The Yoda Fund

A Scholarship for Queer, BIPoC, Disabled, and Marginalized Writers

The Story So Far: This scholarship has enabled the subsidizing of NINE retreat spots and TWO annual memberships. As each scholarship application is accepted, I raise the goal to meet the need. 

The Yoda Fund is a community-powered scholarship supporting Queer, BIPoC, Disabled and Other Marginalized Writers at Writing With Mermaids. www.withmermaids.com

These are the voices the world needs.

As DEI programs disappear and arts funding is slashed, we’re not waiting for institutions to do better. We’re building what they won’t. One retreat, one writer at a time.

This is not charity. This is responsibility.

Every $175 raised sponsors one writer’s full retreat. I’ll personally contribute the final $100 to cover the full low-income retreat fee of $275.

Every $25/month supports a writer’s ongoing membership

This fund is named in honor of Yodassa Williams, a brilliant, queer, Black writer whose belief in the radical power of storytelling helped birth these retreats. Her light lives on in every writer we support.

Whether you’ve been moved by Black, brown, queer, or disabled creativity—through literature, music, fashion, language, or spirit—this is a meaningful way to give back.

Your donation makes space for rest, healing, and powerful art that ripples into books, classrooms, conversations, and culture.
Let’s build the bookshelf of the future.

👉 Donate now. Share widely. Sponsor joy.

Find out more about this fund at https://www.withmermaids.com/pages/yodafund