#Brooklyn Shows Love Mutual Aid Project

Equality for Flatbush (E4F) and The Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN) are grassroots organizing efforts to fight racism, police violence, and gentrification in Brooklyn, NY. As we are all dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, E4F and BAN are committed to supporting Brooklynites, especially those that have been historically racially, economically and socially disenfranchised. Given that none of us knows what the future holds during this stressful time, E4F and BAN are launching The #BrooklynShowsLove Mutual Aid Project, a five-pronged campaign to build and support neighborhood-based mutual aid efforts, connect people to existing or new community resources, and to provide material aid.

Brooklyn has such a rich history of people coming together to build grassroots organizations, movements, and alliances. Brooklynites already know that the best way to keep our communities safe in these difficult times is by neighbors helping neighbors. We hope that many people from across Brooklyn will volunteer and support The #BrooklynShows Love Mutual Aid Project.

All of us at Equality for Flatbush (E4F) and The Brooklyn Anti-Gentrification Network (BAN), wish you all good health and send our solidarity and love to all New Yorkers and our loved ones as we deal with this moment of crisis.

Phone Tree Team Captains:
Equality for Flatbush and Brooklyn Anti-gentrification Network will be reaching out to our Brooklyn-wide base to assess what are people’s needs and the ways we can support them. We need volunteer callers to help provide material aid and resources to community members who have been economically and/or medically impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. We also want to strengthen our ability to rapidly respond with phone zaps and online campaigns to stop tenant harassment and police violence in this period. With every phone call we make, we will ask community members to set up phone trees and/or text loops within their building, on their block, with members of their place of worship, etc, so we can build and/or strengthen neighborhood-based networks of mutual aid and support. We are recruiting as many volunteer callers as possible to help with this effort and we are touch with other mutual aid projects.

Equality for Flatbush (E4F) will launch The #BrooklynShowsLove Emergency Fund for Flatbush, East Flatbush and Crown Heights residents
For hourly wage workers, dollar van and cab drivers, domestic workers, street vendors, home health attendants, nail salon workers, hair braiders/dressers/barbers, sex workers, restaurant workers, artists, contract workers, construction workers, retail workers, daycare and child care providers, Lyft & UBER drivers and others who have lost their source of income during this crisis. We also want to support people living on fixed incomes, homeless individuals, and/or people who are food insecure who have relied on neighborhood food pantries that have shut down in this period.

E4F wants to provide a one-time love offering of $150 to help people pay for groceries, keep up with their medications, take care of loved ones who are sick, etc to as many residents as possible. We will use Cash App, Venmo, PayPal, or paper checks. Our goal is to fundraise for a cycle of applicants each week and distribute funds over the weekend. The 1st cycle to apply for will begin on Friday, March 20th and end on Friday, March 27th at 11:59pm. The funds will be distributed on March 28th and 29th. The 2nd cycle application would start on Saturday, March 28th and end on Friday, April 3rd at 11:59pm, with the funds being distributed during Saturday April 4th and Sunday, April 5th. Our goal is to continue to raise funds on a weekly basis as long as we can.

The criteria for funding is your name, address, neighborhood and method of payment. We have no desire to police who does and does not receive funds or not. No one will be turned away, as we all cope with this unprecedented global crisis. All we ask is that people do an honest assessment of their access to other financial resources and think about the fact the average median income of many historically low-to-middle income African-American and migrant communities of color in Brooklyn is under $30K a year.

We want to raise as much money as possible.
$30K will allow us to give funds to 200 of our neighbors.
$50K will help us to support 333 community members.
$70K will make sure that 466 residents get funds.
$100K will ensure over 660 people receive a $150 love offering.

Resource and Info Researchers:
E4F and BAN have been compiling and sharing resources about coping with COVID-19, ways to combat anti-Asian violence and xenophobia, potential job opportunities and emergency funds, as well as empowering mutual aid work happening locally, nationally and globally. We want to learn about more resources, especially resources geared toward migrant communities of color, undocumented people, QTPOC/LGBTQ communities, financially impacted people, etc. Please join the Resource and Info Researcher Team.

View #BrooklynShowsLove COVID-19 Resource List Here.

Fighting Collectively for Systemic Change:
As the pandemic impacts Brooklyn and the city as a whole, E4F and BAN are more committed than ever to our mission of fighting for justice, safety, and solidarity in our communities. Along with supporting community members directly, we continue to work with our fellow activists and organizers across the city fighting for housing justice, police accountability, migrants’ rights, and transformative social change. In solidarity with our movement allies we demand systemic changes that, when embraced, will deepen our community’s ability to thrive in this critical time and beyond. At this moment, as always, we are working with a spirit of love and abundance, embracing the range of liberation work that is happening organically throughout the city to keep our communities safe.