Established in April 2020, Red Hook Mutual Aid is a community network in Red Hook, Brooklyn that works to ensure supplies, resources, and information are as inclusive, comprehensive, and accessible as possible to everyone in the neighborhood. We seek to connect with the most vulnerable members of our community through a buddy system that ensures we are prepared for the next crisis, as well as actively engaged in an integrated community.
Mutual aid has been a part of all large, powerful social movements, and it has a particularly large role to play right now, as we face unprecedented dangers and opportunities for mobilization…at its best, mutual aid actually produces new ways of living where people create systems of care and generosity that address harm and foster well-being.
Dean Spade, Mutual Aid:
Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)
Mutual aid prioritizes accessible platforms for community members to express needs, and in turn, we strive to meet those needs with haste by reallocating existing resources in the community. RHMA considers the phone the most accessible and inclusive platform to express a need, so first and foremost, Red Hook Mutual Aid is a phone line. We also use WhatsApp as an accessible platform for community members and migrants to express need, in the language of their choosing.
As a mutual aid group, we are not affiliated with any organization or political affiliate.
We seek to redefine aid and relationships within the framework of solidarity, not charity.
The RHMA network includes Red Hook households who have used our phone line to express needs, the majority of whom are elderly public housing residents. In February 2023, we also began working with migrants housed in shelters in our community:
- Brooklyn Cruise Terminal housed up to 700 adult male migrants from February-March 2023
- Brooklyn Motor Inn functions as a family shelter, housing up to 160 migrants since October 2023
Red Hook Mutual Aid uses a buddy system to pair households and migrants with volunteers, and in doing so, works to integrate our community and build relationships that wouldn’t exist otherwise.