The Blackflower Collective
@blackflowerllc

In 2020, facing the combined crises of both the pandemic and rising homelessness, a group of community organizers in so called Aberdeen, WA started a mutual aid network to address needs we saw in the community. We started gathering donations from far and wide, cooking meals, and distributing the supplies and food we collected to those most in need. Through this work we began to meet and form relationships with those we fed and ate with. We began to organize nightly mobile meal deliveries in downtown Aberdeen, eviction defense for homeless camp sweeps, and started participating in harm reduction programs. We have lost many friends to the streets, we have cried together almost as much as we have laughed and eaten together. But through communal conversations and meetings we can see a way forward in this struggle; we have found each other in the darkness, and by organizing together we have come to learn what we need and how to get it.

In doing our mutual aid work we have become painfully aware of specific needs both for the community, and for the growth of our own projects. Some have been obvious since the beginning, such as a community kitchen for preparing large meals, and a space for holding meetings and workshops. Others have only revealed themselves through years of community organizing such as medical clinics, and legal aid. Some are continuations of work we've been doing, like harm reduction and food delivery. Others are big and new ideas for our collective, such as an eco-village and a shelter for both temporary and permanent cooperatively owned housing. After another winter losing people we love to the streets, and with a hostile political climate in town, the need is clear. We now endeavor to yet again solve our own problems. If we need safe spaces to exist, live, and thrive....we must build them. If we want stability for our community...we must obtain it ourselves.

So we have spent many months debating, calculating, meeting, and developing this plan for a community home base that starts to meet our needs. We hope you join us in realizing this dream and pushing our radical love and collective care to new heights. There are no limits to how involved you can get. Whether you have time, money, or creativity to contribute we are always looking for new collaborations and co-conspirators. As a community-powered grassroots project, Blackflower couldn't exist without folks like you!