Mutual Aid Tompkins: Solidarity, Not Charity
We are neighbors concerned about our communities and helping to make sure those most vulnerable and disenfranchised get the help they need. We facilitate and support neighbors helping neighbor. We are volunteer run, with no paid staff, and our aid comes directly from the community.
What We’re Doing
We are enabling neighbors to share information and resources and helping to match neighbors in need with neighbors able to support (especially supporting access to groceries, medicine, and supplies).
Who We Are Prioritizing
We are prioritizing those most vulnerable and affected by COVID-19: the sick, elderly, disabled, undocumented, single parents, queer, Black, Indigenous, and/or people of color, those quarantined without pay, and those limited in work.
What Do We Mean by “Mutual Aid”?
Mutual Aid is neighbors supporting neighbors in the spirit of solidarity to meet survival needs, as opposed to non-profit/charity or government work where folx are dependent on a central organization. We recognize that the community knows best what its needs are and how to meet them.
Mutual Aid supports all our neighbors, but we recognize current and historical oppression and want to prioritize meeting the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors including the poor, sick, elderly, disabled, undocumented, queer, Black, Brown, Indigenous and/or people of color.
Mutual Aid is political and anti-oppressive by nature, and focused on creating long-term, sustainable systems of interdependent community care that ultimately lead to a more resilient and self-reliant Tompkins County. We want to foster a culture of collectivism in Tompkins County where individualism and existing government and non-profit systems have failed.
Read more about the roots of mutual aid through this zine
"So what is Mutual aid?
Mutual aid is simple, it's the breaking of the binary of the “Haves and have nots” with the intention to re-allocate for equitable access to resources, education, and needs. Seems simple enough. However, Mutual Aid is also a legacy, and a practice. It is a commitment to anti capitalism. Capitalists cannot practice Mutual Aid; they can practice temporary reallocation (ie philanthropy) which is not the same. Charity is not Mutual Aid."
"Mutual aid is a LONG TERM commitment to the community.
Mutual aid is based in community control, aiding one another to break free from capitalism and colonial authority. It can look different in different places. And it also demands that we use each other as responsible and meaningful contributions, so it also demands reciprocity and resource exchange (though not immediately or always)."
"Mutual Aid is Indigneous lifeways and sovereignty; it is Black thrivance and power, which will outlive anarcho-communist theory. It is not a theory, it is a practice that most people of color have been practicing and predates colonialism and capitalism."
Skillshare
“We also do not measure things based in equal reciprocity, we do not need to practice payment or profit. In fact, we SHOULD NOT practice profit or payment. Mutual aid is not done from the kindness of our hearts (though that helps), it is done because we respect people’s autonomous lives and want our communities to thrive. No one is expected to “pay” for anything, and there will be many unequal knowledge shares that are practiced, AND THAT'S OK. Stop viewing all actions as transactions or as tit for tat. We provide for the greater good and because we can and want to.”
Services
If you would like to request aid (petty cash assistance, groceries, supplies, medicine, delivery), AND/OR if you would like join our volunteer network to provide aid, fill out the Request/Give Aid form
When a request for aid is made, we match the person in need with someone in our volunteer network who can meet the need. Those matched coordinate the details.
Community Check In Survey (takes approximately 5 minutes to complete)
Neighborhood Stewards are community members who help everyone in a particular area get what they need. Stewards can do welfare check-ins regularly with other people in their own communities, form meaningful relationships, and facilitate mutual support among neighbors. Do you want to organize in your neighborhood? Check out the resources under the “Neighborhood Stewards” menu at the top of the page and/or reach out to the steward coordinators via email: contact@mutualaidtompkins.com
For updates in Tompkins County related to COVID-19 and other helpful information, check out the Daily Rundown
For updated information about the various resources available, please visit our Community Resource Folder
For information on food sharing in Tompkins County, check out the NeighborHood Food Sharing Update or subscribe to the Neighborhood Food Sharing Google Calendar
Donate
If you would like to directly support your neighbors financially, please contribute to the Tompkins Mutual Aid! We will match donations with people who request petty cash through our Mutual Aid Form (we prioritize the poor, sick, elderly, disabled, undocumented, queer, Black, Brown, Indigenous and/or people of color).
We have three donation options. Our GoFundMe campaign is a tax-deductible 501(c)3 donation through the Tompkins County Workers’ Center; our Venmo and Paypal accounts are not tax-deductible, but allow us to receive the funds immediately.