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'Solidarity, not charity': Mutual aid groups are filling gaps in Texas' crisis response

Alexandria Herr

February 26, 2021 |

Grist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

Texas mutual aid groups raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help people with food, housing, and other supplies after natural disasters, which are increasing due to climate change. Organizers go door-to-door and use social media to identify people in need of assistance, particularly people impacted by structural inequalities in low-income communities, communities of color, and people with insecure housing. Donors, most of whom also come from the community, help with cash or goods donations. Recipients aren’t means-tested and the neighbors-helping-neighbors model allows for quick and passionate action.

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These local nonprofits bring books to incarcerated individuals in North Carolina

Bethany Lee

February 02, 2021 |

The Daily Tar Heel |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

Prison Books Collective and a partner organization, N.C. Women's Prison Book Project, for 15 years have collected donated books and then distributed them inside North Carolina prisons to incarcerated people who crave new reading material. Answering requests, which sometimes can be quite specific as to genre, the groups fulfill orders from their revolving supply. Combined, the groups make up to 75 shipments per week and in return hear from people inside about how meaningful the donated books are to them.

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A Clever Strategy to Distribute Covid Aid—With Satellite Data

Tom Simonite

December 17, 2020 |

Wired |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Togo

To quickly distribute money to poverty-stricken areas in Togo during the coronavirus pandemic, the country's government turned to mobile cash payments. Working with a nonprofit and UC Berkeley’s Center for Effective Global Action, Togo established a system of mobile payments to reach 30,000 of Togo’s poorest people who were identified via satellite imagery and image analysis algorithms.

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Safety looks like full bellies in a pandemic

Courtney Napier

November 30, 2020 |

Scalawag |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Durham, North Carolina

Mutual aid programs run by Black women have filled critical gaps in public assistance during the pandemic by feeding hundreds or thousands of people in multiple Southern cities. From Durham's Mustard Seed Project to St. Louis' Potbangerz to others, these community-based care programs center their aid on prepared meals, but they often add other donated goods for people in need: personal protective equipment, groceries, and household and baby items. In some cases, the nonprofits' organizers have formed intercity friendships and alliances that help spread their tactics.

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The Work Is All Of Us

Kimberly Meyer

October 05, 2020 |

Texas Observer |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Texas

What started as an informal support group in Texas for undocumented workers who had been injured while working, has morphed into a mutual aid organization that helps connect immigrants and those who are uninsured with health necessities and resources. The group is unique in the U.S., as it advocates for both disability rights and immigrant rights, while also providing support for disaster relief efforts.

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The Forgotten Stones That Still Inspire Turks to Help Their Neighbors

Jennifer Hattam

August 24, 2020 |

Atlas Obscura |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Turkey, Istanbul

Building on a history of anonymous charity, a mosque in northern Istanbul started a pop-up communal food bank to help those most impacted by the pandemic. The initiative is one of several mutual aid efforts underway in the municipality, with each paying homage to the nation's historical use of a charity stone - a place where "people who had money would leave some on top of the stone, and those who didn’t would take some, according to their need."

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This Chicago Nonprofit Supports Incarcerated Youth and Local Businesses During the Pandemic

Nicolette White

August 21, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Liberation Library, a Chicago-based nonprofit, provides books for incarcerated youth. The nonprofit fills the youths' book requests and has also partnered with five Chicago-based bookstores, where shoppers can purchase gift cards on behalf of the nonprofit. Since the onset of the pandemic, it has sent more than 1,100 books, more than double its usual number, along with card games, snacks and art supplies.

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Reformed leaders of rival gangs in Lehigh Valley collaborate on a community need: Diapers

Kayla Dwyer

July 20, 2020 |

The Morning Call |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Allentown, Pennsylvania

An anti-violence program served as the spark for a “diaper drive” that delivered more than 163,000 donated diapers to 1,100 families as the coronavirus shutdown took hold, a charity drive enabled by a gang truce – and run by gang members themselves. Members of the Latin Kings, Crips, and Bloods, working through the Zero Youth Violence program of the organization Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, benefited from years of work to strengthen community relationships as a means of conducting “violence interruption” work.

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Inmate-Made Masks Help Community and Those Incarcerated, Jailer Says

Liz Carey

July 09, 2020 |

The Daily Yonder |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Versailles, Kentucky

When a pandemic lockdown idled the men jailed at Woodford County Detention Center, they replaced the jobs they previously had performed in the community with work in the jail that served an immediate need: sewing protective masks. They sewed more than 28,000 masks in the first four months of the pandemic, using donated clothing as the fabric and distributing them at no cost. While the incarcerated men were paid little for their work, they said they benefited with new skills, staying active, and feeling pride in their community service.

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Food drives around Chicago continue a tradition of revolutionaries feeding the community

Matt Harvey

June 17, 2020 |

The TRiiBE |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Chicago, Illinois

Many organizations are holding food drives, providing hot meals, and delivering essential items like groceries and diapers to children and their communities in underserved Chicago neighborhoods. Based on a tradition of providing free breakfast to kids started by the Black Panther Party, the initiatives began as a way to serve those participating in Black Lives Matters protests and shifted to reach communities, most of which are food deserts that rely on corner stores that have closed because of protests. The communities have many needs and some organizations plan on continuing to provide additional services.

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