Mutual Aid

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The following proposal was passed on Februrary 14, 2012:

MBTA 7-Day Passes

In order to receive assistance all members of Occupy Boston must have signatures of two sponsors from the working groups in which the individual is an active member in.

Requests for the T-Pass aid are to be made using the standard Mutual Aid WG request form.

All requests for aid must be made in writing and submitted to MAWG at General Assemblies or SAA’s. 

The T-Passes will ONLY be bought before/during/after the GA and SAA and MAWG will hold onto the receipts and give them to FAWG on weekly basis.

A total limit of $375 per week will be made for T-Passes. $375/week is the cost of 25 $15 weekly T-Passes. The total cost will not exceed $2,625 over the 7 weeks that this proposal will be active. This proposal will be void April 1st 2012.

FAWG will give MAWG $375 per week for the passes. Any money leftover will roll over to the next week but only carries over for one week. 

Other points:

• This proposal starts at Feb 18th’s General Assembly. 
• A collection will be taken at each GA to offset this weekly budget. All money collected will directly be used for T-passes to offset the potential cost to the general fund.
• The WePay Button goes on the main page.
• An occupier can only request one T pass a week.
• MAWG will make the effort to participate in the participatory budget process.
• Charlie Cards will be used if possible.
• Senior/Disabled discount can be reimbursed with proof.
• MAWG and FAWG reports to GA about how this proposal is going.
• MAWG will track expenditures in a google doc and collaborate with FAWG for accountability and transparency.

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The following proposal was passed on January 1, 2012:

Mutual Aid Amendment Proposal

• This proposal will supersede the previous Mutual Aid proposal of $5,000 that was consented to by the Occupy Boston General Assembly on December 20th, 2011.
• The purpose of the aid provided by this proposal is to provide transitional assistance to Occupy Boston activists who were most physically affected by the eviction of the Dewey Square encampment and the support network it provided. This will help members transition away from life in the encampment and also help them be more productive activists.The aid provided by this proposal is temporary. It will end January 29 or when the allocated funds of $4400 are exhausted, whichever comes first.
• Assistance proposed will include and be limited to: T-Passes, Food, Cell phones assistance, Occupant Hosting assistance
• To ensure that recipients of mutual aid are active members of Occupy Boston and the Dewey Square encampment, individuals must have signatures of two sponsors from the working groups in which the individual is an active member in order to receive assistance.
• All requests for aid must be made in writing and submitted to assigned members of the Mutual Aid Working Group (MAWG) at General Assemblies or MAWG meetings. Mutual Aid Working Group Members will review requests and then request the approved amount of money from the Financial Aid Working Group (FAWG). Aid will then be dispersed by MAWG at the following General Assembly. Other forms of aid will be dispersed via working groups, as described below.
• As this proposal is meant to provide transitional assistance, aid from this proposal will be available until January 29th, four weeks from now.
• Funds donated with the Mutual Aid WePay Button will be used to offset the $4,400 taken out of the General Fund, up to $4,400. Nearly $700 has been spent from the previous Mutual Aid proposal; this amount will be subtracted from the final week that this presented proposal is active.
• We ask the Media Working Group to help promote Occupy Boston Mutual Aid to help generate donations to it.
• Income checks are not required. We ask that those seeking aid are in need of assistance and remember that others are seeking funds as well.
• For members seeking individual support from their working groups, requests must be put in writing to the working group, and MAWG will collect written requests at General Assemblies in order to provide accountability and oversight.

T-Passes:

For T-Pass assistance, T-Passes will be distributed via working groups. From now until the 29th of January, working group weekly budgets will be allocated a separate budget of $45.00, with the $45 to be reserved for members of the working group to receive T-Passes. A total limit of $375 per week will be made for working group expenses outside the regular weekly budget. With the weekly limit of $375, Mutual Aid expenses for T-Passes will not exceed $1,500 over the four weeks that Mutual Aid will be active. $375/week is the cost of 25 $15 weeklong, unlimited T-Passes. Requests for the T-Pass aid are to be made using the standard working group disbursement request.

Food:

For food assistance, aid will be made in the form of gift cards to grocery stores. A limit of $25.00 per person per week will be made. Written requests are to be submitted to MAWG, and, if approved, will be made available at the following GA. A limit of $375 per week will be made for purchase of grocery store gift cards, carrying a four-week limit of $1,500.

Occupant Hosting Assistance:

For hosting displaced Occupants, $25 per week per hosted Occupant will be made available to hosts who seek it. A limit of $50.00 per week will be made for those housing multiple Occupants. For day-to-day hosts, $5/day will be made available, and $10/day for multiple Occupants, with weekly limits of $25 and $50, respectively. Funds will be dispersed directly to hosts after written requests, with written signatures of those hosted, are made to MAWG. A limit of $200/week will be made for Occupant Hosting, carrying a total four-week limit of $800.

Cell Phone Assistance:

For cell phone support, assistance will be made via working groups. One cell phone will be made available to working groups whose members require cell phone assistance, and up to a total of ten cell phones will be made available. Phones purchased will be available on a first-come first-serve basis. Cell phones made available by this proposal will be $20 to $30 Straight Talk phones, and a total of $35 from the Mutual Aid Fund will be spent on 4,000 minutes available for 30 days without rollover. These costs will be outside the weekly working group budgets. Total costs to the Mutual Aid Fund for cell phone support will not exceed $600. Requests for cell phones must be made by working groups, following standard FAWG weekly disbursement procedures. We will also seek donations of cell phones from within and outside the Occupy Boston community to offset costs.

Original Mutual Aid Working Group Proposal