request Levels and Examples

*Listserv is equipped to support Low + Moderate support requests

Support Request Level: Low

• Accountants and tax information

• Website recommendations 

• Screening tips

• Selling/seeking items

Support Request Level: Moderate

• Food resources

• Seeking/offering housing/rooms and housing resources

• GoFundMe

• Rideshares

• Resources for sexual assault and DV after-care

• Monetary requests

• COVID resources

Support Request Level: High and Emergency

• Immediate support to leave a violent situation 

• Imminent threat to your safety (such as suicide threats and self-harm)

• Regular and substantial requests for money and mutual aid

Email Mechanics and Formatting Guidelines:

1. Subject lines should be clear, informative, and short. Include TW/CW (Trigger Warning/Content Warning) as needed.

1. Ex: ISO Advertising platform recommendations

2. Ex: ISO $ for upcoming move, TW: IPV

3. Ex. Selling XX Brand Harness, Size YY. $100 OBO

2. Do not send administrative emails (ex: remove me from this list) to the whole server. Use the instructions at the bottom of each email to remove yourself from the list. If you need help with administrative tasks, email bawsorg@gmail.com. 

3. Double check your email to see if it is a ‘reply’ or a ‘reply all’

1. “me too” or “thank you” emails should be sent to individuals, not the whole list

4. Sending hyperlinks works better than attachments

1. Listserv attachment limit is very low and will often bounce if the file size is too large.

2. Images tend to get shrunken down and have poor resolution. 

>>Please apply to join our community Listserv here.