Thank you for your interest in the Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund!
What is Mutual Aid?
Mutual aid is the act of giving and receiving aid within a community where those who have extra resources may give to those who lack them, with the goal of building community care and resilience in the face of hardships. It is a system of community action between members of a community to meet the needs of all members. Mutual Aid is an idea based in solidarity between equals rather than aid being granted from a place of higher privilege.
What is the Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund?
The Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund is a non-profit organization led by a group of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Maine. The purpose of the Black Bear Mutual Aid Fund is to alleviate economic inequality and hardships in the University of Maine community by supporting networks, acts, and norms of mutual aid and community care. Our goals are:
- To establish a fund where members of the University of Maine community can place any disposable dollars or money they do not feel they need, in order to make that money accessible when community members do feel they need it.
To practice community care by using this fund to facilitate mutual aid.
To use the presence and impact of the fund to assist in modeling norms of mutual aid and community care.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please email us at blackbearmutualaid@gmail.com
