Our Story:
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This project was started by Sass Borodkin and Sett Vincent in July of 2023. Both Sass and Sett were motivated to start this work because of their lived experiences with chronic poverty and resource deprivation, and between the two of them they have a combined two decades+ experience with community organizing, mutual aid, and other forms of peer support and resource (re)distribution. In 2025 Sett stepped back from the project due to capacity issues, but the work continues often in partnership with other mutual aid groups, as well as with other individuals engaged in direct cash redistribution and mutual aid. ETR has been primarily funded by members of the "Maine" chapter of Resource Generation, operating on Wabanaki territory, though over time it has also expanded to receive funding from people who are not part of Resource Generation but are still looking for ways to redistribute their assets.
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ETR was created as an act of love, with the belief that this world could be safer if we wanted it to be. There is more than enough for everyone. Wealth hoarding is violence.
Community care is medicine. |
TO GET INVOLVED:
If you are someone with wealth who would like to contribute to our efforts please be in touch by emailing us at [email protected] and using GET INVOLVED as your subject heading.
A NOTE ABOUT WHO WE SUPPORT:
Currently, we are limited to sharing with people living in Wabanaki territory, but we hope to be able to expand our reach as this project continues to find its wings
A NOTE ABOUT CO-OPTION:
Sourced from: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/LOGGANS-mutual-aid-zine.pdf
“Many white organizers will have you believe that Mutual Aid is an anarchist-communist theory based in either autonomous independence from the state or workers rights. Though Mutual Aid does encompass those things, it is important that people understand that Mutual Aid has and always will be a non-western tradition. Mutual Aid is Indigenous lifeways and sovereignty; it is Black thrivance and power, which will outlive anarcho-communist theory. It is not a theory, it is a practice that most people of color have been practicing and predates colonialism and capitalism. This is important to note, because the co-option of Mutual Aid without accountability is racism. The co-option of Mutual Aid as an anarcho-communist theory participates in the erasure of systems and communities of color that are the authority in Mutual Aid practices. BIPOC mutual aid practices were purposefully destroyed by white settlers through genocide, assimilation, and a commitment to greed via capitalism. We cannot divorce the legacies of trauma that exist due to settler meddling. We will not allow white organizers and anarcho-communist folx to appropriate our teachings in a time of panic. By committing to Mutual Aid practices, you are demanding accountability for long-term commitment to the upheaval of white supremacy. Mutual aid demands settlers to relinquish control in order for them to contribute at all.
We cannot allow Mutual Aid practices to be co-opted by nonprofits, white organizers, or other “charity” based folx, who are not committed to understanding that Mutual Aid has been a practice by people of color for longer then they could even imagine. Mutual aid is a unifying term, putting a name to the practice that most of us (BIPOC) folx have been acting on all our lives. Mutual aid was not born out of survival, its proposed purpose is for communities to THRIVE. Yes, it has been used in times of crises to help the most targeted in our society so that they can survive, but that is not enough. We must be committed to seeing people thrive, not just scrape by.” - Regan De Loggans
If you are someone with wealth who would like to contribute to our efforts please be in touch by emailing us at [email protected] and using GET INVOLVED as your subject heading.
A NOTE ABOUT WHO WE SUPPORT:
Currently, we are limited to sharing with people living in Wabanaki territory, but we hope to be able to expand our reach as this project continues to find its wings
A NOTE ABOUT CO-OPTION:
Sourced from: https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/LOGGANS-mutual-aid-zine.pdf
“Many white organizers will have you believe that Mutual Aid is an anarchist-communist theory based in either autonomous independence from the state or workers rights. Though Mutual Aid does encompass those things, it is important that people understand that Mutual Aid has and always will be a non-western tradition. Mutual Aid is Indigenous lifeways and sovereignty; it is Black thrivance and power, which will outlive anarcho-communist theory. It is not a theory, it is a practice that most people of color have been practicing and predates colonialism and capitalism. This is important to note, because the co-option of Mutual Aid without accountability is racism. The co-option of Mutual Aid as an anarcho-communist theory participates in the erasure of systems and communities of color that are the authority in Mutual Aid practices. BIPOC mutual aid practices were purposefully destroyed by white settlers through genocide, assimilation, and a commitment to greed via capitalism. We cannot divorce the legacies of trauma that exist due to settler meddling. We will not allow white organizers and anarcho-communist folx to appropriate our teachings in a time of panic. By committing to Mutual Aid practices, you are demanding accountability for long-term commitment to the upheaval of white supremacy. Mutual aid demands settlers to relinquish control in order for them to contribute at all.
We cannot allow Mutual Aid practices to be co-opted by nonprofits, white organizers, or other “charity” based folx, who are not committed to understanding that Mutual Aid has been a practice by people of color for longer then they could even imagine. Mutual aid is a unifying term, putting a name to the practice that most of us (BIPOC) folx have been acting on all our lives. Mutual aid was not born out of survival, its proposed purpose is for communities to THRIVE. Yes, it has been used in times of crises to help the most targeted in our society so that they can survive, but that is not enough. We must be committed to seeing people thrive, not just scrape by.” - Regan De Loggans
** In memory of mutual aid giant, Chuck Fitts **
Being in need is not a personal failing; it's an oppression