Bailey’s Mutual Aid distributes food to Culmore families

Early in the pandemic, when teachers in the Bailey’s Crossroads area realized local residents were having a hard time feeding their families, they began chipping in to help.

They formed Bailey’s Mutual Aid, which has seen since grown to become an all-volunteer grassroots network that gives out groceries to about 160 families a week.

The next distribution will be Dec. 17, 9-11:30 a.m., at Bailey’s Lower Elementary School.

The teachers – from Bailey’s Elementary, Belvedere Elementary, Glasgow Middle School, and Justice High School – are committed to providing direct aid directly to meet residents’ needs.

“We came from a place where we wanted to support each other to help the community,” says Daphne Bolotas, one of the group’s founders. Some of the teachers also help with babysitting. There are about 12 people in the core group, but anyone can participate.

Bolotas, a former Head Start Teacher at Bailey’s, moved to Richmond last year, but still drives to Culmore to volunteer with Bailey’s Mutual Aid.

“Culmore is an amazing community,” she says. Students’ parents are partners in this effort and help with organizing, translating, and fundraising.

Bailey’s Mutual Aid is based on the principles promulgated by author Dean Spade, who calls for vulnerable community members to help one another through crises while also working for change.

The group solicits donations and buys food – such as tortillas, milk, eggs, and produce – at Restaurant Depot. They also distribute diapers, baby wipes, winter jackets, and baby and maternal health items.

They partnered with Edu-Futuro to provide a Covid vaccine clinic; hosted book clubs and community meetings; and engage with other projects, such as the Place-Base Initiative for Bailey’s Crossroads and Culmore.

Bailey’s Mutual Aid has also given out funds to help families pay for rent and utilities but currently focuses more on food and other tangibles.

“If there’s a need, we find a way to meet it,” Bolotas says.

So far, Bailey’s Mutual Aid has distributed about $20,000 in rental assistance, as well as $56,000 worth of donated food.

That’s important because the eviction moratorium in place during the pandemic ended this summer, and tenants owe back rent. Even though many Culmore residents are working two jobs, it’s still easy to fall behind. Bolotas doesn’t mind if people sell the food they receive so can pay rent

The vast majority of Bailey’s Mutual Aid’s funds are from fundraising campaigns and small donations sent through Venmo. A neighbor donated a refrigerator to store eggs and other perishables.

The group has received a few small grants, including $2,000 from Kaiser’s Medical Care for Children Partnership – but no funds from Fairfax County.

There are some barriers to working with the county, Bolotas says. The county asks for driver’s licenses while many residents are undocumented, and also assumes everyone speaks Spanish. In fact, about 40 percent of Culmore residents speak a language used in Guatemala called Mam as their first language.    

All gifts and donations from Bailey’s Mutual Aid go back to the community, Bolotas says. “The need is really strong in Culmore.”