77 ways to practice community care:
Venmo a friend when they are having a bad day
Shovel your neighbor’s walk or mow their lawn
Stock your local community fridge
Send care packages to your loved ones to show you are thinking of them
Buy a meal for someone experiencing homelessness
Offer free or highly subsidized services in your area of expertise to BIPOC folks
Collaborate with other businesses in your niche
Volunteer at a local soup kitchen
Share things you are looking to offload in your local Buy Nothing group
Drive a friend to the airport
Show solidarity by attending a rally
Bake chocolate chip cookies for a friend (or their favorite dessert!)
Follow mutual aid groups in your city to see how you can support their work
Support people on GoFundMe
Walk your friend’s dog when they are out of town
Apologize when you do something that harms someone, and take steps to avoid that behavior in the future
Leave a review for your favorite podcast
Build a free library, or contribute to one nearby
Pay attention to your friend’s needs, your family’s needs, and your community’s needs, and see what you can offer (always consent-based)
Pay for the coffee of the person behind you inline
Share an appreciation for a coworker who helped you out (in front of other coworkers, where possible/appropriate)
Learn from Actually Autistic people to best support and understand neurodivergent people in your life
Start a GoFundMe for a friend who needs financial support
Pre-order books from your favorite activists and thought leaders
Follow activists and participate in their requests
Support Trans youth in Texas
Write a letter or call your senator to ask them to ban transphobic legislation
Encourage your loved ones to rest, and do the same
Go with a friend to a doctor's appointment that they are nervous about
Vote!
Speak up for someone who has been misgendered (with their consent)
Send a voice note to someone you are thinking about
Tend to a community garden
Ask for help when you need it (if it feels good to help others, asking for help is a) a way to model that, and b) allows someone to feel good helping you!)
Donate your excess clothes to a shelter
Bring a snack for your coworkers to enjoy
Check-in on someone who has been a little more absent than usual
Venmo a friend to buy themselves a latte or a donut (or whatever they’d like)
Buy books from local bookstores
Babysit for a friend so they can go on a date night or self-care day
Buy gifts from local shops and toy stores instead of the store that should not be named by rhymes with qwamazon
Share someone’s IG post, newsletter, blog post, or podcast episode if is something you enjoyed, learned from, made you laugh, etc.
Teach a class at your local library
Cheer someone on in a community that you’re in
Make a playlist to share with your friends
Pick up trash when you see it
Engage in dialogue when you hear someone say something harmful (when safe to do so)
Walk someone home if they don’t feel safe by themselves (and you feel safe)
Deliver a meal or send a seamless gift card to a chronically ill friend
Edit a friend’s writing when they need some support
Send a friend some herbal medicine that you made (or go to the herb shop and have them make something for your friend!)
Be an observer when the cops attempt to take down homeless encampments
Run errands for a disabled or chronically ill friend, or a friend with a newborn
Seek out learning opportunities from someone who has a different background, lived experience, Race, or gender identity from you
Sit with an elderly neighbor
Start a meal train for a friend who is undergoing hardship
Start a book club
Subscribe to Patreons and Substacks (or whatever way they collect financial support) of people who inspire you, whom you learn from, whose work you want to continue in the world
Fundraise for important causes
Let someone go in front of you in line at the grocery store if your cart is full and they only have a few items
Say hello to someone experiencing homelessness
Be the eyes for someone visually impaired
Barter!
Sit with a friend who is going through a hard time and just listen
Invite a new co-worker to have lunch with you
Mail a handwritten letter to a loved one sharing your gratitude for their presence in your life
Give a discount on your goods or services to someone who needs it/would appreciate it (when you can afford to do so without sacrificing your wellbeing)
Wave to the person you see every day on your morning walk
Seek out learning spaces, movement spaces, conferences, organizations, and the like that uplift and center trans and BIPOC folks
Attend bystander training
Start your meetings with a few deep breaths or a 2-minute meditation
Pass down clothes or other baby items that you no longer need to parents that could use it
Host a potluck block party
Offer your skills, time, or services pro-bono to local mutual aid networks (such as designing a flyer for them, or providing pro-bono legal support)
Offer to drive neighbors to vote
Mail a book that changed your life to a friend
Throw a friend a zoom birthday party when they move out of town and are feeling isolated
…and many more! Add your thoughts and approaches to community care in the comments so we can learn from each other 🥳❤️
so touched by this list, and as someone who just moved & feels isolated, am resonating deeply with #77. thank you for sharing!