WEBVTT - Food Justice & Mutual Aid with Melissa Acedera 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:12.880 Well that wasn't very good. I'm Robert Evans, host of 0:00:12.880 --> 0:00:16.680 the podcast you're listening to, and ashamed of, probably because 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:22.599 that was Jesus Christ. Garrison. Come in here, fix this, 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:28.000 Fix this Garrison. Um, this is it could happen here 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.720 a podcast about the fact that the world was folding apart, 0:00:31.200 --> 0:00:34.120 as embodied by me falling apart. When I try to 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.880 introduce the show, see I tied it in. Yeah, A 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:41.800 good job, thank you, thank you. Well it is it is. 0:00:41.840 --> 0:00:43.680 It has to rhyme. It's like it's like the Star 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:49.839 Wars movies. YEA. Our guest today is Melissa sidera founder 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:53.880 and director of Polo's Pantry, a mutual aid food distribution 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:58.600 project in Los Angeles, California. A. Melissa, thank you for 0:00:58.680 --> 0:01:01.920 coming on and talking to us. Thank you so much 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:05.240 for inviting me. I'm pleasure to be here. I apologize 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.480 for the introduction, but I honestly it's better. It was 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:10.839 better than I usually do, so if you can back 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:16.800 that up. Okay. So I'm an l A native, and um, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:21.000 I've been doing community organizing for probably like close to 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.240 a decade, doing a lot of community work for a 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:27.120 long time, and a few years before the pandemic. Actually, 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:31.880 I started to organize with a lot of grassroots organizations 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.120 in l A, working with a lot of houseless folks 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:39.839 UM all over l A, and kind of clock pretty 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.080 early that a lot, you know, a lot of a 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.520 lot of groups were burning through their budgets spending it 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:50.600 on food. And so since I worked in kind of 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.880 the food industry, I started to kind of poke around 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:57.000 and figure out that we could get a lot of 0:01:57.000 --> 0:02:01.520 these things donated to us UM and pretty much started 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.400 building a roster like building, kind of like a rulodex 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:10.600 of UM other organizations, non profits, UM, food banks that 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:14.040 we could rely on. So almost kind of created sort 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:19.320 of like an Alphian system UM for these groups who 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:23.640 are working with houseless folks to get food every week. UM. 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:25.720 I just wanted to figure out a way to make 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:29.799 a steady and reliable system so that our own house 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:33.079 neighbors would get food and that organizers across l A 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:35.240 wouldn't have to worry about it. And so that's pretty 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:40.600 much how POLO started. Officially started in two thousand eighteen. 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.679 I was organizing with a group called Katon for All 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:48.240 and UH. They do a lot of political advocacy and 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:52.040 mostly rooted in like, um, kind of you know, human 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:55.520 rights for our houses, neighbors. If you don't know Katon 0:02:55.639 --> 0:03:01.119 for all, look them up. They're awesome, follow them fantastic Adan. Yeah, 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:05.240 And you know, I actually was because I was already 0:03:05.280 --> 0:03:08.839 doing a lot of mutual aid work in skid Row 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:13.519 around that time and really kind of felt at some point, 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.320 um that you know, like, yes, it was great that 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:20.520 I was going out there with teams getting hot meals 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.960 out and hot beverages whatever people needed to people, but 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.480 I just was so down on what the conditions, seeing 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:29.760 all the conditions that they were living in, and I 0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:33.519 just wanted to meet other activists and other folks um 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.760 who could really figure out how you connect people to 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:41.120 services and and just really you know, anyone working in policy. 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.600 That's so that's really changing things for people out there. 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.800 And so I wanted to take sort of my advocacy 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.520 and like my work a step further and connected with 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:51.760 activists all the rail day. So that's sort of like 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:56.600 my organs really rooted a lot of activism and organizing. 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.280 So I see I see a lot of I'm not 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:03.560 sort of your standard kind of or nonprofit I really 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.160 see things in the lens and as a community organizer, 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:10.880 and so that's why our our work pretty much exploded 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:15.240 during COVID. I'm kind of interested for for starters because 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:18.400 you're you're you know, this is um a mutual aid 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.880 project as opposed to kind of a charity project, and 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.120 what do you what do you see as being the 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:27.719 dividing line there? Well, for you know, for a lot 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.960 of for us, you know, it's very easy for for 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:32.880 folks to kind of see the work that we do 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.719 as part of the kind of charitable food system because 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:40.960 obviously we're you know, UM mutual aid. It's the difference 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:44.200 really is that obviously, UM, you know, there there's a 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.600 there's a reciprocity between the two of you, UM, between 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:55.719 between neighborhoods, between individuals, between organizations of sharing resources with 0:04:55.760 --> 0:05:00.360 each other. UM and charitable obviously is a it's only 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.919 one way, right, there's only like one person giving. But 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:08.680 for us, UM, the way we picked our partners, I mean, 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.840 we're we are ready part of this nucleus of kind 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.240 of a coalition of or doing this work. So it 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.160 was just ready very easy for us to kind of 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:21.479 share resources with each other. So I was doing food 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.800 and some folks were doing hygiene kits, other folks were 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:28.440 doing tents, other folks were doing tarps or whatever, and 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:32.480 so there was so much you know, kind of mutualid 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.279 and activity going on. And so that that's why we're 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:37.600 we're really kind of rooted in that UM and that 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:43.000 thinking as far as as opposed to charitable ors that 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.120 basically just set up somewhere and give, you know, give 0:05:46.240 --> 0:05:50.680 give stuff out to people. And so we have look 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.440 a part and part of my advisory circle are a 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:58.599 lot of houseless neighbors UM houses leaders in our community. UM. 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:04.000 I also take a lot of advice from UM Indigenous 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:07.719 organizers UM black community leaders in different neighborhoods that we 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:11.799 work in. So our work is really informed by the community. 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:13.839 And so we basically asked folks, hey, you know, like 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:17.880 what can we do UM and plug into to work 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:22.679 that UM that already exists in those in those areas. 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.360 I hope, I hope that means sense. But that's kind 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:29.440 of how I feel about what we do. And and 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:31.840 as an as an organizer, because I think we get 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:33.720 a lot of questions from people who are interested in 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:38.000 starting mutual aid projects in their own areas, and one 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:39.360 of the questions we often have it is like well 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.640 how do I how do I do that? Right? UM? 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:46.279 And Yeah, I'm interested in like like if you could 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.640 kind of walk us through the steps when when Polo's 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:50.800 pantry got started, Like what is what was the kind 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:52.960 of order of operations that you had to go through 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.120 to get this this up and running. I think the 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:57.279 first thing to do is really too For me, it 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:01.360 was already kind of being part of grassroots UM or 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:04.600 so I was part of a few of them UM 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:09.520 and so it's really important to UM to kind of 0:07:09.560 --> 0:07:14.040 identify the needs of a community first before setting up 0:07:14.040 --> 0:07:16.960 your organ So I feel like I already had an 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.760 idea of you know, of of what certain orcs needed, 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:24.680 UM which areas, how many and so kind of identifying 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.760 the needs first kind of UM number one and and 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.720 and to do that you really have to connect with 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:35.040 grassroots organizations, local ones in your area. So you know, 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:37.640 I recommend really just kind of doing researchers. Always folks 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.200 doing that kind of stuff all over. If you're into 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:43.160 political advocacy, there's folks that do that. There are folks 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:47.080 who are more food justice oriented, Like I would recommend 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:50.720 going to a local food bank or soup kitchens to 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.000 have also, Like I've been doing that for years and 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.280 I've met a lot of people with kind of similar 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:59.960 values mine. UM. So just kind of pretty much identif 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.080 fin one, what you'd like to do, what you're good 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:08.080 at UM, and then essentially research UM, you know, kind 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.920 of opportunities to tap into a local organ doing that 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.280 work and then essentially start organizing with them. Right. I 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.440 don't I don't recommend to build like to build an 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:23.000 order prior to not having this kind of knowledge, because 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:28.360 I feel like it's really crucial to sort of kind 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:31.640 of map out first what the community needs instead of 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:37.280 you building mutual aid organization based on you know whatever, 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.080 because I feel like it's it's important to work through 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.600 things from the ground up. UM. That way, you feel 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:47.560 like the work is impactful. That way, the community is 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.040 leading and informing your work. And so that's that's kind 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:54.000 of like how I I approached the line. So look 0:08:54.040 --> 0:08:57.520 for a local organ so kind of sit and organizing 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.680 for a little bit and then him there once he 0:09:00.760 --> 0:09:04.720 once you guys identify what it is UM and start 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:06.760 to kind of have an idea of of the demand 0:09:06.840 --> 0:09:11.480 or the need in that area, then start to reach 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.560 out to say for me, for for food. A lot 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:20.679 of local, um, local chains will weill we'll pretty much 0:09:20.720 --> 0:09:24.240 if you if you tell them what you're doing, um, 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.160 a lot of them will support you. So I actually have. 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.200 I started with just going literally to my local Ralphs 0:09:29.880 --> 0:09:32.160 and telling the manager. They're like, hey, this is what 0:09:32.200 --> 0:09:35.560 I'm doing. I'm starting this or you know, wasn't Ralph's 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.320 being a local grocery store in Likes Angeles area. A 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:41.720 lot of I didn't know what Ralph's was before I 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.360 moved to l A. So I just wanted to be like, 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.280 she's not just like rolling over to where buddy Ralph's house, like, yes, 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:50.520 you got some food? Yeah? Sorry, yeah, so that Ralph's 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:55.720 out here in l A. So most places, yeah yeah 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:58.240 yeah I will. More folks said, not everyone is down 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:00.920 for that kind of stuff, but somehow you'll you'll really 0:10:01.000 --> 0:10:02.480 end up on one that's really you know, that is 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:06.120 really unkind. I think most folks have to realize that 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:08.760 this this this kind of work is not it didn't 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:13.679 happen overnight like building like building uh, you know, like 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.679 a reliable network of people to donate to you is. 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.120 It takes time. So but I think if if you 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.320 hit kind of larger chains, you will get UM, you know, 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.439 you'll you'll you'll get you'll start to get a steady 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:41.080 supply from them. Do you have any kind of advice 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:44.520 for um, when you're actually approaching you know, manager at 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.280 a Ralphs or something, somebody who works for Like, what 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:48.920 do you have like I don't know, like a script, 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:50.880 but kind of a rough guy to like, Here's how 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:53.240 I try to start these conversations. Here's some ways I 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:55.200 try to phrase for things, because that could be useful 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:57.720 for folks. You know, I actually have like a form 0:10:57.800 --> 0:11:01.160 letters I could share later maybe you can, right, yeah, great, 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.200 UM that you know that they can use to um, 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.240 you know, if they're if they're going to UM solicit 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:10.719 folks with that stuff. And I think a lot of 0:11:10.800 --> 0:11:14.559 mutual aid organizations to have that kind of UM kind 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:18.800 of literature, that kind of form so UM, I think 0:11:18.840 --> 0:11:21.280 just basically kind of letting them know who you are, 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:25.880 who you're serving, UM, how often which demographic is going 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:31.160 to that's usually really important. UM. What what helped me though, 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:34.840 was I was as I started to get more serious 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.680 about about doing the food work, I connected to you know, 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:43.280 some some community partners and I actually UM turned Polos 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:46.400 into a fiscally sponsored org so we moved from being 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:49.839 just fully grassroots to being fiscally sponsored. That basically means 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:54.440 we're operating under the five O one C three number 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:58.120 of another organization of a larger organization. So that that 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.520 was that open so so many opportunities for us. It 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.480 really allowed us to be able to access larger amounts 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:07.600 of food and really help out a lot of a 0:12:07.640 --> 0:12:10.600 lot of a lot of smaller organs that needed to 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:15.200 get their food programs off the ground. And so UM 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.440 that is something I recommend if you're if people are 0:12:17.480 --> 0:12:21.760 serious about it, to define a community of community partner 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.320 who who isn't established five and one C three that 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.920 they trust UM to see if they if they know 0:12:28.960 --> 0:12:31.240 if they can sign on to to be a physical 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:34.600 sponsor UM. That I think is one of the quickest 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.520 ways to be able to UM to really kind of 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:42.480 establish yourself as as far as getting larger amounts of 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.640 food then and by that I mean getting pallets of food, 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.199 not just cases, but literally pallets of food delivered to 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.160 wherever you are. As soon as we did that, that 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:55.800 completely changed the game UM. And and I think I 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:58.640 did that because I knew I had so many friends 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:01.720 who were doing mutual aid that needed so, you know, 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:07.240 just so much stuff from from groceries to um, you know, 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:10.080 fresh produce, and it wasn't and it wasn't you know, 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.320 it didn't stop in food. We were getting you know, 0:13:13.400 --> 0:13:16.360 hand sanitizer, we were getting tense, we were getting all 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:20.720 sorts of stuff, you know, and so um. So yeah, 0:13:20.760 --> 0:13:23.040 that's what I recommend for folks were serious about food 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:27.839 is to really again start to build a relationship with 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:32.720 local businesses, um that they that they like food businesses 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:36.600 and really telling people this is what I'm doing. If 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.800 you're if you know, if you're if you're you know, 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.319 if you are, what support us, you know, like this 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:44.760 is um, you know, these are these are the days 0:13:44.800 --> 0:13:46.920 that we need food or whatever, or these are the 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.440 times that we'll need food and just let them know 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.559 that you know, you're you're happy to pick it up 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.920 or that you're happy to because there's there's I think, 0:13:56.160 --> 0:14:01.000 at least for California, we're starting to change law like 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:04.600 policy and law behind food waste, and so I think, um, 0:14:04.679 --> 0:14:07.680 something's going to change. In the January of two where 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:12.120 a lot of food waste basically going to decrease because 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:15.120 it's going to be much more difficult. The city is 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:18.080 going to make it much more difficult for for businesses 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.560 to just get your stuff. UM. They're they're really pushing 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:27.680 them to UM to separate them. But anyway, regardless, you're 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.760 helping the business really UM move, you know, move food waste, 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:34.920 and and most of them and a lot of employees 0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.400 too that I've talked to UM just you know, just 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:40.880 our heart work. And every time they have to clear 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:44.360 out you know, a full full tray or just trays 0:14:44.400 --> 0:14:47.720 and trays of of of of a perfectly fine food. 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:51.160 So yeah, there's there's a video going viral on Twitter 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:54.520 right now of of like someone working at Dunking Donuts 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.600 and just like dumping display hundreds and hundreds of donuts 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:02.400 into the garbage. And then that happens. That happens every 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:05.000 single day. You know. I have I have friends who 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:06.800 used to work on Whole Foods and they would tell 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:10.360 me just just how heartbreaking it was, just the amount, 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:14.160 just the massive amount of that's being wasted. Yeah, it's evil, 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:16.920 it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's it's a 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:20.600 thing that in the more difficult days ahead, as you know, 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.760 things like well like we under in a lot of areas, 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.120 like the crop was half of what it normally is 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:28.640 this year. That's going to continue. One day we will 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:34.640 look at videos of Duncan Donuts dropping an entire day's 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.400 worth of donuts into the trash and use it as 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:41.000 a pretext to bring executives to trial. And it's going 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:45.000 to be like like like a war crime. Yeah is 0:15:45.120 --> 0:15:47.240 I mean, I mean, honestly though, as someone in food 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.000 um um, you know, like the food system is changing 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.000 massively in so many ways. I feel like the one 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.200 kind of good thing that happened in the pandemic is 0:15:56.240 --> 0:16:01.440 that lawmakers were able to identify that the way snap 0:16:01.560 --> 0:16:05.400 or or um cal fresh pretty much food stamps were 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:09.680 not enough really to um, you know, to feed families 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:13.080 and feed people. It's not nearly enough, though, but at 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.360 least it kind of pushes the needles where we need 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:20.080 where we needed to go um. And I think I think, 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:25.320 having having been so focused and so like in the 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:28.160 center of mutual aid work in l A, I'm able 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:32.120 to kind of broadly tell you know, tell um really 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.640 tell lawmakers too that hey, you know, there's so much um, 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.040 there's so much meat out there, but the community themselves 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:43.680 have built alternate food systems to be able to care 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:47.720 for themselves. I feel like my hope really is to 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.520 be able to have to kind of hyperlocalize our food 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:56.960 systems that way. Neighborhoods and really like communities are are 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.800 essentially dictating their own you know, their own needs. They're 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:04.080 they're basically bringing in the resources that they want. They're 0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.120 bringing in the kind of food that they want, you know, 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:11.720 and um, and really just working towards the real kind 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:16.159 of food food sovereignty where people are able to to 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:20.800 get the resources themselves. And and for me, I feel 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:23.840 like mutual aid scares a lot of people because again 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:26.720 it really is the sort of like, um, the reason 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.160 why we were able to a lot of communities were 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.879 able to to survive COVID. You know, we're still doing 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:36.520 it and it's still ours so deep in it. And 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:39.119 and even like I try to tell students to and like, 0:17:39.960 --> 0:17:43.600 you know, um, mutual aid isn't just food or whatever. 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:46.760 It's also like say your dad is a pickup truck 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:51.080 and your neighbor needs to move, I don't know their 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.080 dining room table across town. Like that is a form 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:58.080 of mutual aid UM or Like there's there's so many 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:03.040 things that especially a lot of immigrant communities that I 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:08.000 that I work with. This this form of care, community care, 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:14.159 you know, has existed forever, and it's just somehow elevated 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.320 itself during the pandemic because, as we know, the safety 0:18:17.320 --> 0:18:21.000 net just wasn't enough. It didn't it didn't it really 0:18:21.000 --> 0:18:22.959 didn't help me, you know, it didn't really help a 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:29.160 lot of communities, and so this system essentially kept people afloat. 0:18:29.560 --> 0:18:34.480 And now we're trying to figure out how to really 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:39.000 create better ways to sustain it and to really create 0:18:39.040 --> 0:18:42.800 better ways to get the resources directly to communities that 0:18:42.960 --> 0:18:45.640 need them. So that's kind of where I'm at. I'm 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:47.760 working with other folks trying to figure out how to 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.000 how to keep the sustainable and really have more agency 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:53.000 over what kind of food and what kind of ad 0:18:53.080 --> 0:19:06.240 you WoT. How have people that have been needing to 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.960 access mutualating the food, how have they been learning about 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:14.679 your organization? UM I think honestly, all this stuff really 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:17.480 happened by word of mouth. I think because I was 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.399 I was already part of this huge coalition UM that's 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:24.200 part of of the Sophie Knows a Cat for All. 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:27.119 There's a group called street Watch. There's a group called 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:29.720 crowd Game, There's a group called like There's there's all 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:33.520 these different folks that basically are in our wide coalition. 0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:36.800 I haven't had to really advertise much like people just 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:39.520 sort of like just kept telling others like, hey, you know, 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:42.040 like Melissa and Polos and her team were doing this 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:47.080 and um. Also as a COVID response, I created another 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:54.080 um um uh like COVID initiative called Homemade Meals and 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:59.479 and that is the partnership with another organization called Yikes. 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:02.720 And so as of today, I think we're close to 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:08.399 seventy meals UM. That's all community lead. Yes, so we 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:12.560 so we this smart of UM. We essentially created a 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:15.600 system where we uh we work with people who are 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:19.800 who are cooking homade meals in their homes and connecting 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:23.560 them to drivers. And so we have about six different 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:27.240 UM organ partners. So one of them is obviously it's 0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:32.360 the same people Kaytown, street Watch, Covenant House. They work 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:35.240 a lot with Homeless Youth um L a can or 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.760 in skid Row UM and a bunch of other mutual 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.760 aid groups in different areas of l A, so I 0:20:43.440 --> 0:20:47.560 recognize UM. At the beginning of COVID, a lot of 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:50.560 my houseless neighbors were telling us that they were scared, 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:54.439 like because a lot of a lot of businesses were closing, 0:20:54.600 --> 0:21:00.520 a lot of corner stores, restaurants, UM that the the 0:21:00.560 --> 0:21:04.680 food access completely shut off for them during at the beginning, 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:07.719 and I started to freak out. I was like, how 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:11.760 we're going to get food to people? And so UM 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.879 some friends who run UM basically they weren't kind of 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:20.200 like a youth kind of youth focus or UM wanted 0:21:20.240 --> 0:21:23.159 to activate their you know, activate their community. They're like, hey, 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:25.480 how can we help? What can we do? So we 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:29.399 created this program basically that you know, figure out like, okay, 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:32.080 well a lot of people want to have volunteer, but 0:21:32.119 --> 0:21:34.919 they can't leave home, So why don't they cooked meals 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:38.560 at home? And then we'll just pair them with drivers 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:41.600 who can pick it up safely. And so we just 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:44.080 started doing that. We created this system too, and and 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:48.280 I think we honestly, I thought we were just gonna 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:50.560 do it for two months, but now we're what like, 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:56.159 in nineteen months later, seventy five thousand nails over a 0:21:56.280 --> 0:22:06.720 thousand volunteers, like it's been wild. Actually, Jane Expert, she 0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:11.119 would be angry if we didn't state that. So Jamie, UM, 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:14.399 Jamie actually is UM. It's one of our o G 0:22:14.760 --> 0:22:17.600 like like cooks, Like she started with home and made 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:20.680 meals from the very beginning. UM, she's kind of one 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:23.119 of our That's kind of how we know her. UM. 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:26.879 It's because she found she found that program UM. And 0:22:26.920 --> 0:22:29.640 it's been a while, it's been it's been so amazing 0:22:29.720 --> 0:22:32.919 to to really activate so many people across l A 0:22:33.640 --> 0:22:37.480 to cook for our houses neighbors. And so I haven't 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:40.560 even fully digested our team hasn't even fully digested that 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:42.720 the real impact of that. But it's been seting five 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:47.240 thousand meals UM made by the community for our for 0:22:47.320 --> 0:22:50.840 our houses neighbors. So so so that's yeah, so that 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:53.920 I don't know, like I feel like and I truly 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:57.760 believe there's just so much just so much power and 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:03.280 the people and really trying to figure out ways to 0:23:03.280 --> 0:23:07.560 continue to you know, to create UM better systems where 0:23:07.560 --> 0:23:14.320 where we can redirect those resources you know, UM to 0:23:14.640 --> 0:23:18.960 us and UM you know like really kind kind of 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.320 break down these systems where you know, because because even 0:23:22.520 --> 0:23:24.760 people were telling me, like folks who are like, you know, 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:27.480 these sort of big institutions, food institutions have been around 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:32.520 for decades or even folks UM from like yeah, from 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:35.520 like running food dogs since the eighties were like, you know, 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:37.399 how are you able to move so fast? I'm like, 0:23:37.400 --> 0:23:41.760 that's mutual aid. That's like, that's mutual aid. Then our 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:45.359 ability to not have to run through so much bureaucratic 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:49.600 crap and red tape is a reason why we were 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:54.160 able to, you know, to to to create such huge 0:23:54.200 --> 0:23:59.639 impact because people believed in what we did and you 0:23:59.640 --> 0:24:03.680 know and helped support us, funded us UM and we 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:06.760 essentially just you know, just hit the ground running. We're 0:24:06.800 --> 0:24:09.840 able to figure out what people needed on the ground 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:13.159 and just just got it to them. That's what That's it, 0:24:13.400 --> 0:24:15.440 you know, and we'll figure out if if we don't 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:17.959 have it, we're gonna keep you know, we'll ask around 0:24:18.119 --> 0:24:22.800 for folks who have it. Like UM. There's a group 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:27.040 called SILA there. It's silver like UM and my friend 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:30.080 Kat who's one of the co founders. She they also 0:24:30.119 --> 0:24:32.680 worked with with UM with Houseless Folks and they do 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:38.640 uh incredible work, like you know, providing showers providing hot meals, 0:24:39.080 --> 0:24:44.640