SDA’s Mutual Aid Project Winds Down

After nearly five years, the Cross-Bay Mutual Aid Project has come to a close. Emerging from conversations between SDA, Bay Resistance, Jobs with Justice, and Causa Justa::Just Cause in the early days of the pandemic, the project focused on supporting seniors, people with disabilities and immigrants, who were going to be some of the most affected by COVID. Our organizations committed to making this project work. Bay Resistance called on their volunteers and other committed people gave their all. The project is deeply indebted to the work of these volunteers. Coordinating grocery deliveries, matching up phone buddies, facilitating home care support, and nurturing countless relationships, these volunteer coordinators shaped the project. 

As the main fiscal sponsor, SDA held and distributed donations. In conjunction with the Independent Living Resource Center of SF, SDA also provided major funds until summer 2021, which enabled the project to go far beyond what would have been possible with individual donations at the time it was most urgently needed. At its peak, the project made almost 300 deliveries a month across the Bay Area; nearly 1,400 people were involved in one way or another. 

The project came to a conclusion in stages, supporting the majority of members to access ongoing food security and benefit programs in summer 2021. Thanks to a small group of committed donors, we were able to continue providing groceries for a small handful of participants who faced significant difficulty accessing other programs. In summer 2024, as donations began to subside and coordinator capacity began to wane, we made a difficult decision to wind down the final phase of the project with the last deliveries taking place in December 2024. 

We know that this ending, though deeply bittersweet, makes space for other beginnings. Thank you to everyone who took part in this massive solidarity effort, in any way big or small.