Cooperate WNC

Please support Cooperate WNC’s Grassroots Mutual Aid Fund to provide direct support for Hurricane Helene recovery and ongoing grassroots disaster relief. This fund will advance longer-term growth of a stronger, more resilient community network. The effort is based on input from local mutual aid organizers throughout Western North Carolina about how to best support them going forward.

Over the last two and a half weeks since Hurricane Helene landed – along with doing physical recovery and group organizing in his community neighborhood at Earthaven – Cooperate WNC’s founder, Zev, has been connecting with grassroots mutual aid efforts across Western North Carolina. He’s hearing stories of loss,generosity, and care from mutual aid organizers in Barnardsville, Asheville, Old Fort, Celo, Marshall, Boone, Cherokee, Earthaven, Hendersonville, and many other places.

These incredible people have been putting aside daily life and market economics to work on the front lines, clearing debris and toxic materials, doing wellness checks, sharing food and supplies, finding emergency housing options, dealing with death and injury and chronic illness amidst an ongoingly broken healthcare system, and cooperating to care for their neighbors in every way possible.

We have been hearing how they’ve been getting organized, how their communities’ needs are changing as the recovery continues into later phases, and what kinds of transformational insights are emerging about how to harness the breakdowns to create new systems that serve people and ecosystems better.

Through all of this, our team has been inquiring into how Cooperate WNC’s infrastructure as an aspiring regional mutual aid network, and as a 501c3 non-profit, can be the most useful and the most aligned with what’s naturally emerging from the ground up.

What we’ve settled on is that for now, we can serve in 4 main ways:

1) Creating this Grassroots Mutual Aid Fund that distributes money directly to folks working on the ground and is available for other needs like bulk purchasing of food and supplies for low-wealth communities;

2) Acting as fiscal sponsor to unincorporated mutual aid groups to allow them to take tax deductible donations and receive grants;

3) Supporting groups with creation of conflict systems and navigation of conflict;

4) Organizing bulk purchasing and distribution of food, farming supplies and other recovery supplies.

Your contribution will directly support:

Our intention is to distribute at least 75% of these funds directly to groups doing mutual aid work on the ground in local areas. The allocation of funds will be done through participatory budgeting methods that directly involve representatives of these communities and groups. Remaining funds will be used to support the other activities mentioned above, and/or for unexpected needs that arise in recovery efforts.

If you know and trust a local mutual aid group that is taking donations, we encourage you to prioritize donating directly to them. We’re working hard right now to fiscally sponsor many of these groups so your donations to them can be tax deductible.

Your donations are watering the seeds of Mutual Aid, helping local efforts thrive, spreading hope, and building support across WNC like roots deepening into the soil. Let’s grow together in this time of need. Every bit helps. Thank you for your generosity!

In cooperation and gratitude,

Zev Friedman, Founder and Director

Cooperate WNC

Regional Mutual Aid for a Regenerative Future

P.S. Those who prefer to donate directly, may do so at https://cooperatewnc.org/contact-us