Mutual Aid Spotlight: MADR

Vigilance D
Jun 23
1 min read

The Local Collective is founded on the belief that we are stronger when we take an active, collective role in resisting the social isolation caused by our productivity-centered way of life. Mutual aid is direct action taken by communities to care for one another without relying on government, corporations, or other institutions.

🔦 Spotlight: Asheville Survival Program (ASP)

When the world closes doors, Asheville Survival Program opens hearts. Born in early 2020 during the COVID‑19 pandemic, ASP is an autonomous mutual‑aid network in Asheville, NC, dedicated to “building mutual aid networks with oppressed communities…and promoting solidarity and sharing” .

🤲 What They Actually Do

Streetside distro: Weekly distributions of food, camping gear, and necessities directly to people living outdoors .
Free Store (“Until We’re All Free” Store): Walk-up grocery pick-ups and grocery deliveries through volunteer drivers .
Intersectional organizing: Inspired by Black Panther Survival Programs, ASP works across racial, economic, and cultural lines to meet basic survival needs as a form of collective liberation .

💬 Voices from the Community

On the Final Straw Radio podcast, organizers Fern and Ducky explained: ASP provides goods and builds relationships—not as charity, but as lifeline infrastructure. They emphasize working with the community, locally drive-led and horizontally organized .

Journalist Shane Burley noted that ASP supported houseless encampments in Aston Park through gear and food, even amid police cracksdowns—practicing care rooted in dignity, not filing paperwork .