In The News

Mutual-aid groups are helping Americans envision communities that meet everyone’s needs.

When the Coronavirus pandemic reached Alaska in the spring of 2020, Sitka responded quickly. Within days, residents were pooling efforts to support each other. Chandler O’Connell, with the Sitka Conservation Society, joined KCAW’s Erin Fulton for the March 17 Morning Interview to discuss the work the Sitka Mutual Aid Network has done over the last year, how the organization has evolved, and what resources continue to be available in 2021.

When the pandemic increased food insecurity, people set up refrigerators to provide free food to neighbors

As need for food and basic supplies has dramatically increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic a year ago, a number of different mutual aid organizations across South Jersey have risen to the occasion to help their neighbors in need.

Mutual aid groups, which have provided a crucial pandemic safety net, are evolving into a long-term effort to help with food, clothing and counseling. “It’s about building the world we want to see,” a volunteer said.

It starts with a phone call from the 707 area code. “Hello, my name is Damián Diaz. I’m calling on behalf of No Us Without You.”

Take what you need, and leave what you can—that’s the concept behind the growing movement of community fridges popping up in cities across the U.S. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has been increasing the pressure on individuals struggling with food insecurity, communities have turned to mutual aid as an important source of relief.

These activists stepped up for their communities during crises when government didn’t

Put your money (or groceries, spare time or supplies) where your mouth is.

Free goods and services distributed by mutual aid groups helped vulnerable New Yorkers survive 2020. As the pandemic eases, those organizations are more needed than ever.

After the pandemic hit a year ago, three sites for food sharing suddenly and inexplicably, or at least without fanfare or introduction, appeared in different directions within four blocks of my home in Ithaca’s Southside neighborhood.

Grand Junction Mutual Aid began its nonprofit in March 2020 right as the pandemic hit. On Tuesday, the organization celebrated its first anniversary of hosting weekly food distributions in the valley.

Throughout the pandemic, Mutual Aid Networks have been a big source of help for underserved communities in the tri-state area. Now, they’re working to get shots in the arms of the people who need it most.

Celebrities and regular folk alike came together to offer hot food, clean water, and warm beds.

About 70 Austinites gathered at the Homeless Memorial and Tree of Remembrance along the south bank of Lady Bird Lake on Sunday for a vigil in honor of unhoused people who lost their lives during last week’s winter storm and blackout in Texas.

The camp underneath Ben White Boulevard and Manchaca Road had fallen eerily quiet. “The power had gone out and the wind was blowing up drifts against the tents really, really fast and really, really bad,” Debra Sheffield said.

In the midst of government neglect, unemployment, and economic downturn, many political movements have arisen in attempts to change the structure of a society that has utterly failed the people in the most dire need of its help.

But it’s not a substitute for organizing.

With huge gaps in the state and local response to the winter crisis, volunteers are stepping up to provide vital services

A week that started with smiling snow photos and snowmen took a drastic turn in a matter of hours as San Antonio, like the rest of Texas, was left to freeze in the dark. But through it all the community has seen some light.

José Andrés' World Central Kitchen has also mobilized to feed people left without power, water, and food in record-breaking conditions.