Waltham Grassroots Volunteer Group Offers Neighbors Help Online

WALTHAM, MA— The group of volunteers behind Mutual Aid Waltham, which helps connect residents in need to residents who want to help has just released a website to help make the process easier.

The group started on email and Facebook upgraded recently to it's own site, www.mutualaidwaltham.org, and provides a way for users to request or offer: personal care items (toiletries, over the counter medication, menstrual products, diapers, wipes, cleaning supplies, clothing/shoes); transportation; housing; storage; childcare; food (groceries, restaurant delivery); financial support; social support; translation services; social services referrals; and neighborhood outreach.

Requests are confidential and are only viewed by volunteers who have offered a matching service. Volunteers are emailed when a new request matches their offer and one (or more, depending on the request) will sign up to do the task.

"Our goal was to make the process as user-friendly as possible," said Margaret Roumanis, lead volunteer developer for the website Request Notification Team.

The team wanted to automate the matching of requests and offers as much as possible so that the people could reach each other quickly, while protecting personal contact information as much as possible.

An unexpected thing happened when they connected those offering help by email as opposed to only one individual responding to each request.

"It has developed a more collaborative effort to provide to those in need," RRoumanis said.

"We have been able to help a lot more people working together this way. It is really heartening to see the incredible generosity and level of caring of those participating in the network. It makes me proud to be a part of this community."

So far, the site has handled more than 160 requests and 180 offers of assistance.

Mutual Aid Waltham was founded in March, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a way for Waltham residents to assist neighbors during the current crisis and beyond, as Patch previously reported.

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