An Olivia Rodrigo-backed nonprofit gives sexual assault survivors $1.5K with no strings attached. Here's how it helps

On August 29, 2026, Sonya Passi stood among nonprofit leaders from the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the National Women’s Law Center as they smiled with Olivia Rodrigo at Daisy Chain Fields. FreeFrom, the organization Passi founded and represented that day, was awarded $2 million alongside nine other nonprofits with missions to uplift women and girls. The festival moment capped ten years of work built on a clear idea. Passi founded FreeFrom in 2016 to end gender-based violence by building economic freedom and safety with survivors. FreeFrom states that one in two women and one in two transgender individuals will be subjected to gender-based violence in their lifetimes. “I founded FreeFrom on a conviction that felt radical at the time: that gender-based violence is an economic problem, and that survivors — given unrestricted cash — already know how to solve it,” Passi told Good Good Good. “This type of financial support was once dismissed as impractical. Over the last decade, FreeFrom has built the evidence that it works.” At first the group helped survivors start businesses. When COVID-19 hit, FreeFrom answered its community’s call for cold cash as well, while still offering entrepreneurship support. Cash transfers often come to no more than $1,500. Survivors receive the money without receipts or explanations. FreeFrom also runs a savings matching program that matches deposits dollar-to-dollar up to $55 a month so a survivor can build up to $1,440 in emergency savings over a year, plus community financial coaching, webinars, and a next-step program. One survivor put savings match funds straight toward a down payment on an apartment. Her abuser was threatening violence against her and her father, and her safety was at its highest risk. The matched money arrived in time for her to leave home and secure a new place. That is what the unrestricted support can buy: a deposit, a way out when staying becomes impossible. Participants gathered at FreeFrom’s 2025 Survivor Wealth Summit to discuss financial support as the organization headed toward its tenth anniversary and a major impact report. “Since 2016, we've put $10 million directly into survivors' hands,” Passi summarized. “To understand the impact of this work, we surveyed survivors who had participated in our programs.” Every person surveyed had joined at least one cash assistance program, receiving up to $1,500, and many stayed engaged across multiple programs for as long as five years. The findings showed 94 percent strengthened social well-being and 93 percent strengthened physical and psychological safety. More than 90 percent made meaningful progress in employment, stable housing, healthcare, and education, while 88 percent strengthened financial security. Fifty-six percent improved across all domains measured. Passi laid out how far the numbers had moved. “Before FreeFrom, half the survivors we surveyed were in financial crisis. Today, that's 10%. More than half were in immediate physical danger. Today, that's 13%. But what surprised us most was what survivors accomplished in areas we weren't even targeting,” Passi said. “95% made progress finding employment and accessing healthcare. 93% pursued education. 91% secured housing. We don't help survivors with job applications or housing searches. We give them cash, trust them to decide what they need, and they do the rest themselves.” She pushed back on the urge to manage every part of recovery for people who have already survived violence. “Gender-based violence is so painful, prevalent, and complex that we make the mistake of thinking we have to solve every single piece of the problem for survivors. We don’t,” Passi said. “Survivors are incredibly resilient, resourceful, and know what they need. With a little bit of financial support, they are healing and getting to thriving.” The design stays simple on purpose. “Survivors never have to justify their situation to get support from us. No receipts, no explaining themselves,” Passi said. “They just get cash and decide for themselves what happens next. That's how our programs are designed, and it's why they work.” A decade after FreeFrom began, the $2 million from Daisy Chain Fields joins the $10 million already placed in survivors’ hands. For the woman who used matched savings as a down payment while an abuser threatened her and her father, that approach meant an apartment and a chance to leave. FreeFrom keeps offering the same unrestricted cash and the same trust.