MUTUAL AID
“Your ability to build mutual aid will determine whether we win the world we long for or dive further into crisis.” Mutual aid is collective coordination to meet each other’s needs usually from systems we have in place are not going to meet them. As we face more worsening conditions, we must come together and create pathways to sustain ourselves.
Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This can include physical resources like food, clothing, or medicine, as well as services like breakfast programs or education. These groups are often built for the daily needs of their communities, but mutual aid groups are also found throughout relief efforts, such as in natural disasters or pandemics like the COVID-19 pandemic.
​Amid an unrelenting pandemic, economic crisis, and increasing climate disasters, the need for mutual aid networks has grown significantly. These crises expose the deeply rooted systemic inequalities in our society—including in humanitarian aid. And mutual aid has always played a role in filling those gaps.
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"Capitalism and colonialism created structures that have disrupted how people have historically connected with eachother and shared everything they needed to survive.” - Mutual Aid by Dean Spade
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Join our team to be apart of creating systems that will improve all of our universal needs within our communities. Sustenance, safety and security, love, understanding or empathy, creativity, sense of belonging, and autonomy. We can feed each other, clothe eachother, educate eachother, share resources and skills and much more. We would love to have you on our team so we can be successful in our efforts.​
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Fill out our volunteer form at https://forms.gle/NNCyHC57jmunb1177 or scan the QR code. To learn more on eoaohiondivisible.org/mutualaid
​BRING BACK THE VILLAGE.
It’s time we start helping out our community and those in it as much as we possibly can. Mutual aid is crucial in times especially like these and even the smallest of things can get someone through their day. We are gathering a complete list of every mutual aid group, event or fundraising/drives in our district. Where we can find resources and our basic necessities. From food to shelter to DV help and therapy. To clothes and blankets, free plan B or HIV testing. Any and all. We are also trying to create a system to help us through the winter and probably the incoming years.
Under our community resources page, you will find all of these resources we know we have in our areas or where to find what you would need. More is being added as we find them for you. Our resources can also be found there one we have it all organized. ​​
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Eventually we hope to create a bigger system that involves everyone including small businesses. As the times change and more of us struggle and struggle harder we are going to need our community to lean on and that is us. We all have a role in the revolution and we’re here when you’re ready with a wide range of different things you can choose from.​​​
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Do you have a skill, talent, expertise in a trade or hobby, or a small business and are interested in being apart of and participating in our community-focused mutual aid efforts we’re hoping to create and sustain? It also doesn't have to be an essential trade. Joy and beauty is also included. Cashless credit or time banking/swap or sharing. We want to lift everyone up to their best selves. Providing basic needs and positive conditions will help us all.
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Example: If you make candles, you can help if we lose electricity and folks can offer . They do not have to only be essentials, joy is also resistance and also a necessity. Handy person? Help those who are in need of those kinds of services. Retired teacher? Help kids with furthering their education. If you babysit or have a teen daughter that babysits, help our group members have child care for meetings, protests, etc. You might make candles and someone couldn’t pay their electric bill. Retired teacher wanting to help educate our rural communities with classes. You have a nice table you want to get rid of and a photographer would like to have it. Trade a session for the table. You want your nails done and you know how to bake, trade nail service for some baked goods. Someone makes honey and another has eggs, swap the goods. We can swap music, books, movies, games, puzzles, etc and give back when finished. Much much more.
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Let me get us started. -Taryn
I can offer photography services, doing your nails salon style, help with homeschooling for 3rd or 4th graders (I could work on other grade curriculums if needed as well). I am creating along with others a kids gardening class to feed the community, a free class and community garden. I can help folks with their house care, or yard work if needed. I would be able to help with transportation when available, provide meals for community dinners and delivery with others help, join women for support and sense of protection court if and when needed, get folks groceries if they are unable to get there. I could have free projector movie nights for the community and plan other kinds of fun activities and more.
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​​​We all have needs and we all have something to offer, no matter how big or small. What are your needs? What could help improve your daily life? Do you have something you would offer or contribute to our community?
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Form is here! https://forms.gle/NNCyHC57jmunb1177
FREE MARKET IS HERE FOR YOU.
Think thrift store, add in non perishable foods and... everything is free. Donate what you can, take what you need. No questions asked, no strings attached.
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Next Market Days:
March 28th 12-3pm Adams County Courthouse
More dates coming soon.
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Donation Drop Off Days:
To be announced.
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We are fundraising to sustain our free markets and our free community dinner events as well as fundraising to build and install "little libraries" around Adams County, filled with items that are needed. We are focusing on accessibility. These little libraries will have food, reproductive healthcare and harm reduction. Until then, we have our free markets that will include these items. We will be submitting an application for our project in hopes we can receive a mutual aid fund to help us get this effort quickly moving. Every dollar counts. Every donation matters. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/eoaohioindivisible or you can also venmo our lead, Taryn at taryn-penrose, if you use venmo please be sure to put in the note what the donation is for, you can be vague like "mutual aid" or you can be specific like "for food stock". If you’d like to help with our mutual aid efforts of the free market itself, we’d love for you to be involved! We are running these drives at all of our protests, activities and events and hope to have donation boxes at small businesses that support these causes once we have established the little libraries. You can find all of the details and lists for each drive below. We are seeking someone who would love to help me put together a project proposal for these installations so if that’s you, reach out.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
2026 Workshops and Groups for Adams County and surrounding areas.
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Banned and Non-Fiction Book Club
Every 2nd Thursday of the month
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Sexual Violence Awareness and Support Group
Every last Tuesday of the month
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Feed Our Community
Help grow and sustain a garden to contribute fresh food to ourselves and neighbors. Location is set, seeking volunteers.
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Kids Club (Goal Start: June)
We will try to make this every week or bi-weekly depending on the Club activity.
Ideas to support ourselves and our community
Examples and Ideas of Mutual Aid:
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Create a food pantry (were trying to have little libraries built in Adams county)
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Supper clubs or pot lucks.
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If you're an educator you could help host workshops or classes.
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If you make candles you can help if we lose our electricity and we can trade what we’re able.
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Sharing music, movies, puzzle, games etc. Take and give back system.
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Friendship or free family events and activities (we have Appalachian Edge Ohio Indivisible Community Events and Activities we’ll be getting back to very very soon if you'd like to help, we need it)
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First Capital Pride in Chillicothe hosts a Free Market (that we were inspired by to have in Adams County)
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Community garden or if you grow food, can provide food for our network. (Our lead has space for a large garden to grow and feed our communities)
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Help with home projects.
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Dumpster diving and give away what you find.
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Water each others plants when one goes out of town.
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I have traded a photoshoot for a coffee table, record stand, loaves of homemade bread, a client made me their family’s Indian french toast for a session and ive traded my hairstylist half of her wedding total for 6 hair appointments and much more. Just for some more personal examples!
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You can also add some ideas, just email us! (Add at the end the county you live in)
Dumpster Diving
Saving waste from dumpsters is legal as long as they are on public city street. Also if you have permission of the owner of the company or building. Although this practice (or the way they got around it in law) should not be illegal due to all the corporate waste.
https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/
We recommend you read or listen to this book by Dean Spade called Mutual Aid. We are in dark times and we need to focus on what we can do for our community.
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We did try to start a community garden and compost drop off area for Peebles, Seaman and Hillsboro but we didn't have enough help to keep it going. But there is much more we can do and keep doing and try to do.
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With the lack of villagers to help sustain a mutual aid project right now we have decided the best thing for us to do would be build little libraries and install them throughout Adams County. We are having a fundraiser to help with these builds. If you'd like to help make this happen, every dollar counts.