Mutual Aid Movement Playing Huge Role in COVID-19 Crisis

Unlike prior disasters, when the worst impacts were usually concentrated in certain locations, COVID-19’s geographic pervasiveness means that in many neighborhoods across the city, there are new groups coalescing to address local needs. NYC Shut It Down , a group birthed during the Black Lives Matter movement, is building on its experience running a Sunday street corner cookout program for food insecure families in the Bronx and East Harlem. The group is not just delivering funds or groceries, but also connecting residents with mental health professionals and lawyers who can assist with other problems, from police harassment to a landlord who refuses to come fix a building’s heat during quarantine. She noted that she has never been belonged to any kind of political advocacy group and that it’s been challenging to field the many questions the coalition has received from struggling restaurant workers seeking answers about their legal rights and future. The crisis required untrained volunteers to step in to organize massive relief efforts, which included knocking on doors, delivering supplies and coordinating emergency medical evacuations. Elderly & disabled folks are the most likely to need support as it becomes more difficult for family members & caregivers to get to them,” tweeted Adrien Weibgen, who ran a relief effort in Coney Island after Sandy, on March 14. “We’ve taken extraordinary steps to change how we provide benefits, making it easier for clients to access and stay connected to them, while also eliminating all adverse case actions during this period so that they need not worry in these unprecedented time,” said Isaac McGinn, the spokesperson. City Harvest is working to shore up food programs that remain open and operate Mobile Markets, while Citymeals on Wheels has ramped up to serve an additional 22,000 elderly who usually get lunch at senior centers—preparing the same number of emergency meals they normally provide in an entire year just within a matter of weeks. In fact, partnerships are already taking place: Sasha Verma of Corona Couriers says their group has responded to calls from established nonprofits asking them to assist with fulfilling deliveries for clients. The Parole Preparation Project , which is running a mutual aid program for prisoners, pointed to the conditions at New York’s prisons—the lack of access to basic needs like showers or clean laundry, now exacerbated by a period of crisis.