The Mutual Aid Mourning and Healing Project

We’re Here to Help

The Mutual Aid Mourning and Healing Project is an effort to support people who are struggling with loss during this time of isolation. If you have lost a loved one during quarantine, and would like to hold an online service, we have clergy and other facilitators who are ready to assist you. We know that video conferencing and chat apps have their limitations, but we also believe that no one should have to grieve alone. There is no cost for this assistance. If you would like help setting up an online service, you can request that assistance here. Death midwives, therapists, socialist workers and other healers are also available by request. We may not be able to fulfill all requests for assistance, but if you submit a request for assistance, you will hear from one of our volunteers within 24 hours to discuss how we can help. There is no fee for any assistance provided by our volunteers.

Why We’re Doing This

This is a mutual aid project. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, mutual aid work is the work of helping people survive. It’s a process of building social relations that help people endure, outside the bounds of government or the nonprofit system. It’s about everyday people seeing a need and organizing a solution. It’s something people have always practiced, whether they used the term mutual aid or not. We understand that people experiencing financial hardship don’t simply have material needs. They also have spiritual and emotional needs, and meeting those needs can also be a matter of survival. People who don’t have an outlet for grief, who can’t gather with loved ones, or even be held while they cry, are incredibly vulnerable. Their needs are as real as any and just as important.

To learn more about this project, you can also check out this episode of Truthout’s podcast Movement Memos.

If you are a member of the clergy and would like to volunteer to support people in need, you can sign up here.

If you are a death midwife/doula, therapist, or social worker who would like to volunteer to support people in need, you can sign up here.

This effort was organized by Kelly Hayes, Tanuja Jagernauth, Heather Lynn, Nina D’Angier, Ashon Crawley, and Rabbi Brant Rosen.