Exploring mutual aid and radical neighboring

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Thirty-six UUCC members and friends gathered to explore possibilities for radical neighboring and mutual aid following our worship service and Rev Molly’s sermon on “Mutual Aid, Labor and Faith: A History” on Sunday, August 31.

Want to know what happened and how you might be part of next steps? If so, read on.

Our theme that afternoon was “What forms of radical neighboring and mutual aid do we want and need? How might we begin?”

Folks then proposed and hosted small group exploratory discussions on these topics:

  • Childcare collective
  • Farming and gardening work sharing
  • Meal sharing
  • Goods & services exchange / skills sharing
  • Barn-raising-style yard work and home repair
  • Peer- or co-counseling, self-resourcing and self-care
  • Local “rapid response” political activism

The discussions were creative, animated, rich in ideas, and generated some next steps. Below are four emergent project ideas that folks are taking steps to explore further over the next couple of weeks. If you are interested in exploring one of these ideas, please feel free reach out to the “guides” listed below:

Childcare Circle

Core Idea: Exploring no-stress ways for parents to get a breather.

Guides: James Gordon (email), Tracey Milarsky, Ben Schulz

First/Next Steps:

  • Get-together at the Daniel Boone Regional Library so parents can organize further, get a break, or run errands while children play with designated trusted adults.
  • Create a survey for the congregation to identify who is interested in participating (who needs this and when; who can staff this and when).

Farming & Gardening Circle

Core Idea: How to be in community while digging in the dirt?

Guides: Connie Ordway (email), Bryan de Valdivia (email)

First/Next step(s):

  • Create a calendar and host farm tours.
  • Create a directory that includes UUCC folks who are farming and gardening, as well as folks who want to help with food and farm projects.

Cooperative Meals (Cooking and Eating Together) Circle

Core Idea: Getting together around shared meals, cooking, and possibly bulk purchasing of food

Guides: Lindsey Saunders (email), Dan Cass

First/Next step(s):

  • Meet up soon for a potluck and movie night and further discussion of the idea.

Organized Free Exchange for Goods/Services

Core Idea: Non-monetary system for sharing and trading skills, equipment and other resources (“here’s what I need; here’s what I have to offer”)

Guides: Patty Daus (email), Rev Dottie Mathews (email), Molly McMillan (beginning 2026)

  • First/Next step(s):
  • Create a list of skills, resources, and volunteers as first steps toward a UUCC Skillsbank / Resource Directory

“In this time of authoritarian economy, we must proclaim a theology of mutual thriving, deep interconnection, and inalienable dignity for the earth and its people. But more than that, we must live it.” – from “Mutual Aid, Labor, and Faith: A History” by Rev. Dr. Molly Housh Gordon.

With gratitude,
Finding Our Way Forward team
James Gordon, Dottie Mathews, Lindsey Saunders, Kim Wade)