What Is Mutual Aid?
“Mutual aid projects work to meet survival needs and build shared understanding about why people do not have what they need.”
-Dean Spade, “Mutual Aid”
Our group works to fill in the gaps where the existing government/for-profit/non-profit structure in Moab is unable to meet people’s needs. Rather than duplicating work already being done by local government and nonprofits, we are there to step in when they are constrained by red tape or politics.
We facilitate direct neighbor-to-neighbor support that is empowering, fun and social. We do not subscribe to a charity or provider-receiver model. We all give and we all receive.
Finally, rather than just helping each other survive a broken system, we educate one another about why it is broken and build power to resist it.
Community Meals
We started hosting community meals in March of 2025. We believe sharing food is one of the best ways to build real connection. A few dedicated volunteers work really hard to make it happen every month, and we love seeing both familiar faces and new ones each time.
The food comes from our neighbors pitching in and our community gardens. We occasionally get donations from City Market too. Meals happen on the first Sunday of each month from 6-8 pm at Rotary Park*, and everyone is welcome. We usually have a free market (clothes, books, household items, supplies), free produce, and other resources to give out. Hope to see you at the next one!
*Time and location vary seasonally, but we’ll try to keep this updated!
Labor Organizing
Labor is one of the most transformative sites of struggle—because when workers organize, we interrupt the flow of profit and reclaim power over their lives. We support workers in Moab organizing for fair pay, safety, and a say in their working conditions. Workers can also organize to achieve political aims–a great example is dockworkers across the world refusing to load arms onto boats bound for Israel. An organized workforce is the foundation of working class power. Imagine what we could do in Moab with a coalition of organized workplaces coordinating with one another.
In May, 2025, we organized an event where union leaders and labor organizers came to share their experience including Park City Ski Patrol who recently had a successful strike.
In August 2025, we held a floating Organizer Crash Course overnight on the Colorado River with Organize Utah. We’re planning more workshops and hangouts where people can learn organizing basics, build relationships, and figure out how to fight for better lives.
We are currently conducting a People’s Economic Audit to evaluate the health of Moab’s economy for workers. Fill out our survey to add your data to the report!
Community Gardens
Gardening is important to us because it pushes back against scarcity, isolation, and dependence on systems. A couple community members offered up space in their yards, and we’ve turned those into corn, okra, potatoes, eggplant, kale, tomatoes, fruit trees, and MORE!
It’s truly a labor of love. A few people in the group show up every week to weed, reseed, water, and harvest. Others donate tools, compost, seeds, and time. Then it turns into food! We eat it, share it, give it away, and cook it to serve at our community meals.
Book Club
Book Club pre-existed Moab Mutual Aid and continues to be a space for political education and debate alongside survival work. Oppressive structures thrive when they become normalized or are badly understood. In the United States today, Capitalism and Imperialism are so deeply woven into the fabric of society that they become invisible, and it’s difficult to imagine how the world could be otherwise. Political analysis that challenges the status quo is often left out of curricula in the US school system, and we start from the assumption that these ideas are new to people.
Everyone is welcome at book club, regardless of whether you are just starting to ask why things are the way they are, or have already spent time developing your own political analysis. We try to balance keeping readings approachable to a wide audience while challenging ourselves to step outside our comfort zones. We all have something to teach each other and we learn the most from a diversity of opinions.
So far, we’ve read and discussed these books:
Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher
From What Is to What If by Rob Hopkins
Mutual Aid by Dean Spade
Fascism: What it is and How to Fight It by Leon Trotsky
Art Picnics
We gather outside to block print on clothing and posters, make signs for protests, and bring beauty and imagination to our campaigns. The will to change is limited mostly by our imagination, and it’s important to make space to nurture that capacity together.
Local Disaster Response
Disasters happen. The community network Mutual Aid builds through our daily work are already there to mobilize in the event of unforeseen circumstances. Neighbors are the first to respond before outside aid arrives, and will be there after it is withdrawn. As we build networks of support and communication among neighbors, we become more ready to respond in the event of a disaster.
In July 2025, when the Deer Creek Fire broke out, Moab Mutual Aid partnered with Canyon Country CAN to support a fundraiser organized by La Sal neighbors for families who lost their homes. More recently, in response to the fast-tracking of the Velvet Wood Mine reopening, we worked with La Red de Solidaridad to host a teach-in and art build, followed by a protest at the mine site. We will continue to stand with those on the front lines of these and future disasters.