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Addie and Jacey of the Connecticut Democratic Socialists of America declared themselves “thrilled” to be on Cafe Nine’s stage Tuesday night. The DSA is involved in a number of political efforts, but this night it was focusing on raising funds for a cause: The REACH Fund, which, as its website states, “is a nonprofit organization that provides financial assistance for abortion care in Connecticut.”
The fund “works directly with Connecticut abortion providers to financially contribute to abortion care for those who cannot afford their out-of-pocket costs.” To help raise money, the Connecticut DSA enlisted four bands — MJ Bones, the Last Survivors, Big Sigh, and the Problem with Kids Today — to give people the soundtrack to party for a reason.
In addition to giving people a channel to donate directly to the fund, the DSA raised money by raffling off prizes all night from Your Queer Plant Shop, FEM Shop, Witch Bitch Thrift, and Sicknails69.
Coleman.
Alyce Coleman, a board member at the REACH Fund, said the event came about due to a collaboration with the Connecticut DSA. “They have a whole reproductive justice arm,” she said, and “they wanted to do a fundraiser for us.”
“We’re very grateful,” she said, adding that the DSA “put a lot of work into organizing.”
“Just because abortion is legal here, it’s not always accessible for everybody,” Coleman said. For the uninsured — or those on federal health insurance plans that doesn’t cover abortion services, including federal employees such as the military — “a very basic early abortion,” that is, one induced by medication, requiring no surgical procedures, is $600, and the price rises steeply from there.
“That’s where we need to step in,” Coleman said. “If you’re undocumented, homeless, don’t have the documents to get on Medicaid, we step in for those people.” The REACH Fund has been serving people from other states where abortion is banned. “It’s not a huge portion of the folks we’re helping out, but it’s significant.”
The number of abortions performed in Connecticut has risen since Roe v. Wade was overturned and has seen a 27 percent increase since 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health and rights policy and advocacy organization. Last June the CT Mirror reported a sharp increase in the number of people from out of state seeking abortions here.
This follows a general trend in states where abortion is still legal. The Guttmacher Institute estimates that over a million abortions were performed in the United States in 2023, 10 percent more overall in the country than in 2020. States that border states where abortion is now illegal have seen the greatest increases in numbers. In Illinois, the number of abortions has risen by 72 percent since 2020. In Virginia, the figure is 76 percent; in New Mexico, it is 257 percent.
The numbers have “just been going up and up, and donations are going down and down,” Coleman said.
The Economist reports that some states, such as Illinois, New Mexico, and New York, have increased their state Medicaid reimbursement rates for first- and second-term abortion procedures. CT Mirror reports that Connecticut likewise has expanded payments for abortion services under its state programs and has shored up protections for reproductive rights, but many still can’t get out-of-pocket expenses covered, and Connecticut hasn’t gone as far as a few states, like California, that have mandated health insurers to cover all out-of-pocket costs. Hence the existence of nonprofits like the REACH Fund.
“It’s tough out there for people right now, but it feels good to be helping out,” Coleman said. “If someone find themselves in need, we don’t keep any patient information. We do block grants to all the clinics in Connecticut that offer abortion services,” such as Planned Parenthood or Hartford GYN Center, and “they know how to get in touch with us and get funds from us.” Based in Norwalk, the REACH Fund was founded in 2021; in its most recent fiscal year, the fund reported receipts of $123,934 and assets of $146,136.
The importance of the cause — and the sense that something could be, and was being, done about it — gave the entire evening an air of both anger and optimism. MJ Bones began with a set of brave originals that drew power from vulnerability. With just a ukulele and a strong, piercing voice, Bones delivered emotional lyrics that took aim in one second at huge social issues, in the next at their own shortcomings. In sparing no one, Bones suggested that something could be done about just about anything.
They exuded the same sense of responsibility in the banter between songs. “This next song is about being a bad friend when you’re anxious and depressed,” they said. “It’s okay to be anxious and depressed, but sometimes you got to own up to it.” Both songs and sentiments were met with hearty applause from a crowd ready to receive them.
The Last Survivors — Rachael Pixie Kruczynski on vocals, Matt Mullarkey on bass and vocals, Steve Clifford on bass and vocals, and Brian Finn on drums and vocals — then ripped through a set of originals that declared allegiance to the tried-and-true, old-school punk values of chainsaw guitars, driving bass, pounding drums, and the truth, belted and barked through microphones at the top of everyone’s lungs. They targeted various powers that be in song after song, declared “we have value / we have self respect” on an urgent chorus, and got a few people dancing as Kruczynski prowled the floor in front, among the people, never once getting up on stage.
During a brief pause in the music, Kruczynski got to vocalize her support for the night’s cause. “It’s really important that you’ve come out,” she said. “We never thought we’d lose Roe v. Wade. There are a lot of people in desperate situations.” But, she said, looking out over the audience, “this is the right people, the right crowd, the right time. We can all make a difference, even if it’s just a tiny thing.”
Big Sigh — Peter Omalyev on vocals and guitar, Vic Pocz on vocals and bass, Reena Yu on vocals and drums, and Laura Abreu on vocals and keyboards — took the Last Survivors’ energy and added shambling, angular grooves and startled yelps of vocals to keep injecting urgency to the evening.
“It’s so important that people come together and do these things,” Omalyev said, looking over the crowd. “People everywhere can change the world.”
They ended their set by cranking their amps loud, until everything on stage was creating feedback, then smashed into the song, sending waves of sensation through the audience. The lyrics, shouted by Pocz, were inaudible, but it didn’t matter. The wash of sound was its own catharsis, channeling rage and hope at the same time.
The Problem with Kids Today — Tate Brooks on vocals and guitar, Silas Lourenco-Lang on vocals and bass, and Reena Yu on vocals and drums — then closed out the night with a pure slab of raucous rock. By then not much else needed to be said. The band was there to have fun and make the crowd feel good, and it worked. The onslaught of songs was hard to resist, and people got closer, started moving, and in time, broke into dancing, into the night.
