Mutual Aid for Small Groups: A Survival Guide for Authoritarian Rule
How to build life-saving community networks when the state abandons its people
The masks are off. We're living under a fascist regime that views certain people as disposable—undocumented immigrants, disabled folks, trans people, dissidents, anyone who doesn't fit their narrow vision of America. The state isn't just failing to protect vulnerable people; it's actively targeting them for elimination.
Mutual aid is becoming survival.
Under fascism, the state abandons its people. Communities must fill that void. This isn't charity work or feel-good activism. This is about building the infrastructure that will keep people alive through years of systematic oppression.
You don't need to start a nonprofit or seek funding. You don't even need permission. You need 5-20 trusted neighbors, family, friends or co-workers and the commitment to start now. Every week you wait, the situation gets worse.
Getting Started: From Neighbors to Network
Start immediately with 2-3 people you trust completely. This might be neighbors in your apartment building, members of your church, parents from your kid's school, or people you've worked alongside in other organizing. The key is trust—these people need to be willing to take real risks to protect each other.
Center the most vulnerable from day one. Undocumented neighbors, disabled folks, trans people, elders, and children aren't just part of your network—they're your priority. They're the first targets of state violence, and their safety determines whether your mutual aid actually serves its purpose.
Build for the long haul. This isn't about surviving one ICE raid or one winter storm. This is about creating systems that can keep people alive through years of escalating authoritarianism. Think sustainability, not heroics.
Meet regularly to maintain relationships and readiness. Weekly check-ins, monthly skill-shares, and emergency protocols that everyone knows by heart. Consistency builds trust, and trust saves lives.
Organize Your Group: Essential Roles That Save Lives
Every effective mutual aid group needs clear roles to prevent crucial work from falling through the cracks. These roles can rotate, be shared, or combined based on your group size and people's skills. Match roles to existing strengths—the neighborhood connector becomes your Comms Lead, the former nurse takes Health Lead.
Comms Lead manages your phone tree, emergency codes, encrypted chats, and rapid alerts. They're your nerve center during crises, making sure everyone gets crucial information within minutes, not hours.
Health Lead tracks medications, coordinates first aid, and manages caregiver support. They know who needs insulin, who has extra asthma inhalers, and who can provide mental health crisis support.
Logistics Lead oversees food and supply chains, safe house rotation, and resource distribution. They're the one who knows where the emergency supplies are stored and how to get them to people who need them.
Legal Contact knows rights, tracks ICE and police activity, and connects with lawyers. They're not necessarily a lawyer themselves, but they know how to navigate the system and get people the legal support they need.
Security/Safety Lead handles witness teams, counter-surveillance, and operational security protocols. They understand how to protect the group from state surveillance while documenting state violence.
Morale Keeper provides emotional check-ins, conflict resolution, and group care. They're the one who notices when someone's struggling and makes sure the group doesn't burn out or fall apart.
Start with 2-3 roles in smaller groups. As you grow, add more specialized positions or split responsibilities. The key is ensuring nothing falls through the cracks when people are depending on you for survival.
Secure Communication Under Surveillance
The state is watching. Digital communications are monitored, your movements tracked, your associations will be catalogued. Secure communication is basic safety for everyone in your Local AreaPod.
Neighborhood Phone Tree: Your Analog Backup
Assign each person 2-3 contacts for weekly wellness checks and emergency alerts. This isn't just for emergencies—regular contact builds the relationships that make emergency response possible. Use your phone tree for ICE warnings, eviction notices, police activity, and medical emergencies.
Practice rapid activation until everyone can be contacted within 15 minutes. When ICE is conducting raids, when police are harassing homeless neighbors, when someone's having a mental health crisis, speed saves lives.
Encrypted Digital Networks: Security That Actually Works
Set up Matrix/Element groups for sensitive coordination and real-time alerts. Unlike Signal, Matrix is decentralized and harder for the state to shut down. Create different channels for different security levels: phone calls for wellness checks, encrypted chat for emergencies, in-person meetings for operational planning.
Develop code words that sound natural in conversation: "gardening emergency" for ICE activity, "plumbing issue" for police presence, "family visit" for safe house needed. Practice using these codes until they become second nature.
Physical Security Documentation: Information That Survives
Print physical copies of emergency contacts, medical needs, safe houses, and legal observers. Use initials, color codes, or symbols to protect identities if discovered. Include accessibility needs: mobility equipment, communication methods, service animals, medication schedules.
Hide copies in multiple locations and update them monthly. When digital systems fail or become compromised, physical documentation keeps your network functioning.
Survival Infrastructure: Keep People Alive
This is the heart of mutual aid under fascism—the systems that ensure people don't die from state neglect or violence. Every aspect of this infrastructure should be designed with the understanding that the state wants certain people dead.
Community Pantries & Supply Chains
Stock food, diapers, formula, over-the-counter medications, hygiene supplies, and water purification tablets. Include survival items: flashlights, batteries, first aid supplies, and warm clothing. Don't forget accessibility supplies: grab bars, shower seats, easy-open containers, and adult diapers.
Distribute through visible but low-key locations: porch boxes, community fridges, apartment building lobbies. The goal is making resources available without drawing unwanted attention. Label clearly: "Take what you need. Leave what you can."
Build relationships with local businesses, especially immigrant-owned stores and restaurants. They often have surplus food and understand the importance of community support. Many are willing to contribute if approached respectfully.
Underground Medicine Networks
This is life-or-death work. Organize people with chronic conditions—insulin, asthma medications, psychiatric drugs, hormone replacement therapy. Create backup supply chains: who has extras, who can navigate pharmacy systems, who can afford bulk purchases.
Include mental health crisis support and de-escalation training. When healthcare is criminalized and therapists are required to report certain patients, community-based mental health support becomes essential.
Share information about mutual aid medication funds and buying cooperatives. Connect with networks that import medications from other countries. Know which pharmacies are sympathetic and which report to authorities.
Safe House Networks
Identify who can house displaced people: families evicted by landlords, undocumented neighbors fleeing raids, abuse survivors, teens kicked out by transphobic families. Plan for accessibility: wheelchair access, quiet spaces for trauma recovery, medical equipment storage.
Rotate emergency supplies: bedding, space heaters, blackout curtains, personal care items. Practice discretion protocols—not every neighbor needs to know everything. The fewer people who know specific details, the safer everyone is.
Establish clear expectations about duration, behavior, and safety protocols. Most safe house situations are temporary, but some people may need longer-term support. Have plans for both scenarios.
Care Webs for Vulnerable People
Coordinate childcare during emergencies, court dates, hospital visits, and detention. Create elder and disabled neighbor check-in systems with daily contact for isolated folks. Share knowledge about benefits navigation, medical equipment, and home care resources.
Plan for when family members are detained or disappeared. Who will care for children if parents are deported? Who will manage medications if a disabled person's caregiver is arrested? These aren't hypothetical scenarios—they're happening now.
Build Long-Term Community Resilience
Mutual aid isn't just about crisis response—it's about building community power that can sustain people through prolonged oppression. This means developing local capacity for food, tools, skills, and seasonal survival.
Food Security & Skill Sharing
Grow fast food in shared spaces: greens, tomatoes, beans, herbs. Focus on crops that produce quickly and can be preserved easily. Save seeds, share tools, and teach preservation techniques like canning, dehydrating, and fermentation.
Include accessible gardening: raised beds, container growing, adaptive tools for people with mobility limitations. Map who can cook for crowds, preserve food, and navigate food assistance programs.
Connect with local farms and food distributors. Many have surplus that they're willing to share, especially if you can provide volunteer labor or transportation. Build relationships that can survive economic disruption.
Tool Libraries & Repair Networks
Share power tools, medical equipment, car repair supplies, and electronics. Include seasonal survival gear: generators, fans, space heaters, snow removal equipment. The goal is reducing individual costs while building collective capacity.
Organize repair cafes where people fix clothes, electronics, mobility aids, and bicycles together. These events build skills while strengthening community bonds. Teaching practical skills like basic first aid, wound care, and equipment maintenance should be ongoing.
Seasonal Survival Planning
Winter preparation: Coordinate shared heating costs, storm wellness checks, and snow removal for disabled neighbors. Set up emergency warming centers in people's homes. Make sure everyone has warm clothing and emergency supplies.
Summer survival: Establish cooling centers, provide hydration for outdoor workers, and prevent heat illness. Ensure people have access to air conditioning during extreme heat. Pay special attention to elderly and disabled people who are most vulnerable.
Year-round resilience: Rotate emergency supplies, prepare for extended power outages, and maintain food security systems. Climate change is making extreme weather more frequent and severe, so seasonal planning is increasingly crucial.
Community Defense Against State Violence
The state uses violence to maintain control, and communities must be prepared to defend themselves. This isn't about armed resistance—it's about collective protection, legal defense, and counter-surveillance.
Witness & Documentation Teams
Train people to safely record police, ICE, and landlord harassment from a distance. Know local laws about filming and have backup power sources and secure upload locations. Share footage with legal observers and advocacy organizations.
When recording isn't safe, observe and document details for later reporting. Badge numbers, license plates, physical descriptions, and timelines can all be crucial for legal defense and community protection.
Collective Defense Fund
Pool money for bail, fines, emergency transportation, legal fees, and phone cards for detained people. Even small amounts help—$5 per person per month can add up to meaningful support. If people don't have cash, they can contribute rides, call-in time, donated items, or skills.
Connect with existing bail funds and rapid response networks. Your local fund can focus on immediate needs while connecting to broader movement resources for larger emergencies.
Know Your Rights & Legal Defense
Hold regular trainings on tenant rights, immigration law, disability rights, and protest safety. Practice scenarios: ICE raids, police encounters, eviction proceedings, medical discrimination. Make these trainings accessible with interpretation, childcare, and multiple formats.
Connect with legal aid organizations, immigration lawyers, and jail support groups. Build relationships before you need them—crisis isn't the time to be looking for legal help for the first time.
Teach bystander intervention and de-escalation techniques. Many confrontations with authorities can be defused if community members know how to safely intervene and advocate for each other.
Counter-Surveillance & Safety Culture
Monitor police, ICE, and landlord activity in your area. Log badge numbers, license plates, and unusual surveillance. Share this information with your network and other community defense groups.
Organize accompaniment for court dates, medical appointments, and immigration check-ins. Having community support can make the difference between someone showing up and someone disappearing.
Practice information security: who knows what, compartmentalization, and protecting sensitive data. The less any one person knows about the entire network, the safer everyone is if someone is compromised.
Organize for Survival & Resistance
Mutual aid is inherently political. You're building alternative systems that challenge state power and corporate control. This work requires ongoing education, conflict resolution, and strategic thinking.
Political Education for Mutual Aid
Study together: fascism, community defense, disability justice, and police states. Understanding the systems you're fighting helps you build more effective alternatives. Learn practical skills: digital security, first aid, conflict resolution, emergency preparedness.
Make meetings accessible: wheelchair access, ASL interpretation, childcare, multiple languages. If your meetings aren't accessible, you're not building the inclusive community that can survive fascism.
Connect local organizing to broader movements. Your small group is part of a larger network of communities defending each other. Share resources, strategies, and lessons learned by networking with The People’s Communities.
Conflict Resolution & Group Sustainability
Establish clear communication norms and collective decision-making processes. Small groups can fall apart over interpersonal conflicts if they don't have systems for addressing problems.
Practice restorative justice approaches to harm and conflict within the group. When someone causes harm, the goal is accountability and healing, not punishment or exclusion.
Plan succession: what happens when key people move, get arrested, or burn out? Building sustainable leadership means preparing others to take on crucial roles.
Regular check-ins on group dynamics, inclusion, and care for organizers. The people doing this work need support too, or they'll burn out and the network will collapse.
Emergency Preparedness & Go-Bags
Everyone should maintain a go-bag with cash, ID copies, medications, emergency contacts, and basic first aid supplies. Include backup accessibility devices, important medical information, and emergency medications.
Practice "grab-and-go" scenarios: raids, evictions, natural disasters, rapid evacuation. Know multiple exit routes and safe locations outside your immediate area. When you have to leave quickly, preparation saves lives.
Scenario Planning & Crisis Response
Role-play different emergencies: mass deportations, political arrests, healthcare denials, economic collapse. Practice communication trees, safe house protocols, and resource distribution under stress.
Plan for escalation: what do you do when local hospitals refuse care for certain patients? When schools become unsafe for trans kids? When entire families are disappeared? These scenarios aren't hypothetical—they're coming, and communities need to be ready.
Connecting to Broader Networks
The People’s Community (TPC) is building the infrastructure for Local Pods and Communities to network together on Hylo. Hylo is a community-led, open-source coordination tool designed for purpose-driven groups, and it is being integrated with Holochain to enable a peer-to-peer and distributed platform.
TPC is creating How-To Learning Tracks. If you’d like to be involved and have ideas on different tracks (i.e. Online Privacy & Safety, Mesh Networks, Medical Emergencies, etc.), please reach out and let’s get it built.
TPC has begun using Hylo’s Open Mapping capabilities for Local Pods to map out mutual aid in their communities. Additionally, TPC will offer to its Local Pods Timebanking through the Time Overflow app.
It’s new, it’s fresh and it needs your help to build it. Join The People’s Community on Hylo.
The Time is Now
Fascism depends on isolation and fear. When people are alone, they're vulnerable. When they're connected and caring for each other, they become ungovernable.
Every dictatorship has failed when people organized to take care of each other despite state violence. You don't need permission to start this work. You don't need perfect conditions. You need each other, and you need to start this week.
Your next steps are simple: identify three neighbors you trust, ask what they need, share what you can offer, and begin building the infrastructure that will keep your people alive.
The state wants you to believe you're powerless. Community care is proof that you're not.
"Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation." — Audre Lorde
And caring for each other is how we all survive.
Add anything else that needs to be coordinated, organized or built, in the comments below.
If you need help getting started or want to connect with other mutual aid local pods, join The People's Community on Hylo.
My friend’s family lives in an apartment complex. Many of them have food delivered from Walmart. It is almost always wrong, with missing or added items.
Walmart won’t replace it or take it back. It is collapse-level laughable.
They have now formed an informal community sharing network where they share the stuff that was incorrect, or that they don’t want. It was heartwarming to see.
Amazing! Thank you. This roadmap will be incredibly useful. Appreciate you! ✨🙌✨