How mutual aid has helped people survive everything from Covid-19 to Hurricane Helene

The world is in crisis and people are suffering from oppressive systems: The number of police cities is growing national and police budgets are increasing and library budgets are being cut; barriers to access to health care that all Americans face, especially with low incomes AND trans people; mass arrests peaceful student protests in solidarity with Palestine; unfair enforcement of immigration law leaves families separated and deprived of key resources. When we need support, people need to turn to each other. On social media, people post appeals for funds with colorful graphics or pool money to pay someone else’s rent. Community members fill courtrooms to show defendants they are not alone. People with cars organize transport.

These examples – and more broadly, the act of protecting, caring for, and providing assistance to each other when the government fails to do so – could be classified as “mutual aid.”

In Asheville, North Carolina, where communities are still struggling with the effects of the disaster Hurricane HeleneResidents say mutual help is necessary to survive. “It’s really hard to overstate how devastated some parts of our community are,” said Alex Lines, a climate action organizer in Asheville Teen Vogue in mid-October, with communities underwater, massive power outages, destroyed water infrastructure and more. Residents felt that “There wasn’t really any plan in advance…most of the city’s water was (turned off) due to the damage and there was no plan for water distribution.” With residents all over the city was left without access to water for many weeksand no timetable for when the city will be restored or potable (although power and water have been largely restored, it wasn’t fit for drinking, since last week), mutual aid efforts have been crucial.

Boston Globe/Getty Images

Washington Post/Getty Images

“People sprung into action immediately after the storm hit… checking on neighbors, sharing camping stoves, water bottles and anything else they had,” they said. One group in particular, Be Well AVL, has created a network of people with wells in the area to effectively deliver water to those in need. Others are working to distribute personal protective equipment and clean up toxic mud or cook hot food in areas particularly affected by storms. (Mutual aid) is happening everywhere now.”

“The government response has been really slow,” Lines said Teen Vogue. Those who engage in mutual aid, helping each other with what they have, “are able to respond to needs much faster and with less bureaucracy.”

What is mutual aid and where did it come from?

Mutual aid is an integral part of social justice movements through which people work together to imagine a more just world.