12 Oct The Future Is Mutual Aid

Greetings Westwood Family,

By now, I am sure that most of you have met Everest Harvey, our new Director of Youth and Social Justice. Everest has been hard at work, meeting with many of you and getting the pulse of what social justice issues our community is especially interested in working on. For those of you who are interested in participating in those conversations please email Everest so that you can be invited to the next meeting of the Social Justice Working Group.

One of the ideas that emerged during their conversations with members of our community was the creation of a Westwood UMC Mutual Aid Group. Everest and I have heard a common refrain during our time at Westwood – there is a strong desire to build community and help those in need within our community, but we lack a formal way to communicate those needs. A mutual aid group solves this problem. Mutual aid is an opportunity for us to build genuine community with each other by supporting each other with our time and talents. All it requires is for us to be open to receiving help and to be willing to help another as we are able.

For those of you who are not familiar with mutual aid, it is an organizing system where community members come together to share or exchange resources, goods, and services to help each other meet our common needs. This could include resources such as food, clothing, housing, childcare, or anything you need help with. While formal mutual aid societies emerged during the beginnings of the industrial revolution as a way to help community members when there was little to no social safety net, there was a reemergence of these societies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In order for this system of Mutual Aid to work, we need people to sign up to be on the Mutual Aid Response Team. If you would like to join the response team, please follow this link and click on “ask to join the group,” and you will be notified whenever there is a request. If you, or someone you know is in need of aid, please have them complete the Mutual Aid Request Form.

I am excited by the potential of this group to help us on our journey to create a culture of belonging at Westwood. Showing up and supporting one another is one powerful way for us to continue becoming the community we long to be.

Love and Solidarity,
Rev. Dr. Carter