Our world is threatened: our landlord has asked us to leave our space by April 30!

Sure We Can is a community space, sustainability hub, and redemption center located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. At our site, canners, or those who collect and redeem bottles and cans to earn a living, come together with artists, students, and neighbors to envision a better world, expressed through recycling, gardening, composting, and art. SWC goes beyond livelihood support by building community, providing dignity, and by forging alliances of advocacy at local, national, and global levels. We need help to stay on the land on which we have grown, and be free from the shadow of eviction!

Sure We Can is a unique place, dedicated to supporting those who are most vulnerable or left behind.

For over 10 years, Sure We Can has served the community of canners, most of whom belong to extremely marginalized groups such as immigrants and those experiencing homelessness or mental illness, and today it has evolved into a community center that promotes a sustainable urban culture and facilitates a circular economy. As New York’s only non-profit redemption center, Sure We Can proudly supports canner culture, and all informal, just, and compassionate economies.

We are a vital and irreplaceable part of the Bushwick community, and our removal would be felt on many levels.

Every month, our redemption activities divert approximately 1,000,000 bottles and cans from New York City’s waste stream. Our bottles and cans are clean, intact, and well-sorted, which vastly increases their likelihood of being constructively recycled. This work also distributes over $650,000 annually into our community, supporting hundreds of local informal recyclers. Our community is growing, and to date includes over 700 canners! Removal from our site means us abandoning those who society has already left behind, and even forgotten. Our community members work on foot, and many are elderly or are experiencing disabilities; they won’t be able to follow us to a new location.

We will do everything we can to keep our community intact!

We face many challenges, and yet we know we are not alone. Together with our allies we work every day to create a welcoming space for all, which nurtures values of conscientious stewardship of our planet and of each other. Without a space, these are only wonderful ideas. We need to muster all of our effort, and call on all of our friends, to remain where we are, in the neighborhood which is our home, where we belong.

We need help to keep advocating to all who will listen for a world in which everyone matters. Join us!

@surewecannyc

www.surewecan.org