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What is mutual aid and how can it help our immigrant neighbors?

  • Feb 17
  • 3 min read

In response to ICE activity around the country, people are supporting their immigrant neighbors through fundraising, grocery deliveries, and monitoring ICE activities. This direct, grassroots aid is called mutual aid. This hyper-localized support is a faster, more responsive approach than waiting for government programs that often fall short of needs.


What is mutual aid?


Mutual aid describes when people within a community organize to help each other directly. This kind of peer-to-peer support can take the form of sharing resources, raising funds, and redistributing those resources to help a specific group.

Indigenous people have practiced mutual aid in food for centuries. The concept of neighbors supporting one another has persisted among marginalized groups and concerned citizens throughout history, such as:


  • The Black Panther Party’s Free Breakfast Program for school children in the 1960s, which was a significant factor in the creation of the first free school meal program from the US government and ACT UP leading to lifesaving HIV meds being made available for people, cultural destigmatization, and expansion of federal AIDS research funding.

  • Food Not Bombs, launched by anti-nuclear activists in the 1980s, continues to feed people in Indianapolis. Volunteers share vegan and vegetarian food with hungry neighbors as a protest to the systemic violence of war and poverty. 

  • ACT UP, or the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power. This grassroots, queer-led group began in the 1980s to advocate for policy change and medical support for people during the HIV/AIDS crisis.

  • Communities supporting one another during the COVID-19 pandemic filled gaps in government and healthcare outreach. 

  • The Twin Cities quickly stood up mutual aid networks to support the needs of their immigrant neighbors covering everything from food delivery, legal services, rent relief, mental health support and much, much more. The community’s response demonstrates that we can quickly come together to fill service gaps in times of need.


How to launch mutual aid


The unofficial motto for mutual aid is, “Solidarity, not charity.” When the existing government or healthcare structures do not serve—and even exacerbate—problems in our communities, history shows us that grassroots communities can create change. 


Mutual aid can begin small – with a social media post calling for donations or a food pantry collection. Perhaps you join a neighborhood group on social media to monitor ICE activities or join a Zoom training on how to be an effective constitutional observer. When you’ve identified a need that may require wider support, you can:


  1. Explore what existing services or other forms of mutual aid are available in your area so you know where to start or step in. 

  2. Learn more about mutual aid. You can get some ideas in the Mutual Aid 101 toolkit launched by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez during COVID. 

  3. Coordinate with other people in your community to build a network of support.

  4. Share consistent and clear messaging on social media to grow support.


Check out some of the local mutual aid organizations in Indy: 

  • Food Not Bombs 

  • Circle City Mutual Aid

  • The Community Food Box Project

  • Because of Adam

  • Flanner Farms


Want to learn more about mutual aid? Check out these resources:




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