Mutual aid after 3 terrorizing detentions
Dear Friends,
You may have heard the term mutual aid more often lately. As it’s become more common, its definition has also become fuzzy.
For some, it simply means non-institutional aid. For others, it’s become shorthand for food distribution or emergency relief. But mutual aid is not just an activity—it’s a philosophy.
It’s a posture.
Mutual aid is not charity. It’s not top-down. It doesn’t cast anyone as the hero or the savior. Instead, it centers mutuality and community. It resists the pull toward white saviorism and the quiet temptation of a god-complex. It reminds us that we belong to one another.
It’s also not transactional—this is not “I scratch your back, you scratch mine.” Mutual aid is community in action: people caring for one another because we are bound together.
On Good Friday, when three members of our community were taken by immigration enforcement in cruel and terrorizing ways, I witnessed mutual aid all around us.
I saw an allied Unidos partner go out of her way to call and check in on Unidos after noticing multiple border patrol vehicles heading toward the neighborhood.
I saw neighbors sharing real-time information, reporting to the Rapid Response Network, and urging loved ones to come inside and stay safe.
My husband and I stood at the scene of a detention—pleading with agents for accountability and reminding our neighbor of his rights.
I saw many of you give generously to our Mutual Aid fund—not because you were directly impacted, but because you chose to be in solidarity with those who were.
And I saw community members use those funds to purchase essentials—chicken, eggs, milk, tortillas—and distribute them to 60 households when families were too afraid to leave their homes. This is mutual aid.
But mutual aid is not only what we do in moments of crisis. Mutual aid is a lens through which we see everything.
At Unidos, our mission is to cultivate a resident-led movement toward a thriving neighborhood as a reflection of God’s love.
When a neighbor leads a Girl Scout troop.
When residents knock doors for an HOA election.
When we speak at City Council for affordable housing.
When families visit an art museum.
When a student is supported in reaching their reading goals.
Each moment is one neighbor choosing community with another.
Choosing the other's wellbeing first. (Philippians 2:3) Each moment is an act of mutual aid.
Because the truth is: none of us are fully thriving until all of us are thriving.
Thank you for being part of this community—for showing up, for giving, for caring, and for choosing to remember that we belong to one another.
With gratitude,
Heather Chapman
