Empowering Lives
Fenix Collective is a peer-focused organization which serves the greater Charlotte metro area, centering on women, girls, BIPOC and LGBTQIA + folks who are incarcerated or coming home from incarceration. We focus on three areas: wraparound services and support, holistic mental health and wellness, and advocacy. We want to help you move from simply surviving to thriving within the community, and then bring that magic OUT, to change the community for the better for ALL!
Wraparound Services and Support
The beauty of the Fenix Collective program is that it starts BEFORE reentry: we believe the incarceration time is when change has to happen, when relationships can be mended and built, and we are here to support in whatever ways we can.
We provide mentoring and essential needs assistance while incarcerated. Right now, we mentor and assist over 40 women and gender-non-conforming folks behind the walls in local detention centers, federal prisons, and NC state prisons. We correspond with them, send books and money for critical needs, and work with them on creating goals, release plans, and do our best to make a difficult time less difficult.
Upon release, we will make referrals and help you get the services and resources you need to get on your feet and launch! This includes Welcome Home baskets after release from confinement or incarceration, emergency needs kits, gender-affirming care/hygiene supplies, transportation, food, laptops and digital literacy training, and more. We opened Fenix House in November 2025 and currently house 5 folks!
Holistic Mental Health and Wellness
We support substance abuse recovery and mental health challenges through peer support and referrals to services and evidence-based programming as needed. Our services are all peer-based, not hierarchical, because we believe that we are here to help one another heal through the sharing of experiences, honesty, and mutualism. We believe in the spirit of Ubuntu: I am because We Are.
For mental health and substance recovery needs, we can refer to behavioral and medical health services as needed, should the peer request this type of connection. We work with trusted local partners who are FOR US, and will help our people navigate systems of care with lived experience and understanding of how those systems work.
We support recovery in whatever form your journey requires. We believe in harm reduction and that not all progress is linear. Whatever pathway your recovery takes, Fenix is here to help you walk that path—you are not alone.
Advocacy Initiatives and Leadership Development
We advocate for women, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ folks during and after incarceration, including voter education and mobilization work, policy change advocacy, direct nonviolent action, and other initiatives that build civic engagement and bring power BACK to the people. We engage in mutual aid and power-building with and on behalf of our confined and newly-released siblings, focusing on BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ folks who are systemically oppressed and the most at need. We work with local, state, and national organizations to partner with them, learn from them, and be part of something greater than ourselves. Whether it is doing voter engagement and education, advocating for policy change, engaging with local leaders to make those policy changes, or participating in civic demonstrations, Fenix tries to center our people in this work and make a difference.
We also focus on helping our peers help themselves and others, through leadership development workshops and programs, mentoring, and community service initiatives that help build a sense of self-empowerment as well as collective consciousness.
One drop at a time, we become a flood for change.
Coming soon: DATA DRIVEN PASSION and FENIX RISING
Fenix Collective is seeking funding to support the launch of two interconnected initiatives designed to elevate new leaders from directly impacted communities: (1) a culturally responsive data-gathering initiative called DATA DRIVEN PASSION to track outcomes for LGBTQIA+ individuals affected by incarceration, and (2) the implementation of FENIX RISING, a holistic leadership and trauma healing program.
Our community—comprised largely of Black and Brown women, trans, queer, and gender-expansive individuals—is underserved, system-impacted, and often excluded from traditional leadership pipelines. Compounding this, data about our communities is often incomplete or inaccurate due to fear of reporting, non-affirming systems, and a lack of inclusive measurement tools. This grant would allow us to begin developing a trauma-informed, identity-conscious data infrastructure to capture the true scope and impact of our work. This is why DATA DRIVEN PASSION is an absolutely vital part of our growth trajectory.
Simultaneously, we aim to fully implement FENIX RISING, a leadership development initiative rooted in personal transformation, healing, and empowerment. This program integrates evidence-based practices with indigenous modalities such as storytelling, art, peer mentoring, and restorative justice. Participants engage in advocacy training, volunteerism, and systems education, building both individual resilience and collective power.
All funds will be used for program supplies, facilitator stipends, technology for data and training, and curriculum development. Our goal is to cultivate a cadre of community-rooted leaders who are equipped to heal themselves, uplift others, and disrupt cycles of incarceration and marginalization. This investment will strengthen the leadership ecosystem of Charlotte and the Southeast, while advancing justice and healing in communities most impacted by generational and state violence.
We are working with a national organization called Recovery Cafe to bring more community, inclusivity, and recovery support to our area. We are hoping to begin regular Recovery Cafe events at Fenix House by the end of the summer 2025, where the community can gather and have a coffee or tea, engage in spoken word and other performance arts, play games, and be able to receive services such as wraparound service referrals, wash clothes, etc. We would ultimately like a dedicated community collective space where we can offer maker markets, artistic performances, and peer support services.
