Mutual Aid List

A directory of direct links to mutual aid needs (GoFundMe, fundraisers, etc.) in Massachusetts and New England. The focus is to connect people with individuals who need mutual aid, particularly those impacted by the federal government shutdown and the increasing impact of ICE raids in our communities.

Live Site: https://aschepis.github.io/mutual-aid-list/

The site is modeled after Operation Milkweed.

Features

• Sortable: Sort requests by newest, oldest, name, or location
• Filterable: Filter by location or tags
• Responsive: Clean, minimal design that works on all devices
• Community-driven: Anyone can add requests via pull request

Contributing

We welcome contributions from the community! If you know someone who needs help, you can add their mutual aid request to this list.

Easy Method: Submit via Form (Recommended)

No coding required! Simply fill out our submission form:

👉 Submit a Mutual Aid Request

1. Click the link above
2. Fill out the form with the request details
3. Submit the issue
4. Our automation will create a pull request for you
5. Once reviewed, the request will be added to the site

Advanced Method: Submit via Pull Request

If you're comfortable with Git and JSON:

1. Fork this repository

2. Edit the data file: Open data/requests.json and add a new entry to the array:

{
  "name": "Short, descriptive name of the need",
  "description": "Brief description of the mutual aid need and situation",
  "link": "https://gofundme.com/example",
  "location": "City, MA",
  "tags": ["housing", "medical", "emergency"],
  "created_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z",
  "updated_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
}

3. Submit a pull request: Our automated checks will validate your submission

Data Schema

Each mutual aid request must include:

Field	Required	Format	Description
name	✅ Yes	String	Short, descriptive name for the mutual aid need
description	✅ Yes	String	Brief description of the need
link	✅ Yes	URL	Direct link to the mutual aid request (GoFundMe, etc.)
location	⚠️ Recommended	String	Format: "[City], [State Code]" (e.g., "Boston, MA")
tags	⚠️ Recommended	Array	Tags like ["housing", "medical", "family"]
created_at	Optional	ISO 8601	Date created (defaults to current date if omitted)
updated_at	Optional	ISO 8601	Date last updated (defaults to current date if omitted)

Example Tags

Common tags include:

• housing, eviction, emergency
• medical, dental, health, cancer
• food, childcare, transportation
• family, veteran, disability, immigration
• federal-shutdown, funeral

Validation

When you submit a pull request, GitHub Actions will automatically:

• ✅ Validate JSON syntax
• ✅ Check for required fields (name, description, link)
• ✅ Verify location format if provided
• ✅ Ensure files are in the correct directory

Questions?

Open an issue or reach out if you need help contributing!

Local Development

To run the site locally:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/aschepis/mutual-aid-list.git
cd mutual-aid-list

# Start Hugo server
hugo server

# Site will be available at http://localhost:1313/mutual-aid-list/

Built With

• Hugo - Static site generator
• Custom minimal theme
• GitHub Pages for hosting
• GitHub Actions for automated validation and deployment

License

This project is open source and contributions are welcome.