Juan’s Story
Is there a time in the past few years when you have seen firsthand the effect of mutual aid in someone’s life?
There were two sisters from Honduras who were going through an eviction case and I was, you know, I was also working on their case [through my other job]. And we were able to provide some extra support, financial solidarity, and other stuff like, you know, just being there. Connecting over the phone or sometimes in person and just seeing each other, providing some emotional support.
I believe that really made a huge impact on what they were going through because not only do they have their immigration case looming over them, but they’re also being evicted. And they’re going through an eviction case under the most strenuous circumstances and by technicalities in a contract. And there’s just no humanity in the way court cases are, you know? And that’s by design – people are meant to feel isolated and out of control and just not sure what to do in a situation without getting a lawyer.
Having someone there to orient them, or point them in the right direction, that can keep someone from having an emotional breakdown sometimes. And I really saw that the support that I was able to give through mutual aid was very significant to this family of migrants. Mutual aid has that emphasis on not only being able to connect people with resources and financial solidarity, but also connecting people to each other. That emotional support can mean everything.
What are some parts of yourself that you have been able to bring to and learn about through mutual aid?
I’ve definitely grown significantly in ways that I can apply mutual aid into my personal and professional life, like making decisions as a collective. How does that trust create a better structure for connection? We work with the understanding that everyone has the best intentions in what they do. We can’t go into a project without that trust that’s already innately built in. If there’s no trust then there’s little room to work or operate effectively.
So having that in mind, accountability is also a part of that. We all have to be accountable to one another, including calling one another and ourselves out if it requires it. We are a community that relies on one another, and it is a world that we envision by fulfilling the needs that we can for each other. It’s calling out to the strengths of someone that they may not know they have, but they can bring to the table, the conversation, the discussion. That’s what mutual aid is all about.
