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Mutual Aid @ Center DC

 
 

Part of being in community is taking care of each other and being responsive to the needs of our sisters and brothers.

It means showing up for each other in meaningful ways when we need it the most. One way Center DC accomplishes that is through our Mutual Aid program. Through this initiative, community members can make offers and requests: both of time (people power) and money (financial support).

What is Mutual Aid, anyway?

“Mutual aid involves neighbors helping neighbors, supporting one another in meeting basic needs. It also involves a reimagining of the social fabric where we see ourselves in solidarity with others—where meeting someone’s needs is meeting our collective needs.” - Kimberly Bender, Professor at University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work

Since 2017, community members at Center DC have informally relied on one another for support from the community in the form of meal trains, childcare service, community dua, to buy/repair cars, cover moving expenses, purchase groceries, raise funeral costs and fill financial gaps when folks can’t make rent. Historically, this has been collected via an individual’s Venmo or Paypal account and distributed to the member in need. Over the past few years, we’ve raised and given over $22k to 13+ people; 9 in 2023 alone. 

As we grow as a community, having an organized internal system to process these needs - both the people powered ones and the financial requests - in an anonymous way that connects the need with the support is a natural next step. 

 
 
 

Types of Mutual Aid

There are two pillars of our mutual aid program (1) people power (2) financial support.

 

People Power

Community members can sign up as volunteers to perform a variety of good deeds, helping people move, pet sitting, picking up groceries, resume help, and others. We want to give everyone the ability to contribute in whatever way they are capable, and we want community members in need to be able to turn to us for support. Our goal here is simple: to match volunteers to other community members who would benefit from their contribution. This encourages us to lean on one another for support AND to create opportunities for us to show up for one another in meaningful ways. 

  • Fill out this form to let the community know how we can show up for you! This could be in the form of sending food, visitation, giving time, or giving services. Click HERE to submit a request!

  • Community members can sign up as volunteers to perform a variety of good deeds: helping people move, pet sitting, picking up groceries, resume help, and others. We want to give everyone the ability to contribute in whatever way they are capable, and we want community members in need to be able to turn to us for support. The form below captures all of the key information we need to match volunteers to other community members who would benefit from their contribution. FILL OUT THIS FORM TO BECOME A VOLUNTEER!

Financial Support

Sometimes it actually takes financial resources to solve the problem. Whether that’s raising funds for funeral costs or helping community members pay rent or buy groceries when they’ve lost their job, our goal here is to help meet the unexpected emergency needs of community members when times get tough. The process is discrete - you fill out a request, and our staff will share your request anonymously with our review committee, who will see to it that your request fits our guidelines and determine what support we are able to offer within the timeline presented. Please note that due to the pilot nature of this project, we are unable to fulfill all requests in-full all the time, but will do our best to meet the priority needs as they emerge.

  • If you are seeking financial support, please fill out the form below. Please note the form contains a link to the guidelines we use to determine eligibility for financial support. CLICK HERE TO MAKE A REQUEST!

  • If you are interested in supporting community members who are in financial need, please click the link to give to our mutual aid fund: [coming soon!]