What we do
The community aid network is a strike-team approach to supporting journalists who have been laid off.
When media companies cut staff, fellow journalists, family members or readers can help create a community aid network by becoming a community aid coordinator in a specific newsroom or region.
Using our how-to guide, coordinators (even with no experience!) can collect job leads, create professional networks, establish moral support campaigns and distribute emergency financial assistance to journalists impacted by layoffs.
About this project
This project launched in 2022 when Gannett laid off more than 600 people in six months. An ad-hoc community aid network sprung up through social media and many, many Google Docs.
We learned there’s an immense amount of shame and suffering caused by layoffs. But we’re determined to make sure any journalist impacted by layoffs knows they’re never alone.
Following that effort, we created a step-by-step guide to launching a local community aid network any time layoffs impact journalists.
Because this is a grassroots organizing effort, we rely on volunteers to become community aid network coordinators. But don’t worry, you’ve got access to a team of pros who have done this before across the country.
And we have your back.
“Mutual aid is the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world.”
– Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (And The Next)
Welcome to the community aid network 