Please make a donation to the Taking Care Fund to ensure that we are able to maintain a monthly grant cycle for #dctheatre makers through 2025 and beyond.
And if you are a DC-area theatre-maker in need of support, please learn more about applying to the Taking Care Fund.
Raghad Makhlouf, DC-based theatre artist, shares:
You know that thing where you throw a stone in a flowing river and its ripples spread out across the surface? You can see the effects of one stone reverberating across the water, creating bigger waves and building strength? That’s how I think of the Taking Care Fund. When you give to the Fund, you are directly supporting a theatre-maker in our community. That person is able to heal or rest or simply breathe easier, allowing them time and space to get back to whole. They can get themselves back to their art or their work. That work is seen by others and might be joy-bringing or soul-changing…it reverberates. As a recipient of a grant from Taking Care, that is part of my story. And I’m beyond grateful.
When I fled my home in Syria and arrived as an asylum seeker in the United States seven years ago, I faced the reality of rebuilding not just my career as an artist but a whole new life with no support system here – my family scattered around the world as refugees themselves. It was a humbling experience. I exhausted my life savings and was driving Lyft and Uber to supplement income from working as a performer, assistant director, and writer. After a health setback in 2021, I felt as though I was rebuilding again. In 2023, when I needed surgery for a hernia, I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do. Though my insurance would cover the surgery itself, I needed time to recover – time that I couldn’t spend working or hustling. And that’s when a dear colleague reminded me of the Taking Care Fund.
Some might perceive the grant I received to be modest, and perhaps it was monetarily speaking, but for me, a person who works paycheck to paycheck, it allowed me time to heal. To not just rest and recover, but to put aside the mental anguish that comes with not knowing how you will pay expenses – rent, car, bills. It allowed me to get stronger and healthier, not just physically but psychologically. Once again, I felt that the DC theatre community was providing support, care, and love.
Being a theatre artist defines who I am in this world. This is my life’s work and doing it is essential to my full existence and being. My sense of belonging in the United States is rooted here in the DC theatre community. I recently told a friend that I feel like if I am in need physically or financially, this community will carry me to the other side of that challenge. I feel less alone.
I want you to know that your donation to the Taking Care Fund makes a difference. If it supports one person, you are creating a positive impact in many lives. It ripples.
