People's Life Fund & Northern California War Tax Resistance

As this time of national and international crisis keeps us perpetually on edge, it’s reassuring to know how many people are working together to calm the violence and uplift the most vulnerable in our communities. The People’s Life Fund (PLF) is delighted to offer resisted war taxes to such projects through our 2026 granting cycle. 

The PLF offers grants to groups based in Northern California that are providing essential day-to-day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, and/or addressing the root causes of a problem by engaging in education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic or political change. 

The funds we distribute come from conscientious war tax resisters in Northern California who deposit or donate all or part of the amount they would otherwise pay to the federal government in income taxes. 

The deadline for the 2026 granting cycle is 5 pm, Friday, February 20, 2026.
The maximum grant award is $5,000. 

Apply here: PLF 2026 Grant Application Form

Reminder: Don’t forget to use the PLF Grant Report Form to report on any previous PLF grant you may have received before applying.

Thank you for spreading the word to anyone who might be interested!

The People’s Life Fund is pleased to announce the awardees of this year’s grants of redirected federal taxes—War Taxes—for groups in Northern California.

Thank you to all the amazing groups that applied. We wish we could fund all of you!

We will present checks to the groups, and hear about their work,
in a simple ceremony
that you and your friends are all invited to attend:

People’s Life Fund 2025 Granting Ceremony
April 13 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm
Berkeley Co-Housing community
(four blocks from North Berkeley BART).

Please RSVP for address and directions: nowartax@riseup.net.

The following groups will be receiving grants at the Ceremony:
3ʷLiberation Health Alliance Network
Amado Khaya Initiative
Art Forces and SUMUD Mural and Placemaking Project
Bay Area Superheroes
Berkeley Copwatch
Black Owned Project 365
Bridges of Hope CA
CODEPINK, Bay Area Chapter
Collective Action for Laborers, Migrants and Asylum Seekers (CALMA)
Decarcerate Sacramento
Earth Equity
Friends of the People in Blue
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Moments Cooperative and Community Space
National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
Road to Empowerment Restorative Services
San Francisco Solidarity Collective
The People’s Arms Embargo
Western States Legal Foundation
Wood Street Commons

Northern California War Tax Resistance is offering an in-person introductory workshop on war tax resistance on Thursday, February 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at a community space in Berkeley. The two hour session is open to all interested parties. We will discuss different forms of resistance, what different consequences may be, and also what collection efforts tend to look like from the federal government. We will also learn about the history of the movement and explore resources to help people decide what level of resistance and risk makes sense for you.
E-mail nowartax@riseup.net to sign up, and get more details, including the location.

Or, if you can’t make it in person, the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee is also hosting a WTR 101 online:

Register here for the NWTRCC WTR 101 on Zoom at 5:30p Pacific time, Thurs. Feb 20, 2025.

Plus, you can always watch this recorded NWTRCC workshop from 2024.

Our 2025 granting cycle is now open! The People’s Life Fund looks forward to redirecting resisted war taxes to projects based in Northern California. We offer small grants to groups that are providing essential day-to-day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, and/or addressing the root causes of a problem by engaging in education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic or political change. Thank you for your interest in applying!

The PLF’s money comes from conscientious war tax resisters in Northern California who deposit or donate all or part of the amount they would otherwise pay to the federal government in income taxes.

The deadline for the 2025 granting cycle is 5 pm, Friday, February 21, 2025.
The maximum grant award is $5,000. 

Apply here: PLF 2025 Grant Application Form

As US taxes continue to be appropriated for the horrific destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza, the People’s Life Fund stands against militarism, offering an alternative vision of how our taxes can be used. We are proud to have been able to grant a total of $67,000 in resisted war taxes in 2024 to support the following organizations:

Arab Film and Media Institute
Before Enlisting
Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Berkeley
Indigenous Peoples Day Committee
Legal Solidarity Bay Area
Love and Justice in the Streets
Nevada County Mutual Aid
National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee
Prison Activist Resource Center
Radio B’alam – Voces Maya
Regional Tenant Organizing Network
Reimagine Richmond
Reprographixxx Print Room
Rogers and Rosewater Soup Kitchen
Self Help Hunger Program/OCUEJ
Support for Intertribal Gatherings
Village in Oakland

The People’s Life Fund looks forward to redirecting resisted war taxes to projects based in Northern California in our 2024 granting cycle. We offer grants to groups that are providing essential day-to-day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, and/or addressing the root causes of a problem by engaging in education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic or political change.

Preference will be given to groups that challenge privilege and injustice and are led by the same constituencies that are being served. We are giving special priority to groups that are working in the areas of Youth, Economic and Racial Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Resisting US involvement in wars of aggression, and/or addressing the Housing Crisis.

The deadline for the 2024 granting cycle is 5 pm, Friday, February 23, 2024.
The maximum grant award is $5,000.
Please spread the word that applications are welcome! 2024 PLF Application Form

Due to the financial challenges of the last year, we regret to announce that the People’s Life Fund won’t have the resources for our regular 2023 Tax Day granting session. Our apologies to everyone who has been eager to apply for a grant.
We appreciate your work, and will get back to supporting your groups as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Meanwhile, if you have received a PLF grant, and haven’t yet given us a brief report on your accomplishments, please do so now, using this form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeFfcPPUesGvbeIs7YA3edKS2PML-M5YX-DTjFDs3qtN8843w/viewform

As Ukraine joins the many nations around the world being devastated by war, the People’s Life Fund invites you to join us as we redirect resisted war taxes to local efforts that counterbalance the harms of the war economy. It will be an uplifting evening that will highlight the possibility of what is possible when our resources and efforts are devoted to peace and justice.

While we love holding our annual potluck and event in person, we will again celebrate our Tax Day event on Zoom as a precaution against COVID exposure.

People’s Life Fund War Tax Redirection Granting Ceremony!
Thursday April 14, 2022  from 6:00 to 7:30 PM PDT, virtual
Please email nowartax@riseup.net for the Zoom link and password.

The People’s Life Fund is excited to give grants of $2,000-$5,000 each to fifteen exceptional Bay Area groups offering critical services in Northern California communities.  We welcome you to attend our virtual Granting Ceremony, where a spokesperson from each of these groups will receive the grant and tell us about their mission and their work.

Those of us who challenge our national spending priorities lament the fact that the health, housing and social services so desperately needed in this time of global crisis have been depleted over the years because so much of our taxes are devoted to militarism and war. As we struggle to address the magnitude of the Coronavirus epidemic, along with so many other health disparities here and around the world, we also know that the crisis of climate chaos deepens every day, and urgently needs to be addressed. The US military is the single largest driver of climate change.

We are proud to support the following groups with our 2022 war tax redirection:

Self Help People’s Hunger Program

Northridge Cooperative Homes – Youth Garden Program

Mt. Diablo Rising Tide

Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)

Radio B’alam – Mayan Voices / East Bay Sanctuary Covenant)

California Poor People’s Campaign Bay Area

Climate Justice Arts Project

Friends of San Quentin News

Nevada County Harm Reduction Coalition – Mobile Distribution Project

Needle Wagon

People of Color Sustainable Housing Network

Soul Food Shack/The Village in Oakland

We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For – Arm The Girls Femme Defense

Alliance of South Asians Taking Action

Arab Youth Public Art Project/Art Forces

Humans of San Quentin

Please Join Our Virtual PLF Granting Ceremony

Thursday, April 15th, 6:00 to 7:30 PM
(Please log in at 5:45 for videos)
Zoom Meeting ID: 848 6187 3552. Passcode: 739561 One tap mobile: +16699006833,,84861873552#,,,,*739561# US (San Jose) +12532158782,,84861873552#,,,,*739561# US (Tacoma)

The People’s Life Fund is proud to support the following Bay Area groups:
Arab Film and Media Institute
Canticle Farm
East Bay Cohousing
East Bay Solidarity School
Foodz Mutual Aid
Frailty Myths
Gill Tract Farm Coalition
Green Life project of Earth Island Institute
Hand to Hand Self Defense Center
KXSF.FM / San Francisco Community Radio
Movement Rights
North Oakland Mutual Aid Network
Oakland Print Shop
Omni Commons Collectives
PLACE (People Linking Art, Community, Ecology)
Prevention at the Intersections
Restoring Justice for Indigenous Peoples
Rogers & Rosewater Soup Company
SOS -Village in Oakland
The Berkeley Friends Church Food Pantry
The Refuge
Thrive Street Choir
We Are Their Voices
Weekend-Adventures
Youth vs Apocalypse

as well as the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee

Those of us who challenge our national spending priorities, know that our complete lack of preparedness to respond to the COVID crisis is directly related to the fact that the health, housing and social services that would have slowed the spread of the virus have been systematically depleted because the lion’s share of our taxes are devoted to militarism and war. Last year along, over $1.7 Trillion in tax dollars was spent on the US military. And even as we struggle to comprehend the magnitude of the Coronavirus epidemic, we also know that the crisis of climate chaos looms larger every day, and urgently needs to be addressed. The US military is the single largest driver of climate change.

Since Tax Day has been extended till May 15, we now have an extra month to get out the word that we are standing up against paying for these deadly priorities. Please use your social media, email, or any creative means you can come up with, to spread the word “Don’t Pay for War!” Join war tax resisters around the country and post a picture of yourself with a homemade sign. Add the hastags #NoTaxes4War and #NWTRCC to help connect with the National War Tax Resistance campaign. Find more ideas and information about Tax Day Actions around the country at NWTRCC.org.

The People’s Life Fund will be granting up to a total of
$50,000 in 2021.
Groups may apply for a grant of up to $2,500.

All grant application materials must be received by:
Friday, March 12, 2021 at 5 pm.
Please use the online People’s Life Fund Application Form to submit your request.

Check here for more information.

If you have trouble using the online form, or if you have questions, feel free to reach out to us at nowartax@riseup.net or 510-842-6124.

If you have received a grant and haven’t already sent in a report, please submit a PLF Grant Report Form for your most recently received grant before reapplying.