Mutual Aid

Mutual aid is a form of solidarity-based support, in which communities unite against a common struggle. Underserved communities have long organized mutual-aid networks. In the past year, the groups have proliferated across the country.

Find a mutual aid network near you, and learn how you can participate in the community you occupy.

Consider donating to Irving Park Mutual Aid in Chicago.

Nita’s Love Train

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder in May 2020, Nita Tennyson started the Chicago Love Train out of a desire to bring love, support, and mutual aid to her fellow Chicagoans. The Love Train movement has been serving families in over 20 Chicago communities, 4-6 times a week, since it’s creation. Our primary goal is to serve as many families as needed, to redistribute resources, and to alleviate the pain that the pandemic and American structural inequity has created.

The Love Fridge and Community Pantries

The Love Fridge is a Chicago-based initiative created to nourish our communities through mutual aid by offering solutions to food scarcity and food waste. Powered by kindness, generosity, and most importantly, love, we firmly believe that feeding oneself is not a privilege, but a right.

With food insecurity at an all-time high, keeping our communities fed is now more important than ever. Our volunteers come from all over Chicago, working within their own neighborhoods to collaborate with like-minded partners to place community refrigerators across the city. 

These refrigerators, painted by local artists to reflect the communities in which they live, provide neighbors the opportunity to donate food as well as take what they need, ensuring accessible food 24/7. 

Community Kitchen

The Community Kitchen is a food service program providing complementary box lunches to in-need residents, families and workers in Chicago. The Community Kitchen and the Community Canteen provide over 3,600 hot, fresh meals a week to local senior housing complexes, food pantries, community centers, hospital workers and residents of Chicago.