Southwest Missouri Solidarity Network

Mutual Aid Fair is back at First UU 2434 E Battlefield on Sunday June 28 from 2-5 PM

But wait, what IS mutual aid?

Mutual aid is a community caring for itself. This is done by people sharing supplies, services, and skills to help everyone. The idea is to practice "solidarity, not charity", and create a space where we can support each other away from the constraints of nonprofit and governmental systems.

This can look like, but is not limited to:

- Sharing goods, clothes, and food
- Repairing clothes, electronics, vehicles, etc.
- Sharing a free service (haircuts, massages, eye exams)
-Teaching a skill for food security (gardening, bread making, foraging)
- Teaching a creative skill (crafting, screen printing, poem writing)
- Teaching a survival skill (knot tying, plant identification, first aid)

We welcome you to bring a skill or resource, or to bring your beautiful self to share in community!

Please note the location of our Mutual Aid Fair on Sunday May 31 from 2-6 PM has changed. It will now be held in The Gallery of National Avenue Christian Church at 1515 S National Ave.

Since we have so many new followers, we’d like to talk a little bit about what to expect at Mutual Aid Fair.

What is mutual aid?

Mutual aid is an exchange of goods, services, and skills between neighbors. Instead of a top-down approach found in traditional nonprofits and charities, mutual aid focuses on a lateral approach where each community member can give and take freely without having to show proof of need.

We believe that decentralized community-based direct action is an essential step in our collective liberation from the capitalist hierarchy.

Southwest Missouri Solidarity Network has hosted a Mutual Aid Fair on the last Sunday of each month for the past year. We invite our neighbors to bring a dish to share, a skill to teach, household items to give, or to simply bring themselves.

Here’s what you can expect at this month’s Mutual Aid Fair:

🪢 Knot Tying Lessons
🛍️ No-Sew Bag Making (bring a t-shirt!)
🥖 Sourdough Making
📖 The People’s Library
🚨 Brake Light Clinic
🚲 Bike Tuneups
📲 Tech Troubleshooting
🪡 Clothes Mending
💊 Harm Reduction Education & Supplies
🐝 STUN Letter Writing Campaign
🍲 Community Meal
🎨 Open Craft Table
🆓 Goods Exchange

If you’d like to share a skill, please send us a message so we can make sure to have a place for you!