MAY 2024
Ver el Despacho de Mayo en español.
View the May Dispatch in Spanish.
Listen to The Dispatch podcast 🎤🎧🔊 Escuche el podcast Del Despacho
The LISTINGS section of the Dispatch–a roundup of ways to contribute to LA's mutual aid and community care-based efforts in the form of time, money and/or items as well as what resources each group offers–can be found by ⬇️ scrolling down ⬇️
A FEW WORDS ON: OUR SHARED STRUGGLE
A quick and simple thought to usher you into the Dispatch this month: keep–or start if you haven’t yet– showing up. Gather supplies for student 🇵🇸 encampments (start by following @peoplecitycouncil and our (@mutualaidla) stories on IG to find out who needs what and where), offer skills, send funds for bail or funds to hire private security to protect students from Zionists at the encampments–please, just full out all-hands-on-deck support LA’s students (@sjpatucla @uscscale @oxysjp and so many others frequently updated on MSA West's IG) as they stand up and refuse to let the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people be normalized. Follow and echo the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement (the Boycat app is helpful). Purchase eSims for people in Gaza. And also, always remember our collective liberation.
Mutual aid is a shared responsibility for one another; trusting and meeting human needs with an understanding that the systems in place will not. The current systems were built to oppress, to keep us down and separated. The work you do with local groups (like those listed in the Dispatch) is pushing up against settler colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, militarism, incarceration, to name a few– the same forces of oppression the people of Palestine are fighting in order to recover their very right and ability to exist.
We’ll leave you with this meditation on the interconnected nature of survival, a bite from a longer piece by Ayesha Khan, Ph.D.: “What else is the point of life exactly if not to care for each other and the land? That is why plants, microbes, all beings in our ecosystem exist. Their existence is critical to the sustainable survival of the entire ecosystem. What else could possibly be the reason for your and my existence if not for us to do our part in building a world where people, the land, our ecosystems are free to live with dignity? I am here because you are here and we are here to care deeply. In the process, we will be cared for.”
Written by Sarah who organizes w/ Lincoln Heights Unhoused Outreach and MALAN.
FEATURED EFFORT: COMMUNITY LOVING
On a Sunday at Alondra Park in Lawndale, volunteers set up tables and tents. They lovingly arrange personal care items, cosmetics, toys, and clothing, taking care to organize by size and type so shoppers can easily find what they need. At 10 a.m., families and individuals will arrive, ready to shop the Community Loving Boutique, a pop-up market of free goods. Here, folks in the South Bay area can access the resources they need and want so that - in the words of founder Moréa Sabido - they can do more than survive.
Community Loving began with a simple hygiene kit drive. Moréa and a group of colleagues planned to distribute 50 kits in Compton and Gardena. They wound up distributing over 10 times that amount - a clear sign that this kind of direct aid made a difference in their neighbors’ lives. This overwhelming response inspired Moréa to start an organization in her community in the South Bay. She envisioned an organization that supported marginalized Black and Brown communities and people vulnerable to state violence; approached this work in the spirit of solidarity and mutual care, and was guided by the people who would benefit from it. She says she recognized that “True empowerment comes from within the community itself,” rather than from charities and saviors.
Today, folks in the South Bay can shop at a Community Loving boutique once a month. If shoppers need a specific item that they can’t find, they can request it. Attendees can also enjoy family-friendly activities like crafts, games, and face painting - and of course, they can simply enjoy the company of their neighbors. Boutiques are both a way to get items into the hands of those who need them and a vehicle for intergenerational connection and network-building.
Community Loving believes in helping their neighbors meet their basic needs so that they are able to shift their energy into thriving instead of just surviving. They can focus more on spending time with their families, creating memories with their friends and neighbors, on play and pleasure and creativity, and on expanding into their fullest selves.
“When our basic needs are being met without ‘earning it’, we can reclaim our free will and autonomy over our bodies, our time, our spaces, and our lives,” Moréa says.
When shopping time ends, volunteers pack up the boutique into their cars and drive the remaining items over to a storage unit. They’ll add any additional donations to the unit and bring everything out again at the next event. Next month, they’ll do it all over again, meeting up here to load up their cars and drive them over to transform a section of Alondra Park into a joyful, energetic, community-driven space where folks can both access and offer care.
How YOU can contribute...
- GIVE MONEY or shop the wishlist to help w/ costs like storage and permit fees, vendor payment + supplies to keep the monthly Boutiques running. CL is 100% community-funded. You can also give via Venmo, Cash App, Paypal, + Zelle at communityloving.org@gmail.com.
- GIVE ITEMS, especially toiletries + baby supplies. Follow on IG or sign up for CL's newsletter to stay updated on where and when to bring items.
- SHOW UP to a monthly Boutique and enjoy spending time with your family, friends, or neighbors.
- VOLUNTEER before, during, and after Boutiques or on sorting days to help organize items. Follow CL on IG to stay up-to-date with upcoming events and ways to help.
Written by Katie who organizes with MALAN.
DO YOU HAVE TIME, ITEMS*, OR MONEY TO CONTRIBUTE?
DO YOU NEED ITEMS, SERVICES, OR FOOD?
*PLEASE clean, sort & fold all items you are donating. Items should be new or gently used. Socks, underwear and hygiene items should always be unused.
WHO: Jail Support LA
YOU HAVE: TIME MONEY
YOU NEED: SERVICES
Supporting anti-repression work by providing emergency bail for protestors + offering arrestees post-release essential support (food, water, transport, contact) + a connection to legal/counseling. Also an info hub for those affected by arrests around a direct action + mobilizing supporters to call/confirm details of arrestees (holding location, bail + demand release). In-person volunteers needed to provide post-arrest jail support. Lawyers, mental health professionals, herbalists, bodyworkers etc. are crucial. DM @jailsupportLA if you're interested. If there are arrests/you are arrested, and you are trying to contact us, DO NOT text sensitive personal information. Call 424-388-1230. JSLA(@JailSupportLA) stands in solidarity with student occupations on college campuses across LA. Come to the Church of Fun on Sunday 5/5 for a fundraising event to support the students.
WHEN: TBD, shifts vary | Event on 5/5
WHERE: LA County
$: Donations go toward paying emergency bail and post-arrest care supplies. Venmo @jailsupportLA | Cashapp $bigcherry420
WHO: Insula Collective
YOU HAVE: MONEY
YOU NEED: SERVICES
Folks are invited to join donation-based BIPOC support groups & mental health events. @insulacollective on IG
WHEN: Mondays @ 7pm and Fridays @ 1pm
WHERE: Junior High in Glendale (Mondays); Scribble in Highland Park (Fridays)
$: Venmo: @insulacollective_ Cashapp: $insulacollective
WHO: Northeast Neighborhood Outreach (NENO)
YOU HAVE: TIME ITEMS
YOU NEED: ITEMS SERVICES FOOD
New volunteers highly encouraged! We provide resources + advocacy to the unhoused of Northeast LA. Email neno.los.angeles@gmail.com or IG DM @neno4la to sign-up to volunteer.
COLLECTING: New or gently used, clean blankets, new tents (individual, pop up, 4- and 6- person)
WHEN: Bagging + shopping on Saturdays 9:30-10:30AM. Outreach on Sundays 10:30AM-12PM or 1:30PM.
WHERE: Driveway in Eagle Rock or Highland Park (address given directly after volunteers sign up)
$: Donate funds to help w/ direct operating costs like supplies for our unhoused neighbors
WHO: Los Angeles Abortion Support Collective
YOU HAVE: MONEY
YOU NEED: SERVICES
The Los Angeles Abortion Support Collective (LAASC) is a local volunteer-led-and-run collective providing free emotional, physical, educational, + spiritual support for those seeking abortion care in + traveling to our city. All contributions help pay for what our clients need for their abortion care - transportation, safe lodging, meals, etc. IG @laabortionsupport
$: Venmo: @laabortionsupport
WHO: No Us Without You LA
YOU HAVE: TIME MONEY
YOU NEED: FOOD
NUWY-LA provides food security for the undocumented community who work in food service and hospitality, as street vendors and mariachis + marginalized neighborhood residents throughout LA County. People willing to volunteer as food delivery drivers are needed, especially those w/ trucks or vans. Fill out our volunteer form if interested. Fill out this form if you are in need of food. Contact damian@nouswithoutyou.la w/ q’s.
WHEN: Generally on Tues/Thurs between 8am and 11:30am
WHERE: Based in Boyle Heights. Provides food to folks all over LA County.
$: Donate on our website or w/ Venmo (@No-Us-Without-You-LA) to help cover food and operation costs. $33 Feeds a Family of 4 for 1 Week!
WHO: Midnight Books
YOU HAVE: TIME ITEMS
YOU NEED: ITEMS SERVICES FOOD
Midnight Books is a revolutionary bookstore and community space. Volunteers are needed biweekly to cook for Comida No Bombas!
COLLECTING: Unopened perishable or nonperishable food
WHEN: Contact for more info. Email: midnightbookswhittier@gmail.com, IG: @midnightbooksla
WHERE: Southeast LA (Norwalk, Downey)
$: Venmo: @Midnightbooks562
WHO: The MALAN Dispatch Team
YOU HAVE: TIME
YOU NEED: SERVICES
We’re the group of folks who connect you w/ mutual aid efforts in LA via the newsletter you’re reading right now! We currently have a high need for bilingual folks who are willing to translate the Dispatch into Spanish. This takes an hour TOPS per Dispatch + is 100% remote. Email info@mutualaidla.org: w/ any q’s or interest.
WHEN: Virtual team meetings (optional) are on Thursdays @ 7PM. While each Dispatch issue has a month-long timeline, you can complete your role on your own schedule.
WHERE: Remote
WHO: Bicycle Meals
YOU HAVE: TIME ITEMS MONEY
YOU NEED: ITEMS FOOD
Seeking volunteers to help feed the unhoused community in Koreatown. Vols bring a bicycle, skateboard, roller skates/blades, scooter, car or walk on foot to deliver meal kits to unhoused neighbors. Please bring a backpack or large tote bag to carry meal kits. No sign up necessary, just show up! DM @bicyclemeals w/ any q’s.
COLLECTING: New or gently used clothing, shoes, blankets, tents, tarps, hygiene products & PPE. Donation drop-off is the same time & place as Sunday’s volunteer shift or DM on IG to arrange another time to drop off goods.
WHEN: Sundays @12pm (takes about an hour)
WHERE: Immanuel Presbyterian Church Parking lot (3300 Wilshire Blvd. in Ktown)
$: Venmo: @Koreatown (Michael Pak) w/ the message BICYCLE MEALS
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