NOVEMBER 2024
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The LISTINGS section of this Dispatch–a roundup of ways to contribute to LA's mutual aid efforts in the form of time, money and/or items as well as what resources each group offers–can be found by ⬇️ scrolling down ⬇️
Introducing: The Mutual Aid LA Network Directory
The folks at the MALAN Dispatch and Directory teams have been working tirelessly to create some sort of searchable database of mutual aid opportunities in Los Angeles so that folks can get plugged in as quickly as possible. The Directory is now live, and we’ll continue to update it with groups and mutual aid efforts in the city as they come up. If you’d like to add your group to be included, feel free to shoot us a DM on Instagram @mutualaidla! We’re so excited for this tool to be ready and available to everyone, we hope it can be a resource to everyone looking to get involved in mutual aid!
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A FEW WORDS ON: FREE TABLES
If you find yourself surrounded by SO. MUCH. STUFF … you’re not alone. Americans have more things than any society in history. Many of us are trying to prune and pare down, but most people don’t have the time or bandwidth to seek out nonprofits or organizations that can specifically use their items. (Mugs? Take them to a residential recovery treatment facility. Suitcases? Find a foster care organization). So, a lot of us just drop our stuff off at corporate thrift stores where much of it will be tossed and the rest will be marked up to a ridiculous price that negates the whole meaning of “thrift.” ($5 used IKEA mugs at Goodwill, anyone?)
Enter the free community table. If you haven’t seen one yet, it’s a shelf or table on a public sidewalk where people drop and take stuff. It’s, as billed, totally free and unregulated – powered by mutual kindness and respect. There are a few in LA (East Hollywood and Lincoln Heights that I know of), though they’re not advertised so it usually requires proximity or word-of-mouth to find them. The beauty of the community table is that it eliminates a middleman and gives directly to your neighbors.
Another bonus is that they can serve as a repository for all those things that you can’t even take to a thrift store, but are still 100% useful to someone. So, next to clothes, records, and plates, you might find folders, screws, shoelaces, dog food, or magnets. All those random things that accumulate in closets and drawers, because there’s often no disposal option other than the trash bin, and ultimately, the landfill.
If you want to start your own community table, place a shelf or cabinet in a publicly accessible place (ideally with a chain lock to keep it in place) and allow people to leave and take donations freely. Some days there will be nothing; other days it’ll overflow. As the organizer, you do have to monitor it to make sure it stays tidy, but you’ll quickly see the love and enthusiasm the community has for it.
Written by Julie
FEATURED EFFORT: ALL POWER FREE CLINIC
Last December, the Dispatch featured All Power Books - a radical bookstore, organizing space, and resource hub in West Adams that rose out of the 2020 protests. But we didn’t have space to tell you more about another of All Power’s programs - a free clinic that invites folks to imagine healthcare beyond the oppressive for-profit systems currently in place.
The folks behind All Power Free Clinic are healthcare workers who were frustrated with the state’s response to COVID, its use of police violence, and its failure to adequately care for unhoused and other street-involved Angelenos. But they were also inspired by healthcare models that imagined another way, like the Black Panther Party’s People’s Free Medical Clinics.
These days, APFC operates in a few different modes. Volunteers host a clinic every other Saturday at All Power Books’s grocery distribution. They also host pop-up clinics in various communities and encampments in partnership with other mutual aid organizations. At clinics, they offer blood pressure and blood sugar checks, wound care, exams, as well as free over-the-counter medications and supplies—to anyone who needs services.
Patient autonomy is important to AP Free Clinic, which is why they work to provide information and resources that equip individuals to make their own healthcare decisions. In response to both state and right-wing violence at protests, APFC empowers organizers to care for one another with first aid training for common injuries inflicted at direct actions and other situations in which people might be met with police violence. Other trainings have included de-escalation strategies for patient care and managing bleeding and chemical irritants.
APFC’s next goal? Purchasing an i-stat machine - a tool that would allow patients to get preliminary lab work for free. An i-stat machine would allow the clinic to deliver comprehensive results to patients in less than 10 minutes and use that information to provide immediate care. Volunteers could bring the machine to each encampment visit and pop-up clinic.
An APFC volunteer said: “This capacity would significantly level up our community care.” One of the best ways you can support the clinic right now is by giving funds. The machine costs $5,000, but its impact would be far greater. It would equip more Angelenos with the critical health information they need to make choices about their own bodies.
If you’re inspired by this kind of work and/or have medical experience, APFC can use your expertise and solidarity as a volunteer. Applications open early next year. Keep an eye on their IG page for updates.
APFC volunteers believe that healthcare is a human right. They also believe that our current healthcare system inherently values profit over human flourishing and is riddled with access barriers, especially for marginalized and low-income groups. Until socialized healthcare is a reality, they model an alternative that removes the barriers of cost and transportation put in place by for-profit systems that oppress. They are building a world where people get the care they need when they need it, and where community members come together to keep each other safe and well.
How YOU can contribute...
- GIVE MONEY to help APFC get that i-stat machine! The goal is $5,000.
- If you have medical experience, SIGN UP to volunteer! APFC is 100% volunteer-organized, and volunteers care for patients, facilitate trainings, and support events with All Power Books and other collaborating organizations with whom they collaborate. Look for the form to open early in 2025!
- VISIT All Power Books! Time your visit to coincide with a pop-up clinic to see APFC in action in West Adams. The website is a good place to check for upcoming distro dates.
- ATTEND a training to gain knowledge that can increase your capacity to care for your comrades and wider community. APFC recently held a street medic training in September; keep an eye on their IG for upcoming events.
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: The Lavender Collective
YOU HAVE: TIME, ITEMS, MONEY
YOU NEED: ITEMS, SERVICES, FOOD
The Lavender Collective is a coalition of dykes and queers focused on mutual aid and community care. Join us for monthly distros of food, clothes, and hygiene items at MacArthur Park, and keep an eye on our Instagram for information about our December gift giveaway. Or help us out by donating funds or items– coordinate on IG to get involved!
COLLECTING: New and gently used clothes
WHEN: Check in with the Lavender Collective on IG
WHERE: MacArthur Park, around LA
$: Venmo
WHO: Mac Park Breakfast Crew
YOU HAVE: TIME, ITEMS, MONEY
YOU NEED: ITEMS, SERVICES, FOOD
Our dedicated team serves meals throughout the week, plus larger distribution events every few weeks. These events happen with regular meal service and usually involve distributing clothing, shelf-stable groceries, hygiene kits, menstrual products, shoes, tent resources, and sometimes even services like hair cuts and first aid. Help keep consistency with the growing community they’re building by joining the crew. Roles include meal service, cooking, hygiene kit building, or grocery shopping. DM @evadotwoods on IG.
COLLECTING: Check out the amazon wishlist
WHEN: Mondays and Sundays @11am
WHERE: MacArthur Park
$: Venmo @Catherine-Schetina or buy directly from the amazon wishlist
WHO: Grow Together Glendale
YOU HAVE: TIME, ITEMS, MONEY
YOU NEED: ITEMS, SERVICES, FOOD
Grow Together Glendale is a group of neighbors dedicated to revolutionary organizing. We distribute much needed resources, educate ourselves and each other, and build community power in so-called “Glendale” and surrounding areas. We hope to build relationships with neighbors, increase food access in the area, and fight the onslaught of displacement and gentrification.
COLLECTING: See our IG @growtogetherglendale for our running list of requested items!
WHEN: Please reach out via IG DM or email (growtogetherglendale@gmail.com) for our next meeting time and place
WHO: PowerBlossoms
YOU HAVE: TIME, MONEY
YOU NEED: SERVICES
SoCal-based abolitionist org, bringing together queer & trans people on both sides of prison walls in the fight against hierarchies & State oppression. We work with all LGBTQ+ people incarcerated or detained in California. Help needed processing and replying to mail we receive containing many different sorts of requests, sign up to organize with us here.
COLLECTING: Currently accepting birthday cards for incarcerated trans and queer people in California with December birthdays. Help us celebrate with our community! You can also sign up to be a penpal with an incarcerated person on our website.
WHEN: Second Tuesdays (7-9PM) and Fourth Sundays (2-4PM), or remote on your own time
WHERE: Robinson Space in East Hollywood (Second Tuesdays); East LA Library (Fourth Sundays) –
$: Here’s a link to the various donation channels
WHO: Union de la 8 (LA Tenants Union)
YOU HAVE: MONEY
YOU NEED: SERVICES
Union de la 8 is a neighborhood committee within the K-Town local of LA Tenants Union (LATU) raising funds in support of tenants after a recent fire. Despite collapsed ceilings and damaged walls, the property owner refuses to pay for relocation and the LAHD refuses to help.
$: Donate via GoFundMe
WHO: The Mutual Aid LA Dispatch and Directory
YOU HAVE: TIME
MALAN is once again asking folks interested in digital organizing if they’d like to join our dispatch/directory team! Most urgently we could use a Spanish translator and folks that are good with data entry, as well as anyone interested in assisting with social media outreach and liaising or graphic design. DM us on instagram and mention The Dispatch and Directory and how you would like to lend your time.
WHEN: Thursdays at 7pm
WHERE: Zoom!
Mutual aid groups are on the ground in communities affected by Hurricane Helene, and they’re getting food, water, information and other resources directly to the folks who need them. They’ll be there long after the destruction is forgotten by the news cycle, and they’re the best place to donate funds if you’d like to help. Here are a few who could use your support:
- WNC Rural Organizing and Resilience (ROAR)
- Firestorm Books
- Pansy Collective
- Asheville Survival Program
- Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
- First Aid Collective Knoxville (FACK)
- Tricities Mutual Aid
- Food Not Bombs Tallahassee
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