Mutual Aid Midlands provided various services to over 500 individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their services included a 24-hour hotline, food and supply deliveries, advocacy efforts, and community engagement events. They had over 70 volunteers and raised over $28,000 for their efforts. Looking ahead, they plan to expand food access programs, engage in more neighborhood-level mutual aid, and conduct educational campaigns about mutual aid.

1. Mutu
alAidMidla
nds
2020
Annual Report
Created by
Sophie Azula and Jenesha Nance
in conjunction with the volunteers
of Mutual Aid Midlands
(888) 927-6679

2. What is Mutual Aid? ................................. 4
Areas of Programming .............................. 7
Advocacy Efforts ........................................ 16
Recognition and Social Media ................. 18
Evaluation ..................................................... 20
Moving Forward ......................................... 21
Table of Contents
2

3. D U R I N G T H E C O V I D - 1 9
P A N D E M I C
500 INDIVIDUALS
M U T U A L A I D M I D L A N D S
D I R E C T L Y S E R V E D O V E R
3

4. Solidarity, Not Charity
Self Determination
Mandar Obedeciendo
Participation and Horizontality
Autonomous Direct Action
Intersectionality
Sustainability
Dual Power
Collective Liberation
"MUTUAL AID PROJECTS ARE A FORM
OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN
WHICH PEOPLE TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
FOR CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER AND
CHANGING POLITICAL CONDITIONS."
- Big Door Brigade
What is Mutual Aid?
WHAT IS MUTUAL AID?
4
MUTUAL AID CORE VALUES

5. Mutual Aid Midlands was formed at the onset of the
COVID-19 Pandemic in March of 2020.
Beginning as Mutual Aid Columbia, the initial purpose
of this neighbor network was to operate a hotline.
People could call the hotline to reach someone to talk
to after losing their jobs.
5
Thanks to donations and grants, MAM has been able to connect
over 1000 people to needed resources such as food, rent, and
utility assistance.
Now there is a network of over 70 volunteers dedicated to
serving their community.
Mutual Aid Midlands
WHAT IS MUTUAL AID?
After realizing
there was a need
for more than just
emotional support,
MAM began taking
action to support
their neighbors.Monica Trinidad, “We Need Each Other”

6. "Many members of our
community are finding
themselves in difficult financial
situations as a result of the
pandemic. Our mutual aid group
is receiving requests for help that
include basic necessities like food,
rent, and utilities."
WHAT IS MUTUAL AID?
6
"In a response to the emergency situations, The Mutual Aid Midlands (MAM) group formed in
early March with the objective to care for one another to make sure each other's basic survival
needs are met with a shared understanding that we can do it together. We are not a charity,
NGO or agency, but rather a network of neighbors helping neighbors. The MAM soon realized
that the systems we live under are not providing adequate care and many neighbors require
our help. Our Community Action Agencies, in particular, are overburdened and struggling to
protect our broader community from far reaching economic impacts of COVID-19."
-Cassandra Fralix, Penny D. Cothran, Mutual Aid Midlands
“I think about
(mutual aid) as neighbors
helping neighbors.”
-Alyssa Robillard, Mutual Aid Midlands
-Keitha Whitaker, Mutual Aid Midlands
What our members say
about mutual aid

7. A 24-hour hotline in English and Spanish
Community Care Volunteers, who deliver
food, masks, and other goods to those who
need it
Teaching mutual aid
Mask making
Addressing Food Insecurity
Community Engagement
Advocacy efforts for various issues
Fundraising over $28,000
Kids' Activity Drive
Gift Card Drive
Electronics Drive
Mutual Aid Midlands volunteers work hard
in various areas of programming. These
areas include:
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
7
Areas of Programming

8. Over the Covid-19 pandemic, Mutual Aid Midlands's
hotline provided support to the Midlands community.
The hotline volunteers connected individuals and
families to resources such as food, utility assistance,
and emotional support.
The hotline has offered an opportunity for those who
are immunocompromised to give back to their
community. With 15 volunteers in 2020, the hotline
had a broad range of responders, able to communicate
in both English and Spanish.
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
The Hotline
It has served over people in total.200
8

9. AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
HOTLINE NUMBERS
9
76 requests fulfilled for food
20 requests fulfilled for utilities
10 requests fulfilled for masks
14 requests fulfilled for rent
4 responses for other needs
124 requests from the hotline fulfilled in total

10. AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
Teaching Mutual Aid
In 2020, University of
South Carolina’s
Professor Deborah
Billings and Mrs.
Jenesha Nance taught
students about mutual
aid in a new class
“Equity, Justice and
Mutual Aid: Beyond
Philanthropy and
Charity”. In this class,
students designed and
carried out service
projects/products, some
of which contributed to
Mutual Aid Midlands.
SCHC 385: Equity,
Justice and Mutual
Aid: Beyond
Philanthropy and
Charity
Sophie Azula- Created MAM Annual Report
Will Byerman- Volunteered at and collected data
for Ames Villas
Gia Dippolito- Volunteered and engaged
community at Ames Villas
Irene Drikakis- Tutored child for Mano A Mano;
Helped Plan MAM Visioning Retreat
Hailey Ellenberg- Posted flyers with resources
for UofSC students to access counseling and
SAVIP services
Makayla Hooker- Collected and analyzed data in
the hope to improve UofSC’s response to COVID-
19 pandemic
Deiveek Kerai- Volunteered at and collected data
for Ames Villas
Grant King- Volunteered at Ames Villas,
distributed food boxes to homes
Ryan Long- Volunteered with children with
cancer, created Halloween treat bags
Ellis McClure- Volunteered at Planned
Parenthood and for Mano a Mano
Sullivan Smith- helped plan MAM Visioning
Retreat, helped community members register to
vote at Ames Villas
Garrett Thrasher- engaged community at Ames
Villas through poster contests and other kids’
activities, assisted in grant writing
STUDENT SERVICE LEARNING
PROJECTS
10

11. Mutual Aiders stayed busy making
hundreds of cloth masks to be
distributed to community
members. "I began making masks in
early March when the pandemic
was looming and masks were
difficult if not impossible to buy. At
that time it seemed important to
make masks to preserve the PPE for
essential workers,” said Karen Rhu.
Omme-Salma Rahemtullah
is a mask maker and more.
She stated “I pick up and
collect masks for everyone
who makes them and drop
them off to a group of
young activists to do
distribution, or other
groups that need.
Mask Making
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
11

12. Addressing Food Insecurity
Poster created by Shannon Henry to advertise the purpose of Mutual Aid Midlands and Sabor Latino Initiative.
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
12
Sabor Latino enabled approximately
families in total to receive nutritious food.
180
The Sabor Latino initiative connected
Latinx families from the Richland Two
School District with limited access to
government-sponsored support
programs to fresh, healthy food during
the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Tienda Pasa Bien, a local Latinx
grocery store, prepares food packaged
with high nutritional content, such as
eggs, beans, rice, fruits, and vegetables.
The store then delivered these food
packages in a refrigerated van to
distribution points across the family’s
communities.
CDC guidelines were followed at all
times, physical distancing was practiced,
and volunteers wore masks.
This initiative is funded in multiple
ways. Since May, families in-need have
been partnered with community
members who commit $25 per week for
groceries.
Sabor Latino has also been funded with
grants. A June 2020 rapid response
grant, Eat Smart Move More of $3,000
provided 30 families with nutritious
food for four weeks. Another grant from
United Way of $8,000 has provided 80
families with food over three weeks.
Lastly, families who are recipients of
EBT cards have offered to donate them
to Sabor Latino. A total of $1,650 in
P-EBT cards was used to purchase
groceries for 70 families in one week.
Coordinated by Deborah Billings (MAM) +
Nelly Jolley, (Richland Two)
Sabor
Latino

13. MAM contributed to food pantries in the NorthEast, Ames, and through
PASOs community Ambassadors. As PASOs community ambassadors,
MAM members have partnered with Rosewood Market, and over 1500
bags of rice, beans, and oats have been distributed to families.
Addressing Food Insecurity
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
13

14. Mutual Aid Midlands engaged the Ames Villas community with
donations, drives, and community events. Organizer Omari Fox
stated, "I’m glad we have an office in Ames. In the community, work
akin to the Door Home, and seeing emerging organizers do their
practicum activities and being in “the hood” so to speak, not to gawk
at folks on anthropological tour but lending their energy when they
don't have to."
Community Engagement
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
14
Ames Villas

15. Mutu
alAidMidla
nds
15
KIDS
ACTIVITY
DRIVE
ELECTRONICS DRIVE
Other
Mutual Aid
Midland
projects
AREAS OF PROGRAMMING
GIFT CARD DRIVE
(888) 927-6679

16. 16
"As a network of volunteers committed to aiding our neigh
we propose a strategy to streamline the process
development of a common application for utility assistance
a focus on the billing ID number of the account - not the s
security and other personal identifying information o
customer - that enables a pre-payment of all utility costs,
the $1000 cap in the CARES Act for qualifying custom
MAM Member Dylan Gunnels
joined the City of Columbia
Affordable Housing Taskforce
Committee on behalf of Mutual
Aid Midlands.
Members of Mutual Aid Midlands advocated for
many social changes in 2020.
Advocacy Efforts
ADVOCACY EFFORTS
"The rapid change, restructuring, and demands
on programs funded by CARES are causing
many difficulties, especially to agencies such as
yours tasked with assisting an enormous
number of people out of work, needing food,
and unable to pay for basic services."
"As a network of volunteers committed to
aiding our neighbors, we propose a strategy to
streamline the process: The development of a
common application for utility assistance, with
a focus on the billing ID number of the account
- not the social security and other personal
identifying information of the customer - that
enables a pre-payment of all utility costs, up to
the $1000 cap in the CARES Act for qualifying
customers. "
MAM published a "Letter Advocating for
Rent and Utility Assistance"

17. 17
Response to the South
Carolina Rent Moratorium
Mutual Aid Midlands called upon Governor Henry McMaster to
continue a rent and mortgage moratorium past the federal mandate. As
South Carolina has some of the highest eviction rates in the country,
Mutual Aid Midlands wants to ensure people can stay in their homes.
This petition received 212 signatures.
ADVOCACY EFFORTS

18. MAM was featured on News 19
"Neighbor network 'Mutual Aid' answers
community calls for help"
An article was also published on their
website, written by Alicia Neaves on May 21.
The group was featured in an article,
"Mutual Aid Midlands offering help,
making community connections
during COVID-19 crisis"
Written by Chris Trainor on May 10.
Recognition and
Social Media
RECOGNITION AND SOCIAL MEDIA
18
Mutual Aid Midlands was the
recipient of the "Voice of
Public Health" award from
the South Carolina Public
Health Association.

19. Summary of Mutual Aid Midlands Facebook, run by Jenesha Nance, Omme-Salma Rahemtullah, and Deborah Billings
477 followers
249 link clicks
216 shares
1,083 likes
106 comments
391 photo views
35,732 posts total reach
Top most interacted-
with Facebook posts
19
RECOGNITION AND SOCIAL MEDIA
2020 STATS
3

20. EVALUATION
Evaluation
"To be a human being is to be connected
to others, which our culture has not
nurtured. MAM speaks to this void and to
the uncertainty that exists in our current
situation by providing concrete
opportunities and connections to create
real community." - Cassandra Fralix
"I think we all contribute in equity so although
the pitch and vibrations of the contributions
vary, everyone is doing the best they can at their
level and any circle like that will have an impact.
Yet.. nobody’s in it for the credit, we just want to
change the world and this is one of our avenues to
be servants in that regard."
-Omari Fox
“I'm just glad that this organization gives me the
opportunity to be able to help. It's really hard for
me sitting on the sidelines and not being able to get
out there and do the marching and the protesting
and going into the statehouse anymore. … it's given
me the opportunity to be able to do at least
somethings. So I appreciate that.”- Keitha
Whitaker
"I love the soul of MAM--the idea that community
members reach out to and help each other. For me our
proudest accomplishment was when we put an appeal
out on social media and so many people donated. It was
lovely to see complete strangers willing to send money
to buy diapers for a mother in North Columbia, or a
week’s worth of groceries for a man they never met
who’s on dialysis." -Carla Damron
Members speak about their MAM experience
20
Testimonials

21. Continue fundraising
Continue advocacy related
to food and housing
Expand Sabor Latino for
more communities
Connect with other
Mutual Aid groups to
build advocacy efforts
Implement food co-ops
with neighborhood boxes
"Train the trainer"
community-building
approach
Neighborhood networks:
implementing mutual aid
practices in more
neighborhood associations
Conduct an educational
campaign about mutual
aids
In the future, MaM has
goals to:
Who’s My Neighbor? Mutual Aid Midlands
Changes Community Engagement Forever
MAM Touches Countless Lives in Midlands
Mutual Aid Works! No Child in SC Goes
Hungry
Moving Forward
MOVING FORWARD
21
Visions of the Future: Headlines
for Next Year...
MAM House, 3 to 6 month Transitional
Housing for Families, Individuals in need
During the MAM retreat, intended to reflect on
the year's work, members brainstormed what
they'd like next year's headlines to look like.

22. Mutual Aid Midlands Organizers
Debbie Billings
Penny D. Cothran
Carla Damron
Cassandra Fralix
Omari Fox
Dylan Gunnels
Nelly Jolley
Sonya Jones
Jenesha Nance
Orgul Ozturk
Omme- Salma Rahemtullah
Alyssa Robillard
Shannon Staley
Chloe Rodriguez
Keitha Whitaker
Emily Wilson
UofSC Student Volunteers
Sophie Azula
Will Byerman
Gia Dippolito
Irene Drikakis
Shannon Henry
Deiveek Kerai
Grant King
Ellis McClure
Sullivan Smith
Aidan Thomason
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHTS
MOVING FORWARD
22
RELEVANT LINKS
Website:
http://mutualaidmidlands.org/index.html
Blog:
https://medium.com/@mutualaidmidlands
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MutualAidColumb
iaSC/
Public Access Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/185d6R
siT0UPTJ9hxmZHmWDL7G0cQM-Gf
Email: Info@mutualaidmidlands.org