Three local advocacy and aid groups, SOMA Action, SOMA Justice and SOMA Shares have joined to form the SOMA Mutual Aid Collective to assist families affected by detention and deportation, including those with loved ones detained at Delaney Hall in Newark.
When a primary wage earner is detained or deported, there is little if any safety net, and meeting basic needs can be a struggle, and, according to a news release from the Mutual Aid Collective, many of the family members of detainees who come to Delaney Hall during visiting hours report being in dire straits – particularly mothers of babies and young children.
In collaboration with the longstanding detainee support organization First Friends of New York and New Jersey, the Mutual Aid Collective is collecting grocery gift cards as well as diapers and wipes for families of Delaney detainees and other local families with members in immigrant detention. Through First Friends, the release states, the Collective has learned that grocery gift cards and diapers are the most targeted and effective forms of relief for families thrown into sudden financial crisis.
Gift card donors can contribute online to the Collective’s grocery card fund, all of which will go directly to purchasing gift cards from Stop & Shop and ShopRite that will be distributed by First Friends.
“We are also inviting members and donors to host their own drives to collect gift cards or diapers from friends, family and neighbors,” said Shannon Kirk of the Mutual Aid Collective.
Volunteer hosts can sign up here and will receive detailed instructions. Finally, those who want to donate diapers directly can contact Shannon Kirk of the Mutual Aid Collective at [email protected] or Matt Bloom at Matthew.a.bloompm.me.
“The SOMA Mutual Aid Collective was created in the belief that communities are stronger when we care for one another and honor the dignity and worth of every individual,” Kirk said. “We are committed to building community and to helping people who are bearing the brunt of a full-scale assault on the rights and security of all who live in this country.”
SOMA Mutual Aid Collective logo. (Courtesy of designer Kayli Reddy.)
