Many thanks to Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS), who initiated creating these tools that we have adapted. To - replicate it for your neighborhood, check out their how-to guide.
Welcome to the (growing) Dorchester Community Care Network! We know that we are only a small group of residents and community organizers from a large and diverse neighborhood but we wanted to invite folks into a conversation about how we can coordinate support. In these fast moving and uncertain times, it’s important that we show up for each other and remember that we are not alone.
We love our neighborhood and community, and we know that we all need each other in this moment. We are putting this out to honor those who have always been building up their block and neighborhood and for others to build strong connections- we all have something to offer and we all have something we need. This group is still building out infrastructure, but here’s what we have so far online. We are committed to continuing to engage block by block, neighbor by neighbor (in safe ways!) to make sure this is not only an online resource but something accessible to many folks in our neighborhood. You can read our values here.
We are rooted in language justice. Here are links to this document and the subsequent sign up forms in: Español, Tiếng Việt, Créole Haïtien, Cabo Verdean Krioulu and Portugues is coming soon!
Dorchester Community Care Sign Up Form: http://bit.ly/dotcareSignUpEnglish
We as neighbors are collecting information to stay current with changes in Dorchester and to our establishments, respond to arising needs, and support emerging block networks. The info you provide will be directly uploaded into a public non-editable form that others can view and reach out to you directly http://bit.ly/NeedsOfferingsfor support. If you would like to respond to a need or offer that appears on this sheet, go ahead and reach out to the person listed. If you appear on the sheet and need to be edited, email us at dorchestercommunitycare@gmail.com to make changes (update needs, update information, remove from list).
Block Network - As things get harder, we show up for our neighbors. If this is work that you are already doing or want to commit to doing, we would love to support you and connect broadly across Dorchester. As a block coordinator, you’d take on the responsibility of reaching out to your neighbors, checking in on what needs are arising on your block, coordinating group communication, and staying in touch with the coordinators from other blocks for resource pooling. We are trying to build a network of neighbors across Dorchester. If you have been doing this or interested in starting this work, please indicate on the form from earlier or email dorchestercommunitycare@gmail.com or text (857) 301-8280 to connect. Please check back in the next few days and we’ll be linking templates for flyers and contact sheets for block coordinators to use. Or feel free to make your own!
Help us build - We are looking for support: this was put together as working documents and we definitely need help from more people to get this thing going on the scale that we need. Here are some roles that need to be filled:
Spreading the word - We need to spread the word about what we’re doing in concise and clear ways to ALL parts of Dorchester - help us make and distribute flyers, spread the word online, and reach out to other friends.
Translations/Language Justice - Please reach out if you have capacity to translate our materials into Spanish, Vietnamese, Cape Verdean Creole, Hatiain Creole or any other languages as needed!
Local Orgs - Why reinvent the wheel? Dorchester is filled with awesome organizations that already have tons of resources and skills. We want to form networks with them to maximize mutual aid! Help us reach out to existing networks and figure out how to power up together. Folks who helped organize this resource are affiliated with groups like Dorchester Not for Sale, the Asian American Resource Workshop, Black Lives Matter Boston, Showing Up for Racial Justice Boston, New England United for Justice, Dorchester Food Co-op, and many more!
Fundraising - our collective pot has launched and you do not need to live in Dorchester to give. We're redistributing funds to folks in our neighborhood impacted by COVID. You also do not have to give to access funds.
Venmo @DorchesterCommunityCare (Last 4 digits of phone number: 6147)
Reach out by email at dorchestercommunitycare@gmail.com if you have questions or want to be involved in distributing funds.
Something else! We are offering this as the beginning of how we support each other (imperfectly and always evolving) in our building, on our block, and in our neighborhood. We hope this can be a way to start to support each other not only through this moment but for the long haul, to make sure all of our folks can stay and thrive in Dorchester. We are dreaming of a hotline! A way that Dorchester students who don’t have access to school lunches still get fed! Networks on every block! Childcare collectives! Your brilliant idea! Get in touch:
We got this