Projects

Iowa Queer Prisoner Correspondance Program (IQPCP)

The IQPCP provides support to queer people in Iowa prisons by connecting them to people outside. The goal of this program is to support queer incarcerated people while they are inside and after they are released by forming long-lasting relationships. We provide funds for stamps, stationary, envelopes, phone calls, o-mail, and commissary.

Camper Kits

Camper kits supply transient and unhoused people in Iowa City with necessary items like first aid supplies, batteries, tent patches, tarps, emergency blankets, and other gear to mitigate the effects of adverse weather. If you'd like to make a supply donation, contact us at admin@icmutualaid.org.

Community Garden

Access to food, especially produce, is often a luxury when it should be guaranteed. Our government oppresses people through restricted food access. Existing resources like food banks provide much needed food but come with barriers like limits, long lines, and data collection. Food from the community garden will be harvested, cleaned, and given away for free to those who are food insecure or have limited access to produce. We plan to partner with the Iowa City Community Fridge with an aim to decentralize food distribution.

Volunteering to help out with the garden will involve planting, weeding, watering, fertilizing, harvesting, curing, and seed saving. If you do not know how to grow and process food this is a space to learn with your community! Learning these skills will help us feed our community on our own.

Court Watching

Court watching is when people from the public sit in courtrooms to observe what happens: bail hearings, arraignments, pleas, trials, and the everyday court appearances that constitute the delay and violence of criminal court. Sometimes this looks like formal monitoring programs, composed of volunteers or organizational staff who sit in courtrooms regularly to document what happens and report to the public the results of their observations. And sometimes this looks like family, friends, and supporters filling courtrooms (often called “packing the court”) in support of a loved one who is being prosecuted.

Information regarding local court proceedings will be sent to volunteers. Just so volunteers are aware, initial appearances can start as early as 8 a.m.

Basic First Aid

First aid is another basic necessity that often can't be accessed without involving police and the medical system, both of which are inherently violent. ICMA has members trained in basic first aid. If you need people with this experience for an event, protest, or other reason, contact us at admin@icmutualaid.org.