Mutual aid Medford  & Somerville

#air-conditioners  

Next steps: 

• Help keep your neighbors safe and cool this summer by helping MAMAS distribute A/Cs to community members! You can donate a unit, provide transit, or spread the word:

• Donate an A/C unit by emailing us at askyourmamas@gmail.com, or call/text our hotline at 339-545-1315. When you contact us, include:

  • 1) your preferred contact method

  • 2) how many BTUs on your A/C (usually found on a sticker on the side)

  • 3) type of unit (window, portable, etc.)

  • 4) if you can deliver it or need someone else to do the driving and lifting

• Spread the word in Medford & Somerville, digitally and physically! Here are printable flyers. Unfortunately, we don't have capacity to support folks outside of Medford and Somerville. 

• Help with transporting, lifting, and installing A/C units! If you have a car and can lift and install an A/C unit, you can introduce yourself on  #air-conditioners and be on the lookout for requests in that slack channel, contact us at askyourmamas@gmail.com, or our hotline at 339-545-1315. We're also exploring the idea of "office hours," where a delivery person would be on call for a given evening.

• Need an A/C unit? email us at askyourmamas@gmail.com, or call/text our hotline at 339-545-1315 with:

  • 1) your preferred contact method

  • 2) the size of your room

  • 3) if your window is standard

  • 4) if you can pick it up or need it delivered and installed. 

  • 5) whether you live in East Somerville -- Let us know and we may be able to get you a new A/C through the Cooling East Somerville grant! (Thanks to Cambridge Health Alliance, CultureHouse, and the City)

#wg-delivery

Next steps: 

• Donate to MAMAS! We're looking to raise more money to clear our grocery assistance wait list. If you're able to provide recurring, monthly assistance to a neighbor, check out the link below! 

• Become a Grocery Pair! Support food security and build community by delivering a gift card or groceries to a neighbor each month. Most grocery pairs are fully reimbursed by MAMAS, but due to limited financial resources, MAMAS is not creating new pairs. If folks are able to commit to sponsoring a household on a monthly basis ($100, $200, or $300) for a set period of time (such as 6 or 12 months), we are happy to help connect a mutual aid pairing. Email us if you’re interested in being a pair!

• Participate in the next Supermarket Sweep! We meet up every month and distribute $5,000+ in grocery gift cards and sometimes groceries to households that request support. More info about Sweeps is here. Drop-in volunteers can participate every other month, including the upcoming sweep in July.

• Look out for opportunities to deliver giftcards + other resources to neighbors! They're posted in the slack channel (above) as they arise.

Events: 

• [In-person] Next Supermarket Sweep: TBD, likely in July or August. Email askyourmamas@gmail.com to help deliver groceries and gift cards to neighbors, as well as for the meet up location.

Grocery team meetings:

• [Virtual] Coordinators Meetings: weekly on Thursday evenings. If you're not already a coordinator, check in via email/slack with questions.

Food Resources: 

• Project Bread's FoodSource Hotline

• Greater Boston Food Bank Locator

• Community Fridges and Pantries

• MAMAS Food Resource Hub spreadsheet

#wg-hotline + #rapid-response 

Next steps: 

• We really need more hotliners! If you’d like to connect neighbors with the resources they need, consider becoming a hotliner! Fill out this interest form, and we'll connect with you. We especially need more volunteers who can speak Spanish or Haitian Kreyol but these extra language skills are not required!

• You can find more information about what volunteering with the Hotline involves here.

Resources:

• MAMAS Resource Hub

• Know Your Rights Resources

• Request support by filling out this form, calling or texting us at 339-545-1315, or emailing us at mamashotline@gmail.com

#mending-skillshare

Next steps: 

• Attend our next Mending Skillshare! Whether you have a mending skill to teach, tools or materials to share, or just want to learn something new, all are welcome! Details posted below as they're announced. 

Mending Events:

• Mend with MAMAS:  Learn to darn, patch, and repair clothing, no experience needed. Bring your own projects to work on or mend clothing for the free store. Masking is required for skillshare events. 

• [In-person] Somerville meetup: Sun., June 28th, 1:30-3:30PM at Connexion Church (149 Broadway, Somerville)

• [In-person] Medford meetup: Sun., July 12th, 1:30-4:30PM at Hillside Community Church (3 Osgood St., Medford)

Meetings:

• [Virtual] Mending Skillshare Planning Meetings: 1st Thursday of the month. The next meeting is on Thurs., July 2nd, 7-8PM. Ask in slack for an invite!

#free-store

Next steps: 

• Donate gently used clothing, shoes, hats, bandanas, and sunglasses during drop-off hours, details listed below! We're especially looking for sun protection hats, sunglasses, and bandanas as the summer approaches! 

• Right now, we're really in need of storage bins (with lids) and shelving! Email askyourmamas@gmail.com or mamasfreestore@gmail.com to coordinate a drop-off 

• Help with receiving and sorting clothes donations! 

• Look out for opportunities to deliver bins of clothing donations to partner orgs in #free-store.

Free Store Events:

• [In-Person] Clothing drop-offs are the 1st Saturdays of every month! Next one is Sat., July 4th, 1-4PM at Connexion (149 Broadway, Somerville)

Meetings:

• [Virtual] Free Store Check-in Meeting: Mon., July 6th, 7-7:45PM.  Check in via email (mamasfreestore@gmail.com) or slack for more info!

#wg-gardening-collective

Next steps: 

• Click the Gardening Collective title link for a more detailed list of ways to get involved! 

• Fill out our interest form to indicate what you're interested in helping with (we'll send you a follow-up email and add you to our email list).

• Transition our webpage to a new site! (Check back in a few weeks for info about the group, including a map of garden locations).

• Help with sourcing and/or transporting supplies, gardening, harvesting, and more! 

• Become a garden host, manager, or coordinator!

Events:

• [In-person] Once our plants start producing, visit MAMAS' Somerville gardens any time! Harvest free vegetables/herbs and say hi to any gardeners. Locations include Area 52 (Mossland at Elm Street), 42 Elm Street, and 36 Sewall Street. More gardens are on Trull Street, Albion Street, and Conwell Ave - just look for the MAMAS signs!

Gardening Collective meeting:

• [Virtual] Tues., July 14th, 6:30PM, Zoom. Email us at mamasgardeningcollective@gmail.com or check #wg-gardening-collective for the link!

#wg-communications

#communications-requests

Next steps:

• Create graphics for socials by looking for requests in #communications-requests. If you introduce yourself in #wg-communications, we can tag you when requests come in!

• Review translations of posts, text, and forms in Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole so our events and information are accessible to more neighbors!

• Draft or edit the monthly newsletter.

• Keep this page updated!

• Become a coordinator to post to instagram or bluesky, and respond to DMs.

Comms Team meeting: 

• [Virtual] The Comms Team meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month. The next meeting is Thurs. June 18th, 6PM, on Zoom. Email askyourmamas@gmail.com (Subject: "Comms help") or check in #wg-communications for the link!

#wg-money + #money-in

• Fund grocery assistance and free store events by contributing via Common Good, our fiscal sponsor! Recurring contributions are incredibly helpful, but every one-time gift helps too. For more information on setting up contributions via Common Good, please see this guide. Ask us in slack if you have any questions!

• Help spread the word about MAMAS! We're invited to more events than we can table at. Get to know us, and when events are posted in #money-in, volunteer to share what we do at the event!

Money Team meeting: 

• [Virtual] Money team meets biweekly on Wednesdays from 7:30-8:30PM. The next meeting is June 24th.  Let us know in #wg-money if you want to join.

#wg-tech

• Help our team build the new MAMAS website! Input from folks who use accessibility tech would be especially useful.

• Attend a co-working session (details below)

Tech Team meeting:

• [Virtual] Tech Team meets biweekly on Mondays at 5PM for Sync and Co-working sessions. While we work on upgrading some of our systems, the meetings will be internally focused. The next meeting is June 22nd!

• Check in #wg-tech or email askyourmamas@gmail.com for the link! 

#study-group

• We're in planning mode for future study group sessions and are seeking coordinators who can brainstorm and practice ways for MAMAS to learn and skill-up around mutual aid together. If you'd like to help organize the MAMAS study group, have a topic of interest, or want to say hi, post in #study-group on Slack or email askyourmamas@gmail.com.

• The MAMAS study space is a community to learn, practice, and deepen our commitments to making change together. Check out what we've explored so far here!

Study group meeting:

• Help us plan the next meeting, if you're interested in being a coordinator! 

Resources

• Check out what we've previously studied and are currently studying at our Study Group List!

#wg-parents-caregivers

• Become a coordinator, or involved in planning for this working group so we can start it up again! 

• Build out our resource list for parents and caregivers.

• Plan in-person meet-ups and play times so you can get to know your neighbors with kids!

• Foster trust and inter-community reliance on one another for things like childcare and building a more communal way of raising children

• Brainstorm other ways to connect parents and caregivers, build community, pool resources, and more! 

Parents & Caregivers meeting: 

• Help us plan the next meeting, if you'd like to become a coordinator! Post on slack or email askyourmamas@gmail.com if you're interested! 

• There's some momentum building for in-person playdates and meetups, so please reach out in Slack or via email if you're interested, and stay tuned! 

#wg-wellbeing

Next steps:

• Help organize and restart the MAMAS neighbor walking group! Post in #wg-wellbeing or email askyourmamas@gmail.com if this is something you're interested in! 

• Build out our resource list for emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing

• Coordinators needed to organize monthly meetings where we can brainstorm and practice ways that we can holistically support each other.

Events + Meetings

• Help us plan the next meeting, if you'd like to become a coordinator! Post on slack or email askyourmamas@gmail.com if you're interested!