Red Hook Mutual Aid

Red Hook Mutual Aid is a community network in Red Hook, Brooklyn that works to ensure supplies, resources, and information are as inclusive, comprehensive, and accessible as possible to everyone in the neighborhood. We seek to redefine aid and relationships within the framework of solidarity, not charity.

About Us

Established in April 2020, Red Hook Mutual Aid is a community network in Red Hook, Brooklyn that works to ensure supplies, resources, and information are as inclusive, comprehensive, and accessible as possible to everyone in the neighborhood. We seek to connect with the most vulnerable members of our community through a buddy system that ensures we are prepared for the next crisis, as well as actively engaged in an integrated community.

Mutual aid prioritizes accessible platforms for community members to express needs, and in turn, we strive to meet those needs with haste by reallocating existing resources in the community. RHMA considers the phone the most accessible and inclusive platform to express a need, so first and foremost, Red Hook Mutual Aid is a phone line. We also use WhatsApp as an accessible platform for community members and migrants to express need, in the language of their choosing.

The RHMA network includes Red Hook households who have used our phone line to express needs, the majority of whom are elderly public housing residents. In February 2023, we also began working with migrants housed in shelters in our community:

Red Hook Mutual Aid uses a buddy system to pair households and migrants with volunteers, and in doing so, work to integrate our community and build relationships that wouldn’t exist otherwise. 

COVID pandemic 

Red Hook Mutual Aid was established as a community support phone line in April 2020. We saw how many community-based organizations had responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we wanted to make sure those resources and aid were accessible to all, given that the pandemic created a situation where most aid was shared digitally through social media and Google forms. To ensure that no one was left on the wrong side of the digital divide, we created community phone support as a texting and call-back system, available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, French, Arabic, and Russian. Since May 2020, we have sent out a newsletter that provides a bilingual digest of community resources and information every Saturday. 

Our evolution 

RHMA has evolved over the years to include a buddy system, free stores that redistribute resources, prepared food deliveries for homebound seniors, virtual and in-person English classes as well conversation partners, go-bag supplies during hurricane season and annual Christmas deliveries. We have a food team that stocks our community fridge, we source and provide any medical equipment not covered by insurance, conduct small home repairs, and organize community meals. 

Migrant support 

Red Hook Mutual Aid supported the Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center (HERCC) shelter for migrants that was housed in the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal from January to March 2023. We created a free store to receive and distribute donations, designed an English class program in community spaces that ran six days a week, and managed communication systems with shelter residents to communicate resources and events organized in support of migrants in Red Hook.  

We now support the family shelter housed in the Brooklyn Motor Inn since September 2023, as well as any other migrants who reach out to us. Current support includes English classes and conversation partnerships, addresses to receive immigration mail, guardianship for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), Know Your Rights trainings, housing advocacy, and ongoing free stores. 

Today, anyone living in 11231 or a migrant shelter can message RHMA in any language at (646) 484-9677 with questions or requests, and we will always do our best to help. 

Our funding 

We are fiscally sponsored by Pact Collective, granting us 501(c)(3) status. The bulk of our funding comes from donations solicited from film shoots in Red Hook and funds raised as part of Red Hook’s annual Barnacle Parade. Since we work based on the immediate and expressed needs of the community, only members of the RHMA Collective can determine how their donations will be spent. All donations to RHMA are tax-exempt. An important source of support is donations from individuals — and businesses — who support our work and the mutual aid model. We are especially grateful for monthly sustaining donations, which enable us to plan our budget over time.