What is the Mutual Aid Sanctuary?

We are building a Mutual Aid Sanctuary, a network of interfaith and ecumenical congregations in Metro Denver to support and provide safe, temporary crisis sheltering and care for targeted populations including immigrants, LGBTQ+, those seeking reproductive healthcare, and other populations who become vulnerable. 

These are the people who we know are in imminent need of mutual aid. We don’t know what is coming, but we need to prepare by building and strengthening relationships of trust, mutual aid, and diverse action.

We will identify and share our gifts and talents, partner with one another, skill up, act boldly, learn from our mistakes, pivot and adjust, and have each other’s back.

In order to provide mutual protection and care we will develop geographic localized teams of faith communities to respond to localized crises alongside the wider community. When one team is activated in response to a crisis, surrounding teams offer support to build a deep and robust response that cares for everyone involved. 

We have a vision, and also, the Mutual Aid Sanctuary will evolve based on its members and partners.

None of us have all the answers. We are here to cocreate and adapt together.

Together we can build a congregational mutual aid network in partnership with nonprofits and community groups already doing mutual aid and advocacy.

We hope this congregational network model can be replicated in other communities.

How did this all start?

It started with a small group of churches who responded immediately to a sheltering crisis in Aurora

In the months preceding the City of Aurora's closure of the Edge of Lowry apartment complex, families, including young children, living there experienced multiple instances of trauma from criminal activity, ICE raids, inhumane living conditions, impending forced relocation, and national negative media exposure creating an unsafe environment and an immediate need for crisis sheltering.

This small group of churches organized to provide temporary shelter, safe sanctuary, and care while more permanent housing solutions were already in progress.

While largely successful in protecting 40 families and individuals, there were lessons learned. Church leaders wished they had been better prepared, had existing mutual aid relationships, more training, and better ways to reach out for support from other congregations and community volunteers.

If they had the Mutual Aid Sanctuary beforehand, maybe they wouldn’t have burned out in crisis mode, stressed relationships because there wasn’t a common approach to the work, and maybe they would have the support and care they needed to lessen their own trauma of leading a crisis response.

We are building this Mutual Aid Sanctuary because we know we have the people, gifts, talents, resources, agency, and power to cocreate a new way of living out our faith together in the face of violence, fascism, and white supremacy.