Caring for Each Other: Mutual Aid & Protection

Mutual aid & protection are about coming together to meet our communities’ immediate needs while working to create long-term change that benefits everyone. Remember: the system is the problem, not the people being targeted by it.

From life-saving assistance to simply making someone’s day easier, every act has value. Let’s work together to help our neighbors.

Learn about mutual aid & protection

• ACTION: Learn about mutual aid & protection from the past.

At many points in our country’s history, communities have needed to step in and support groups who were being oppressed or attacked. The Black Panthers’ free breakfast program, for example, provided basic needs for Black communities facing systemic racism. During the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, queer communities created their own health clinics, therapy groups, and food pantries. Your group can learn about these and other examples.

• Work through online resources to hone your skills and gather information from community organizers with experience. Mutual Aid Hub is a website built in March 2020 to highlight the incredible work of mutual aid organizers around the country and facilitate connections and shared strategies.
• Read articles about how to start local mutual aid from trusted groups such as American Friends Service Committee. 

Watch a documentary film, such as A Place To Breathe or The Elements of Mutual Aid: Experiments Towards Liberation, for inspiration and ideas.

• ACTION: Discover which organizations are already providing mutual aid & protection.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel — there are already organizations doing great work that could use your support. Lend a hand by volunteering or offering your skills to groups with experience.

• Start by connecting with local organizations: follow them on social media, sign up for their newsletters, and attend events where you can support their work.
• Check the Mutual Aid Hub to find organizations in your area, and don’t hesitate to invite organizers from these groups to speak at your next meetup.

• ACTION: Learn what support is actually needed.

If your group has identified a specific community to support, the next step is learning what that group truly needs. Here are a few ideas.

• Advocates for Youth, a nonprofit organization that helps young people make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health, has fact sheets, articles, and other educational materials to better understand the issues young people face.
• Learn disability solidarity by using resources from the Disability & Philanthropy Forum, an organization dedicated to advancing disability rights.
• Ready to Stay provides resources and training to help immigrants and advocates understand and navigate immigration policies, with a focus on supporting to undocumented communities.

Get Involved: Mutual Aid & Protection

Your group may choose to focus on supporting one targeted community or several. As the consequences of this administration’s policies continue to hit home, from climbing prices and Medicaid cuts to housing price increases and teacher shortages, more urgent needs will arise. That’s where local groups like yours can help. You’re often in the best position to act quickly and provide aid or protection in your community. Here are a few ways to take action:

• ACTION: Stay connected through community check-ins.

The best way to know that people in your community are getting what they need is to stay in regular contact.

• Make “care calls” to check in with neighbors.
• Drop off handwritten notes of support and solidarity, and be sure to include emergency resources and your contact info.
• Invite people to free events where they can get resources like food, clothing, baby supplies, and more.

• ACTION: Intentionally reach out to marginalized individuals/groups.

People who are being targeted often feel isolated. Let them know you stand with them, ask them what support they need, and listen.

• Make “care calls” to check in with neighbors.
• Drop off handwritten notes of support and solidarity, and be sure to include emergency resources and your contact info.

• ACTION: Build a community resource list.

People in need often require quick access to these resources, so having them readily available is crucial. Share through flyers, social media, and emails to ensure it reaches those who need it. Make lists for groups such as:

• The LGBTQ+ community: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has a nearly 40-year track record supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
• Undocumented immigrants: Since 1986, the NNIRR has worked to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status.
• Those needing reproductive healthcare: Plan C Pills’ extensive website offers education, emotional support, and access to reproductive healthcare.
• Those needing legal aid: Martindale-Hubbell’s extensive list of attorneys by area of practice can help people in marginalized groups find an attorney near them.

• ACTION: Conduct fundraisers to financially support those in need.

With funding freezes and cutbacks already hurting many local groups, it’s more important than ever to offer financial support if your group is able. While these organizations should ideally receive government funding, those who can will need to step up and help fill the gap even more than usual. Fundraisers, in all shapes and sizes, can benefit local groups and national campaigns. Here are a few ideas to get started.

• Set up an online fundraising site and make donation appeals.
• Host a dinner where attendees pay a ticket price to attend, eat, and support the cause.
• Design and sell t-shirts or other items to show support and raise funds.
• Form a giving circle as a group. This site will help you get started.
• Identify the critical needs of your local schools and public libraries and organize fundraising to fund a specific initiative.

ACTIONS:

• Create a tool library — like this one from a library in Brooklyn — for borrowing tools for home repairs.
• Organize and promote an automotive clinic by partnering with automotive technicians to provide free maintenance.
• Organize a mending circle or a repair cafe to help people fix things instead of buying new ones.
• Host a community swap & share event of gently used items. Encourage everyone to give and take without stigma. Think of it as redistributing abundance, not charity.
• Support food pantries by donating or volunteering, and consider setting up a food distribution service in your own community. In the Bronx, two women launched The Friendly Fridge BX, redirecting thousands of pounds of fresh produce and prepared meals each month from the landfills to those in need.
• Partner with healthcare providers to help establish free community pop-up clinics.
• Create or support a childcare collective to provide affordable, communal care.
• Provide “go bags” for people at risk of deportation or needing urgent travel to access reproductive healthcare.

• ACTION: Send cards or messages to community members who may need a boost.

Share messages of inclusivity and advocate for marginalized communities by starting a campaign through the You Belong Campaign. Through your campaign, community members can place orders for inclusive signs and display them in their yards to send a powerful community message. They provide all of the materials to get started, along with instructions and support. You can donate the proceeds of your campaign to a charity of your choice, or donate the proceeds back to the You Belong Campaign.

• ACTION: Start a “You Belong” campaign in your community.

Share messages of inclusivity and advocate for marginalized communities by starting a campaign through the You Belong Campaign. Through your campaign, community members can place orders for inclusive signs and display them in their yards to send a powerful community message. They provide all of the materials to get started, along with instructions and support. You can donate the proceeds of your campaign to a charity of your choice, or donate the proceeds back to the You Belong Campaign.

Action Ideas for Specific Groups

Mutual aid for the LGBTQ+ community

Identify resources and ways to support this community, and don’t forget to include local organizations as you make your list. Review the Red Wine & Blue explainer on Showing Up For the Trans Community for how you can help.

Actions:

• Fundraise for organizations supporting the LGBTQ+ community. You can find some great examples from FOLX, an organization that provides compassionate and comprehensive healthcare for the LGBTQIA+ community.
• Focus specifically on support for transgender youth and their families. The Trans Youth Emergency Project helps families navigate gender-affirming care and provides state-specific guidance. Use their digital toolkits for creating awareness of the needs of trans youth, and those of social justice artists cooperatives like Just Seeds who offer similar graphics.
• Explore what national organizations with long track records supporting the LGBTQ+ community have to offer, such as GLSEN, The Trevor Project, PFLAG, and GLAAD. See if they have chapters in your community to partner with.

Mutual aid for federal workers who have been fired from their jobs

Every day, thousands of federal workers around the country are being laid off while others are often left to do the work that used to be done by several people. Both groups are under stress and in need of various kinds of support.

Actions:

• Share a list of important resources for impacted workers, such as the one put together by the state of Maryland.
• Show appreciation for federal workers under attack by sending cards.
• Organize a delivery of cupcakes or other sweets to thank federal workers who are holding the line and keeping our government functioning.
• Start or contribute to mutual aid funds for workers who have lost their jobs.

Mutual aid for immigrants facing the risk of deportation

Immigrants across the country live in constant fear of deportation — regardless of their legal status. Seek out local organizations that have been assisting immigrants for a long time to advise your group on how to help.

Learn More:

• Review the Red Wine & Blue Immigration Raids in Our Communities: What You Can Do explainer.
• Check out these resources for understanding ICE raids from the Immigrant Defense Project, which has been fighting for immigrant rights for over 20 years, and knowing your rights from United We Dream, an organization established to provide protection for undocumented youth.

Actions:

• Help ensure that workplaces in your community are safe places to work and know their rights. Your group can make an impact by doing outreach to community workplaces using the training and a toolkit provided by 4th Amendment Workplace.
• Share the Organized Communities Against Deportations immigration hotline for undocumented people facing the threat of deportation.
• Print and distribute red cards from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, founded in the 1970s by an immigrant rights attorney, to generate awareness of ICE risk and help people know their rights.
• Share ready-made graphics on social media to spread critical information.

Mutual aid for veterans

From layoffs at the VA to cuts across the federal government (veterans make up about a third of federal workers), the burden of Trump’s actions on veterans is acute. In addition to losing jobs, the termination of loan programs has put vets at risk of foreclosure and homelessness. As veterans continue to lose critical benefits, they will need community support. Common areas of need include housing, financial assistance, healthcare, and assistance navigating VA benefits.

Actions:

• Each branch of the military has a mutual aid fund. Consider hosting a fundraiser to support a branch with a presence in your community.
• Apply to volunteer at your local VA hospital.
• Each veteran community is different and comes with different needs. Reach out to your local VFW post or the American Legion to see what needs exist in your community. Most cities have at least one of these, if not both.

Mutual aid for those with disabilities

People with disabilities are likely to suffer in the current political climate, especially with the dismantling of the Department of Education, which has long provided funding to local schools for special education programs.

Actions:

• Visit Disability Visibility Project for ideas on supporting the disabled community and involving them in the fight against extremism. They have created an online community dedicated to creating, sharing, and amplifying disability media and culture.
• Fund voting and civil rights organizations that recognize disability rights as civil rights, such as the ACLU, a well-known civil rights organization, and AAPD, an organization created to increase the political and economic power of people with disabilities.
• Learn how to support your local schools as they lose funding for programs for their exceptional children or children with disabilities.

Mutual aid for those needing reproductive healthcare

With continued attacks on reproductive healthcare, many people will need help accessing the care they need.

Actions:

• Gather and share resources to give people access to reproductive healthcare. All three of these organizations provide information, support, and direct access:
  • Hey Jane is the first and most-trusted virtual abortion clinic in the US.
  • WISP has connected over 1 million patients with a licensed provider online for safe, effective, same-day treatment.
  • Plan C Pills is a 10-year-old organization working to transform access to abortion by normalizing the self-directed option of abortion pills by mail.
• Support organizations that transport people needing reproductive or gender-affirming healthcare to places where they can legally receive it. Elevated Access is a non-profit organization that enables people to access healthcare by providing flights on private planes at no cost through a volunteer pilot network.
• Donate to organizations that help fund abortions for those in need. There are many national organizations and state organizations in need of funding.
• Get trained and volunteer to be an escort at an abortion clinic through Planned Parenthood, the most well-known support organization for reproductive healthcare.

Mutual aid for Black and brown people

Mutual aid for Black and brown communities is a form of community care, resistance, and celebration, rooted in generations of survival against systemic racism. From redlining and segregation to mass incarceration and underfunded schools, systemic barriers persist. Mutual aid responds by centering care, connection, and empowerment.

True mutual aid requires more than crisis support. It demands being pro-Black and pro-brown — centering Black and brown lives and leadership, trusting their expertise, redistributing power, and honoring their full humanity.

Actions:

• Hold policy impact teach-ins. Break down how local, state, and federal policies affect Black and brown communities — make complex policies digestible and actionable.
• Host a Black Liberation book club for the community. This is a powerful form of mutual aid as it provides more than just reading books, but a safe space to heal, grow, unlearn, connect, and organize!
• Offer tech support clinics in communities that are underserved. Help Black and brown elders, students, and job seekers with digital literacy — whether it’s setting up email, learning Zoom, or accessing telehealth.
• Support bail & legal defense funds by partnering with local bail funds or contributing to legal defense campaigns. This disrupts the incarceration system’s grip on Black and brown lives.

Mutual aid for public education workers

Teachers, librarians, school staff, and bus drivers are stretched thin by underfunding and political attacks. Your group can stand up for public education by meeting the needs of education workers.

Actions:

• Adopt a Title I school and work to address some of its needs. Adopt a Classroom has over 25 years of experience connecting funders with classrooms in need.
• Provide a meal or snacks for educators at your local school.
• Collect restaurant gift cards and distribute them to bus drivers, kitchen staff, and librarians as a show of thanks.
• Give a tired teacher’s lounge a refresh with new furniture or decor.
• Speak at a school board meeting in support of educators — and follow it up by turning your remarks into a letter to the editor to submit to your local newspaper.

Caring for Each Other: Mutual Aid & Protections Links

Best practices and must-read books for mutual aid activism
Mutual Aid Hub for organizations and resources
How to create a mutual aid network
Advocates for Youth, reproductive healthcare resources for young people
How to be an ally to the disabled community
Ready to Stay resources for immigrants and advocates
LGBTQ+ Suicide Prevention
Immigration hotlines
Access to reproductive healthcare
Access to legal aid
What is a giving circle?
Information on creating a tool library
How to organize a mending circle
Example of a repair cafe
The Friendly Fridge BX food distribution program
The You Belong Campaign
List of organizations to donate to in support of the LGBTQ+ community
The Trans Youth Emergency Project for trans youth and their families
Digital toolkit in support of trans youth
Just Seeds social graphics in support of trans youth
GLSEN
The Trevor Project
PFLAG
GLAAD
Support ideas for federal workers
How to build a 4th Amendment workplace
Defense information against ICE raids 
Protection for undocumented youth
Organized Communities Against Deportations immigration hotline
Resources for printing and distributing red cards
Find a VFW post
American Legion community programs
Disability Visibility Project for ideas on how to support the disabled community
ACLU disability rights
American Association of People with Disabilities
Hey Jane virtual abortion clinic
WISP for same-day reproductive healthcare
Plan C Pills for abortion pills by mail and healthcare information
Elevated Access for abortion healthcare transportation
List of abortion funds to financially support
How to volunteer to be an abortion escort through Planned Parenthood
Adopt A Classroom to support Title I schools