Supporting COVID-19 Mutual Aid Efforts
As the spread of the coronavirus has accelerated over the past week, we are reminded yet again of one key truth: The state will not keep us safe—but we can keep each other safe.
We know now that the best way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is social distancing. But we also know that many people in our communities will need help to make social distancing possible—elders, disabled people, and immunocompromised folks who can’t run errands without compromising their health; workers who don’t have paid sick leave; and people whose anxiety is triggered by isolation, among others.
Throughout DC, people are organizing to help their neighbors through mutual aid.
Mutual aid is a form of political participation in which people take responsibility for caring for one another and changing political conditions, not just through charity or symbolic acts or putting pressure on their representatives in government. Instead, this is about actually building new social relations that are more survivable.
You can find out more about ongoing opportunities and sources for mutual aid at the DC Mutual Aid Network on Facebook or on Instagram.
If you are able to contribute time, energy, skills, or labor, we encourage you to fill out the forms linked below, which will connect you to groups organizing mutual aid throughout the city.
You can also use the forms to ask for help, if you need help cleaning, running errands, dealing with prescriptions. Most of us will end up needing to ask for help during this crisis.
Mutual Aid Request and Volunteer Forms:
Ward 7 and 8: Call the hotline – 202-630-0336 – for those needing support or looking to volunteer.
You can also support by donating to groups organizing mutual aid efforts, including:
The Peace House DC (paypal.me/thepeacehousedc) for Ward 7;
BLM-DC for Ward 8: CashApp: $DCBLM or PayPal: finance@dcblm.org;
Healers for Liberation Network (paypal.me/H4LNDC) who is offering free mental health and emotional support; and
If you know of additional organizing going on in DC, please email info@sptdc.com or hit us up on social, and we’ll amplify your work.
Above all, please take care of yourselves physically and mentally. We are literally all in this together.
Yours in struggle,
SPTP-DC