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Jamie Forbes and Mutual Aid · Sidewalk Talks

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Jamie Thank you. Thank you. You are I wanna talk to you again on a podcast. Anytime. People are probably like, oh, man.
• 0:14
  Jamie Forbes again. Thank you. But you know what? I do what I want. In in probably there's probably some unwritten rule about having somebody on a podcast twice.
• 0:26
  But you're doing something so cool on your personal Facebook page. I was just like, I'm gonna break every rule because like people gotta know about this. And it's mutual aid. Like every single day it seems like. I I come up in my Facebook feed and I see your your graphic,
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: I always stick to the same one.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Which I love. This is good branding. And you you have the graphic and then it's mutual aid. So give me the one zero one.
• 0:53
  What is this mutual aid thing?
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: So, mutual aid has been around a long time. It's basically the concept of like taking care of our community, right? Micro giving, spreading our resources across our neighbors and our friends and our family to be able to solve people's needs. So I think there's a lot of examples that are small like ours, and then there's a lot of bigger examples of like the other day, I heard about a group of moms who each put in so much money, and then there's this account that can go towards if someone loses their job or if someone can't pay a bill or they all there's like 40,000 moms that are all part of this group. I think that it can be a small thing or a big thing, but the idea is that it's kind of tangible and grassroots.
• 1:42
  And so what we're talking about that's been happening for the past year or so here in Saginah is just like a very tiny example of that.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: So give me the nuts and bolts of it. Like what are you doing and how do people donate money and talk to me about that?
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so it actually started when a friend of mine, Melissa Hayes, had an idea that she had a she knew someone who needed to go to his mom's funeral. Mhmm. And he needed to get out of jail in order to do so, and he needed a couple $100 to be able to cover that. And we can all agree that I don't know what the details of his situation were, but he certainly deserves to go to his mom's funeral. Right?
• 2:22
  Mhmm. So we posted it on Facebook and said, hey, if anyone wants to give, and I gave my, you know, the various digital donation methods. And within an hour, it was paid. And I passed along to Melissa. And then from there, I don't even remember what the second one was, but there's been dozens of posts since then.
• 2:43
  People have come to me either that I know personally or people that are, you know, community contacts that I have that came to me and said, I've I, you know, I know this person and they're really struggling. And I posted on Facebook and I explained the situation with neutral terms. Right?
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Mhmm.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Everyone deserves to keep their their situations private if they want to. And people have donated. I I I think I had one situation where where I hit the goal within four minutes. Wild. Wild.
• 3:12
  Right? And it's and to me, it's I am just like a tiny like, it feels weird to even talk about, to be honest with you. Mhmm. Because I I really want to center it on the fact that people want to give to their neighbors. And I am simply the conduit between that.
• 3:31
  It is so very little about me. It is about the people that trust me enough to throw me some cash on Venmo.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Mhmm.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: And the people who tell me their stories. Right? Like, having to tell a situation that is is uncomfortable financially is a labor that people have to go through in order to try to get help. And I'm also thankful that people trust me enough to tell me their stories.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: When did you start? When was the first one?
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: February.
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: February. So February 2025 Mhmm. Up until now, how much money has been raised through these mutual aid posts?
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: We've raised $17,600.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: That's crazy.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Isn't
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: it? So that's crazy, like one, because that is a not insignificant sum. But also like, what it means for the people. Like you said, the first example, a couple $100 so this guy could go to his mother's funeral. That's a big deal.
• 4:33
  Oh, It's an epic. Deal. A few of them that I've seen, I believe I donated to one, we need a boiler or I need to get to a job interview and they need new clothes this interview to help them. And what makes it so powerful to me is that these the big things that come from the small things. So I give you $10 on Venmo, that combines with the $5, the $10, the $15, and now that person can go to that funeral or buy those clothes or fix the boiler or have a good Christmas for their kids.
• 5:14
  Like it wasn't I didn't have to save for a year, it wasn't a donation of a $100, it was really the community ness of it, which I'm absolutely in love with.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that the whole idea that we are with our neighbors coming together to solve a problem of one of our own. And I think that there's an underlying principle that like, we could be them, right? They are like, this is not a theoretical concept that someone is in need. You know, and particularly in the ways that, I mean, I always give an example of what it's for. And I think that that too feels very tangible when you say, this person's electricity is gonna get cut off.
• 5:58
  We all pay electrical bills. Like we know what that feels like. And to think that we, you know, what is the cost of this for someone? It's often something, where it's like, yeah, they need this to be able to pay for their insurance so that they can keep going to work so they can keep supporting their family. It's like, there's so many things that have to line up for somebody's life to make all the things possible.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Mhmm.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: That if one thing is a chip, then suddenly some of the other items can fall too.
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: Mhmm.
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: That that often the thing that I'm posting about is like that last thing to like to keep them from falling into that. They can't get to work. They can't keep their job. They can't support their family. They can't keep their house.
• 6:45
  It is just like we are all balancing all these millions of tiny things. And I think we can all relate to that.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: Was I talking to you about the maybe it was an interview with somebody else I just did. But they they made the point like we are we are all one significant life event from being on the street. Yeah. And like I you think about all the years that you've put in at work and all the hard work that you've done and you know, the life that you've built and like somehow that that only happens to those those other people. Yeah.
• 7:18
  And somehow they deserve it and they got what's coming to them, know, all those things. When they said that or you said that, it really confronted me with like how close like I am to that. Like all it takes is, like I couldn't afford health insurance and I got really sick and went into the hospital and then this happened. And now all of those cards fell and now you're in an insurmountable situation, and the directness of what you're doing in that, like, this is this is the the one thing that this person is is worried about. Like, they're in a situation right now, but they just need somebody to help with their electrical bill.
• 8:00
  Like Like you said, we all pay them, we open it up, we're like, Dang, I gotta pay that? Can relate to it, which Absolutely. Makes it very
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: And I think that we all want to we all care about our neighbors. I'm so convinced. Like, to me, this whole experience has just in a time where there is so much big, big stuff that feels so overwhelming, we have this. And it has been such a joy to get to watch and it, like, just really, yeah, just like joyful. Just like
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: Mhmm.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: This is a tangible way. And, you know, and we all help our neighbors in a million different ways. I mean, we, we're so lucky to live amongst folks that really care about each other. And I think that we all have our different way of doing that. Everything from mowing your neighbor's lawn when they need it, to donating your clothes to an organization you care about, to volunteering on a board.
• 8:58
  We all have our ways. And I think that it's beautiful when we find the most options that we possibly can so that people can find the thing that really speaks to them. Yeah. Really feels satisfying and
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Yep. Yeah. Yeah. To me, it's to me, stuff like this is the highest and best use of social media.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: I have to agree.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Because here we are, infinite God like power. We are instantly connected to every person that we know, every person that we kind of know, every person that we don't know but are in the same community. Like, we are all instantly connected, like, why aren't we leveraging that power more for changing people's lives?
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Well, I think that that's really what you do with social media too, right? It's about celebrating victorious moments.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: Whether it be an organization or an individual or an effort that someone's doing. And I think that, you know, when people are like, Oh, I just need a social media break. Like, I'd love to, but social media helps me with lots of stuff. And, you know, it's also so tricky because the logarithm makes decisions for us. The last couple of posts that I posted around mutual aid didn't hit.
• 10:16
  And maybe I can pick your brain about that later, but I don't know why. Sometimes we can hit goals in four minutes, and sometimes I have something posted for two weeks and share it a couple times and it just doesn't. And fortunately, that's been a tiny amount of the whole, which I'm very thankful for there again. People trust me to tell their stories. People trust me with their money.
• 10:38
  And also the magic of Facebook means that it's catching. Yeah. Which that could go at any moment too. So it's all.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: I I I was just talking to Alexandria, her knee, and that was something that we talked about too, Saginaw specifically as a community is so interconnected. I think I said something like, somebody will post something at nine in the morning about something that happened or whatever, and by 09:32, the entire city knows about it. And what you're doing, I think, acknowledges that and then leverages that and says, Well, how about we use that to help people? Yeah, it's just it's really, really cool. So if people see this or they're listening to this and they want to check it out, where do they go?
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: They should look me up on Facebook. My name is Jamie Forbes, like the magazine, but not at all. And please friend me, and I would love for you to see our posts. You know, and this is not just about cash. I think that's really important.
• 11:41
  I think that the mutual aid stuff that has happened this past year is about somebody having a truck or a strong hand to move a thing. It's about somebody lending their their employee discount. It's about somebody showing up at a certain moment to, you know, to casework a challenging situation. It's about a lot of things besides just cash. And so, I think we've been able to solve a lot of problems just with the power of the people that are paying attention and, you know, in their personal gifts.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: And
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I just want to just remind people that there's a lot of folks that need all that stuff too. If they're willing to do that, the money part doesn't matter.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah. I just want to encourage people, like if you are overwhelmed by the social media barrage that is the current culture in social media, you just need a little happiness, like you've got to at least follow along the mutual aid stuff, because it pops up in the feed and something's gonna speak to you and you're gonna send $5 or $10, and then in an hour, you're gonna see Jamie Forbes update that post and say, like, guys, we did it. We got her the
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: Whatever it is.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: Whatever it is. And like, she's so happy. Like, it just that's also a Saginaw thing, like the benevolent self interest. Like, you look at it like Henry Marsh, like that was Henry Marsh's thing. Like, yes, like give to the community, but then also acknowledge the fact, like, it also makes you feel good and it benefits your life and it it changes your life.
• 13:16
  And it the one that I I donated, I was like, yeah, we did it. Mhmm. Like, we did. You feel like a team, you feel like a community, you feel like you did good in the world. So Jamie Forbes, I know that you you don't wanna make it about you, so I won't.
• 13:29
  Go Saginaw. That's awesome. Community It's it's really refocusing us on the the idea that we are the community. It's not organizations. It's not, you know, they're part of the community too, but it's also us and there's things that we can do.
• 13:44
  So I wanna thank you for the work that you're doing. And for everybody that donates and that will donate here in 2026, Jamie Forbes.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Rock.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: You rock my socks.