The History of Mutual Aid

Mutual aid has been a concept for marginalized groups, formal or otherwise, for centuries in the United States. At its root, mutual aid describes the exchange of monies, material resources, and information outside of the contexts of power-imbalanced government entities and outside of profit. Members have equal voice, opinion, and opportunity to receive benefits. Successful mutual aid organizations include the Free African Society, Black Panther Party, and Sociedades mutualistas which all provided essential resources to community members with no pressure to return the resource and outside of colonial government institutions. Modern mutual aid societies like the Detroit Community Wealth Fund, Bay Area Mutual Aid, and Devata Giving Circle continue the tradition of community-based financial and non-monetary care. We have seen time and time again that mutual aid societies are effective in caring for a community, changing ideology, and forming strong bonds, accountability, and trust.

The Metro Detroit Mutual Aid Fund seeks to carry on the tradition of mutual aid by caring for one another through the exchange of money, services, resources, and connection. We hope to facilitate a strong trust between community members and be accountable to one another. We hope to earn your trust. From this, a stronger Metro Detroit community will emerge.