Welcome and thanks for being here!

Coalition Building & Community

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My communities along the way…

-Community gardens

-Being outside on my street and saying hi

-Being a regular

Neighbors

-Showing Up for Racial Justice

-Affinity space facilitator

Anti-racism

-Canvassing at 18 (environmental justice)

-Abolish death penalty

-Abolition

Political Action

-Churches

-Grad school

-Emmaus House (Catholic Worker)

Faith Communities

#1

Mutual aid projects work to meet survival needs and build shared understanding about why people do not have what they need.

What is Cook County Jail?

• Cook County Jail is one of the largest single-site jails in the United States (96 acres).
• Jails generally detain people pretrial who can’t afford bail or people serving a sentence that is less than one year. Prisons are cages for people who already had a trial and were convicted and sentenced. Over 100,000 people are pushed through the jail each year.
• While held in the jail awaiting their next court date, people are subjected to a total loss of autonomy, abuses by the staff and system, and this has repercussions across their lives.
• People often leave the jail trying to get home or somewhere safe without their phone, money, IDs, and winter clothing as those are kept at the police station where they were booked.
• Many people leave Cook County Jail having lost housing and jobs. Everyone leaves having been harmed and violated by the carceral system.

What is Chicago Community Jail Support?

• We offer daily support for all people released daily from CCJ
• 6:30 -11:30 PM every day in front of CCJ (27th & California)
• Began May 30th, 2020, as support system for people being released after arrests at demonstrations during the 2020 uprising and continued protests against police violence and anti-Black racism
• Our goal is to provide those released with material and social support. Some people have urgent needs, some just need a safe space to wait for a ride -- we try to offer both.
• We also support one another, share political education, and do our part in the ecosystem of abolition work.

#2

Mutual aid projects mobilize people, expand solidarity and

build movements.

Community Agreements

• We are practicing abolition, drawing from the knowledge and experiences of generations of Black organizers, and we acknowledge that we did not create mutual aid or jail support work.
• We do not collaborate, collude with, or otherwise support law enforcement in any form.
• We understand that jail support is a temporary intervention aiming to reduce harm created by Cook County Jail and the entire carceral system. We believe it is crucial to abolish the prison-industrial complex along with all forms of policing.
• We know that Cook County Jail, the prison-industrial complex, and law enforcement do not keep individuals or communities safe.

Community Agreements

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• We believe mutual aid to be inherently collaborative, relationship-based, and community-oriented.
• We believe in Black, Brown, and Indigenous self-determination.
• We believe in fostering a culture of learning, growth, accountability, personal boundaries, & transformative and healing justice.
• We commit to being mindful of power structures and centering marginalized voices as we navigate our interactions.

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#3

Mutual aid projects are participatory, solving problems through collective action rather than waiting for saviors.

Nuts & Bolts of CCJS

Roles | Working Groups

ON THE GROUND (OTG)

Provide material & emotional support to people released

DRIVERS

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Offer rides for people released to gather belongings & get home

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HOUSING ON CALL

SETUP & BREAKDOWN

Drive van and supplies to CCJ and set up; breakdown at end of shift & drive van back.

SCHEDULERS

Organize volunteers for shifts, create Signal chat, and connect the dots

Provide support to OTG for housing questions

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We use Signal [encrypted messaging app] to create daily group chats to connect volunteers on the ground with support offsite.

COMMUNICATIONS

SIGNAL

DISCORD

Our broader organizing and resource sharing happens on the Discord App. You can join our server to participate in our Working Groups, general discussion, and more.

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• Set up happens at 5:00 PM every day, and consists of two tasks: collecting supplies from our storage site or purchasing supplies for the day and then driving the van to CCJ from storage in Douglass Park.

SETUP

BREAKDOWN

• Breakdown happens at 10:30 PM M-F, and 11 PM Sat/Sun. Volunteers put away gear into their respective bins, and tables, chairs, tent- Everything gets loaded into our handy van and then driven back to storage down the street!

• Distribute supplies such as snacks, water, gatorade, cigarettes and PPE as needed

• Provide phones for use to connect with support people

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• Coordinate rides between released persons and drivers (if available). Includes filling out the driving log prior to sending out rides and coordinating other material support

ON THE GROUND (OTG)

• OTG volunteers wear many hats in coordinating and filling needs for persons recently released, as well as their loved ones

• People being released may not always have someone waiting on them, and will sometimes need a ride, whether it be to a precinct to collect their personal belongings, straight home, or to a loved one’s

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• Our Drivers help transport people! These shifts take place in the same blocks as OTG, though we also encourage drivers to help out anytime!

DRIVERS

We currently are reimbursing folks at $1/mile for their time driving. You are encouraged to bring along a ride buddy, though we may have enough OTG members to spare.

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• Role is to send ALL the messages to people to make sure we have enough coverage for the night!

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• Schedule people daily, and also set up monthly standing shifts for people who want to make that commitment

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• Also present in the daily thread to help connect OTG volunteers with remote help if needed

SCHEDULERS

We sometimes have daily volunteers dedicated to coordinating with OTG efforts to provide emergency housing options to people who may need housing assistance after being released. We also in a limited capacity can help to connect people with longer term housing solutions. This process is still in development and a focus of the Housing and Harm Reduction Working Group.

HOUSING ON CALL

• Scheduling
• Supplies
• Financial
• Internal Communications
• External Communications
• Harm Reduction + Housing
• Advocacy + Coalition Building
• Events + Fundraising
• Welcome Squad
• Van + Winter Prep

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WORKING GROUPS

Many thanks!

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