Mutual Aid NYC Newsletter

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Mutual Aid NYC Newsletter

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Mutual Aid NYC Newsletter

Moving Support, the History and Politics of Mutual Aid in the US, grocery delivery volunteering, and Buy Nothing groups

Mar 4, 2022
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Mutual Aid NYC Newsletter

mutualaidnyc.substack.com

March 4th, 2022

A snapshot of what you’ll find below: 

Get Informed!

  • MANYC’s Housing Moving Support team helps those who have found housing turn it into a home, and is looking for volunteers!

  • Learn about the long history and political impact of mutual aid in the US

Get Involved!

  • Opportunities to get involved in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and virtually

  • Reduce consumption by joining your local Buy Nothing group

  • Crown Heights Mutual Aid is hosting a Community Party Giveaway and Sway on March 12!

Get informed!

MANYC Spotlight: Housing Moving Support Team

More than 45,000 unhoused New Yorkers, a third of them children, are currently living in city shelters. Many others live without adequate housing on the city’s streets

The process of securing more permanent housing is physically taxing and time-intensive, so when individuals and families do have the opportunity to move, they can often use a hand. MANYC’s Housing Moving Support Team connects folks who are preparing to transition into more permanent accommodations with other New Yorkers who can help

The group sources affordable furniture—from couches and beds to pots, pans, and lamps—and organizes teams of movers and drivers, equipped with a 14-foot truck, for day-of support

If you want to get involved, they are always looking for help and offer both in-person and virtual opportunities listed below:

  • Moving Volunteer (in-person, 3-4 hrs/wk): help with moves on day-of which may be physically taxing, help with planning moves

  • Volunteer Coordinator (urgent need, virtual, 3-4 hrs/wk): coordinate moves, find roles for volunteers

  • Furniture Inventory Manager (urgent need, virtual, 3-4 hrs/wk):  help organize furniture donations, keep track donation database, facilitate pickups

Moving volunteers are needed on the following dates: Mar 5, Mar 19. To find out more and sign up, email moving-support@mutualaid.nyc. You can also contribute financially to moving support and learn more about the project here

Video: The History and Impact of Mutual Aid in America

How well do you know the history of mutual aid? Some may cite Peter Kropotkin’s famous writings on the topic, but less know of its long history in the US as a cornerstone of oppressed communities.

This video contextualizes the history of mutual aid in the US and discusses its political significance from the Free African Society in 1787 to sociedades mutualistas and labor unions to the Black Panthers to today.

Get informed! → Watch the video here 

Written and produced by: 

Tyesha Maddox is an Assistant Professor of History at Fordham University and a historian of African American and Afro-Caribbean Mutual Aid movements

Dan Joslyn is a PhD candidate in History at NYU and historian of feminist socialism, whiteness and settler colonialism

Recent Happenings

  • Election maps are redrawn after each census, and the post-2020 census/2022 election maps have been released! 

Get informed! → Find out what congressional, assembly, and senate district you’re now in here

  • It is increasingly difficult for homeless families to enter homeless shelters. Advocates cite an overly complicated application process, made worse by the pandemic. Even small gaps in prior residential paperwork or uncooperative third parties can lead to a rejection

    • Only 24% of applications from families were accepted in 2021, down from 40-50% pre-pandemic

    • Of those accepted, 62% needed to apply more than once, and 31% applied more than three times

On the Upside

  • Kristen Gonzalez, a Mutual Aid NYC volunteer and Queens native, is running for State Senate in the new 17th district (Western Queens & North Brooklyn)! 

    • View her Twitter here, visit her website here, and learn more here

  • A Starbucks in Astor Place, near Bensonhurst Park in Brooklyn and at the Roastery in Chelsea filed for a union vote. Over 65 stores have filed petitions to hold union elections despite Starbucks’s union busting efforts

Get involved!

Link Up with Your Local Mutual Aid Group!

Brooklyn

South Brooklyn Mutual Aid is looking for warehouse volunteers and drivers for their grocery mass distribution program (mass distro). Mass distro happens every other Saturday with the next delivery on March 12
Please sign up to volunteer here and request groceries here

The Environmental Action Lab is running an urban farming apprenticeship program centered on food justice education. Participants will receive a share of the produce and extra produce donated to community refrigerators in Brooklyn

When: Starts Sunday, March 27 from 9am to 3pm
Where: YIMBY Farm 1552 Marine Parkway, Brooklyn, NY

Please email ian.atticus.evans@gmail.com if you’re interested or for more information

Gowanus Mutual Aid is looking for a space to receive and bag produce for the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program starting in April. The space should be ground level, available on Fridays/Saturdays, and have refrigeration. Please email gowanusmutualaid@gmail.com with leads or suggestions

East Brooklyn Mutual Aid delivers groceries to neighbors in Ocean Hill, Brownsville, East New York, Starrett City, and Cypress Hills and is looking for drivers and intake volunteers who wanna get to know their neighbors: 

  • Intake Volunteer: gather grocery requests; schedule grocery deliveries using phone, text, and the intake database; act as a “service representative” for the community and answer questions about any delivery issues

  • Driver: deliver groceries throughout East Brooklyn for 2-3 hours per delivery window on Wednesdays and/or Saturdays

Please sign up to volunteer here and request grocery delivery here

Bonus →  This awesome video takes you on a ridealong with East BK delivery volunteers!

Manhattan

Vision Urbana is looking for volunteers to bring meals and smiles to home-bound seniors and adults living in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing on the Lower East Side. You’ll be on your feet most of the time
Times: Mon/Tues, 8am-12pm & 1pm-3pm; Thurs/Fri, 8am-12pm

Where: 64 Essex St, NY, NY 10002

Please email pantry@visionurbana.org to sign up

General/Virtual

Mutual Aid Diabetes was formed in response to the insulin crisis and is looking to fill a number of fully remote roles with a commitment of a few hours per week: 

  • Sustainability Advisor (background in social work/trauma-informed care needed): works with community members to find long-term solutions that align with their health insurance, public health options, etc. 

  • Intake Volunteer (background in social work/trauma-informed care needed; experience obtaining diabetes medications and supplies preferred): serve as first point of contact for community members

  • Media/Communications Volunteer: share relevant information and help manage social media/emails, help create digital and print content

If interested, please email mutualaiddiabetes@gmail.com 

Mutual Aid Herbalists of New York is a group of herbal-minded people who meet virtually. They provide a forum for active communication, support, and education within and among herbal communities and facilitate the sharing and exchange of goods/materials, knowledge, and ideas related to plant medicine.

To join their growing community, please fill out this google form

Resource of the Week: Buy Nothing Groups

Buy Nothing groups operate on a local gift economy model and, as the name suggests, help you buy nothing and instead give pre-loved furniture, houseware, cookware, etc., a new home. This benefits the community while decreasing unnecessary consumerism and reducing trash. You can join via Facebook group or download a Buy Nothing app

Some general rules you should know before joining a Buy Nothing group are:

  • No buying, selling, trading, bartering, or cash solicitations

  • Only join your local Buy Nothing group to “give where you live”

  • Don’t resell something you receive

  • Be polite and keep it legal

Below is just a few of the Buy Nothing groups in NYC:

Bronx

Central Bronx    Kingsbridge/Marble Hill/Van Cortlandt Village    Central Riverdale    Grand Concourse Historic DIstrict    North Riverdale/Fieldston    Spuyten Duyvil

Brooklyn

Williamsburg/Greenpoint    Crown Heights West    Ditmas Park/Prospect Park S Bushwick/East Williamsburg/Ridgewood    Brooklyn Heights/DUMBO/Vinegar Hill

Manhattan

South/Central Harlem    Chelsea    West Village/Greenwich Village  Midtown East Battery Park City/Financial District    Upper East Side    Washington Heights

Queens

Forest Hills SE    Astoria NW    Sunnyside    Woodside S    Maspeth/Middle Village

Forest Hills/Rego Park/Kew Gardens    Long Island City W    Jackson Heights W

Staten Island

West Brighton/Randall Manor    St. George/Tompkinsville/Silver Lake

Midland Beach/Dongan Hills

Events Coming Up

March 4 @ 10-11am (TODAY): Coalition Meeting for Together We Can

Where: Zoom Link
Together We Can, a community resource center in Queens, has a monthly coalition meeting TODAY. The presenter is Paws NY, an organization that helps NYC residents who are at risk of losing their pets due to physical and financial obstacles

March 12 @ 12-4pm: Community Party Giveaway and Swap hosted by Crown Heights Mutual Aid 

Where: Historic First Church 221 Kingston Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11213
Crown Heights Mutual Aid will be collecting and distributing resources for the community, as well as providing groceries and information on tenants’ rights. This is a great opportunity to meet your neighbors and share in music, food, and fun!

Those who can are encouraged to bring items to share with the community, such as coats, books, children's clothing, and other essentials

Find out more at their website!

MANYC Self Promo

Request Help by:

  • Going to the I Need Help page

  • Searching for a local group

  • Searching for a resource

  • Calling the hotline at: 646-437-8080

Help by:

  • Submitting a resource

  • Getting involved

  • Donating to Home is a Human Right

  • Donating to a local mutual aid group

Stay in Touch:

  • Leave feedback on the newsletter here!

  • Follow us on Instagram

  • Follow us on Twitter

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