In March 2020, A.J. Kumar gathered a dozen volunteers to create Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a mutual aid organization committed to assisting Malden residents. Unlike many mutual aid groups that began during the heightened time of crisis, Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors is still standing and impacting the lives of the Malden community post-pandemic.

 

“We're not a registered nonprofit, we're really just a group of neighbors, or a group of citizens in Malden, that help each other and ask for help when we need it,” Kumar said.

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Kimberly Poff, a neighborhood point person and longstanding volunteer whose job is to contact individuals who ask for help, said the group started off by contacting the city of Malden to get the word out and ensure safe protocol. From there, the volunteers delivered daily supplies of food and cleaning supplies, helped residents submit unemployment applications, contacted landlords on behalf of renters who did not speak English, and assisted schools in delivering laptops to students, just to name a few services.

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“In large part, [the group] is people with a laptop and enough existential dread to do something,” Poff said. “Nine times out of 10, if you called, or emailed Malden Neighbors, the first person who saw the message was the person running to the pharmacy to pick up your prescription.”

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Post-pandemic, the Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors is shifting to long-term issues, such as food insecurity. They partnered with food nonprofits, such as the YMCA and Bread of Life, to provide food to those who need it most. With Malden's diverse population, they incorporate culturally appropriate foods to whoever calls for them. Anna Geoffrey, an organizer for the group, said they add fun snacks and candy to food packages as well.

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“People want something that's gonna make them happy that they don't have to work three hours to turn into food. [So we] put some cookies in there,” Geoffrey said.

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Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors also has a Facebook presence where residents can ask for specific requests. Kumar said the group then attempts to match individuals with neighbors who can assist them nearby. He added that, even if the group does not last forever, he hopes the Facebook page continues to thrive.

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“The Facebook community is also valuable in the sense that it's sort of organic, right? That's a different part of the group that people are asking for stuff like what's a good place to go get my eyebrows threaded,” Kumar said.

Geoffrey said that she is surprised that Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors still exists because mutual aid groups are meant to last short-term. Because of this, the group plans to focus on training Malden Residents on how to connect to resources that are not readily available. One example is helping individuals under financial stress access utility support programs. 

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“There are people who struggle to get in touch with resources, so now the question is how do you transition to longer term issues and not ‘the person who is working in this household got COVID, and can't work,’” Geoffroy said.

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Geoffroy and Poff each have their individual reasons for their heavy involvement in the group. After Geoffroy’s mom passed away from cancer, she knew she needed to get involved and help others in the community. See the video below or click here to hear more about Geoffroy and Poff’s motivations to volunteer. 

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Gary Christenson, the mayor of Malden, said he is grateful for the Malden Neighbors Helping Neighbors group because they shine a bright light in the city.

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“If they had stopped now we would have applauded them because they did what we need a lot of people to do, which is to step up during a time of crisis,” he said. “The fact that they're saying they're going to remain beyond COVID-19 is worth pointing out.”