In 2020, a city wide, all volunteer crisis response pod formed. We called ourselves Mutual Aid Hartford. Some of us were organizers, some of us were artists, many of us were mothers, all of us had a deep commitment to showing up for Hartford. We were neighbors, helping neighbors. For the two years that followed, Mutual Aid Hartford (MAH) would distribute over $100,000 in food, goods, direct cash, and covid safety supplies. We started, coordinated and funded, three distinct food distribution hubs in Hartford; Northeast, Parkville, and Asylum Hill. This effort existed with the collaboration, cooperation and determination of dozens of Hartford residents, and a handful of dedicated organizations. 

In Fall 2023, MAH began discussing how to develop a sustainable infrastructure, rooted in organizing, power-building, and the principles of mutual aid would allow us to survive the “crisis next time.” Through a facilitated twelve-month transformation process, taking the lessons learned in previous years, MAH has arrived with three main pillars of community power building. We believe this is the culture shift work currently needed to make creative cooperative work viable in the city of Hartford. Today we are focused on:

• education & training: 

• Imaginal Cell: 10-month community of practice for political education and hyper-local mutual aid project development.

• Autonomous Fellowship: paid fellowship program for four artists, activists, and organizers

• D42D: multi-day practice & learning space for culture making & movement connection

• Hey MAH! - quarterly zine produced by MAH members through collaging and writing workshops

• care & support:

• Black Mamas Giving Circle: support group for new and expecting mothers 

• Peoples Clinics: spaces for emotional healing, embodiment, and alignment with social movement ethics

• Childcare Collective - volunteer network that provides childcare support at partner events

• Offers & Needs Markets - practice space for members to give and receive support at their own capacity.

• third space & connection

• MAH House: our home base and training hub for the CT movement ecosystem and artistic community

• Semilla Cafe + Studio: a cultural space that serves as a home base for person to person connection, social movement work, and mutual aid activities

• i:RL - facilitated community conversations and kickback space.

Through purposeful gathering, training and emphasis on care and community, Mutual Aid Hartford has continued its commitment to its founding values of building community power through person to person care and connection.