Hello r/Antiwork, greetings from Portland, Oregon!
The cost of everything has gone through the roof (again!) and many people are struggling regardless of employment status, so I thought I should share a little about my city's Mutual Aid culture and community, it may help give a little insight into what you can organize wherever you happen to live.
Portland's network operates via individuals, and affinity groups often called “blocs” inspired from the black bloc, some are silly but I love them too. Examples are: snack bloc, optical bloc, tamale bloc, heater bloc, mending bloc, wood bloc, pet block, laser bloc, not to mention the EWOKS, Rosehip Medic Collective, and PDX Street Mechanics (there's more than that, and it grows every year)! Its modern iteration was born from the 2020 uprising for racial justice and Black liberation, though Mutual Aid in PDX has a much longer history, and not all MA is organized by blocs. Oh, everything is free too!
Food and Clothing: No one should starve, or go without. All of this over production has led to a surplus of stuff, just look for the buy nothing groups (ex. r/PDXBuyNothing). We are also fortunate to have many free fridges and free stands in five of Portland's “quadrants” (I know, I know…), in addition, the Bloc's often host Free Markets (Piss Bloc recently hosted one) where we share resources and skills, play music and just have a good time with people who genuinely value you, no matter who you are.
Housing: I wish I had a better answer here, because housing is a bit tricky and unstable, but better than being outside. It's not something that's advertised or offered openly (yet) like food or clothes, both parties must have mutual trust. This is where the “Class traitors” and benevolent retirees can offer the most assistance, but it's not limited to them. I'm subtly reaching out to those lonely people with high paying jobs I always see posting, empty nesters, and anyone else who has the capacity. Warning: DO NOT go above your means/capacity to help, and set hard boundaries up front- mutual aid is mutual care, not charity. We also do what we can to protect and provide for our homeless neighbors, many of whom feel safer in Portland than the rest of the country. I've been homeless myself, lucked into an opportunity and hosted 2 people for about a year, I now live in a small work/trade organic family farm and it's very relaxed.
Physical and Mental Health: We have many care collectives started by people who often work as health care professionals, shout out to the nurses and paramedics who take time out of their busy lives to teach us free CPR, First Aid, and Trauma care! Though OHP (Oregon Health Plan) is wonderful, Oregon's mental healthcare is unfortunately some of the worst in the nation, so Mutual Aid organizers often work to fill that gap and support people who need it. PDX Care collective is a good example of this.
I must note that none of this is a systemic solution, but a community one. We still very much need to agitate for housing and medicare like OHP or Home Forward for all if we're going to survive in these current circumstances. The way I see it, what's the point of having a 'state' if it's not here to help people- especially if the resources exist.
What I do know is that this network has helped me not just survive, but thrive as a chronically unemployed person- I'm a hard worker, but a terrible employee. Mutual Aid makes my work have meaning, and I love it. How about you all? Does your city have a Mutual Aid network? What's it like?
Bonus Content: I decided to do this write up from a post where I was trolling a troll, went overboard and decided to not let this information go to waste. If you're interested in the original post it's here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/tcj4rf/i_have_a_solution_for_antiwork_community/
He got very upset by my story of an eviction defense that led to taking back land from a money laundering foreign developer trying to evict a black family at gunpoint, resulting in the creation of a Mutual Aid hub, an apology from city hall, and an extended moratorium on evictions with a state payout to landlords (Direct Action gets the goods, one year rent-free for all). Portlanders were ONLY able to do this because of years spent organizing our communities, and lost our fear of challenging the police. Of course, this guy loses the argument and showed up in my DM's like a spineless coward, spewing racist crap about European colonialism being 'good' for us lazy indigenous people, and complaining that nO oNe WaNtS tO wOrK. I think he needs a hug XD