BY MICHELLE JOKISCH POLO
Grand Rapids Mutual Aid Creates Community
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t’s been a little over two months since Governor Gretchen Whitmer first made the decision to shut down non-essential services and businesses, and close down school buildings. (The most current “stay home, stay safe” order is in effect until May 28th.) In the meantime, hundreds of folks across West Michigan have been left without income. Unwilling to just sit by and watch the economic fall out harm their neighbors, West Michigan residents Sarah Doherty and Amy Carpenter came together virtually and started to plan. Their plans led to the creation of the Grand Rapids Area Mutual Aid Network (GRAMAN). Doherty says GRAMAN was started to help those struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus era. The purpose of the fund is to get cash into the hands of those who need it the most with no stipulations in place. “Amy and I, we understood that there are a lot of nonprofits that are funded by wealthy donors, and
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a lot of charity in the area, but that not everyone gets access to help and opportunities that they need and often there are barriers in place like extensive applications or referrals,” Doherty said. Mutual Aid and Giving Circles have been around since the late 1700s when the Free African Society was founded to provide support to newly free African Americans. Doherty says anyone is able to start a mutual aid group. “Mutual aid is about gathering resources in community and sharing it with others.” Rebel Sidney Black, a community organizer, describes mutual aid as the random person from the internet bringing you a hot meal when you can’t get out of bed. It’s cleaning or spiritually cleansing the home of someone who’s too severely depressed to do it themselves. It’s staying up late talking to a suicidal friend, helping unpack an apartment after someone moves, giving rides to chemo, visiting or writing letters to folks in prison and walking someone’s dogs
when they can’t do it themselves. It can also look like sharing coping skills, survival skills or job search skills. Mutual aid can be sharing medicine, making medicine, helping sift through doctors to find a good fit. Mutual aid can also be fighting to change the structural causes of oppression so that everyone can be more free. GRAMAN is run by volunteers and relies mainly on monetary donations from community members to help provide food resources and financial aid to those who need it the most. “Everybody knows what they need to survive and the thing that people need is money and I think that’s becoming clear for folks in Grand Rapids,” Doherty shared. Thus far, the group has raised nearly $50,000 dollars. Doherty says donations can range from $10 per donation to $1,000.
Women’s LifeStyle Magazine • June 2020
