Public input wanted for DeKalb nonprofit helping residents through hard times

DeKALB – DeKalb Mutual Aid, a charitable donation hub, is reimagining its plans for the future as organizers seek community direction to chart a new course.

DeKalb Mutual Aid will host a planning session at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Jubilee Artisans, 128 E. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb, to solicit input from the community. The organization strives to help people who are at their lowest in more ways than one. It holds a yearly holiday supply drive and gives referrals to other agencies.

DeKalb Mutual Aid is a go-between for area nonprofits, often playing the role of educator by connecting residents with existing nonprofits that provide specific social services such as housing assistance, food and clothing. The mutual-aid component also solicits donations from the community to collect its own items to help distribute to those in need.

Founder Beck Garcia said people don’t always know where to turn for assistance when they need it.

“A lot of what we do, too, is making sure that people are aware of what resources are here,” Garcia said.

The organization is known to partner with other area nonprofits, including Rooted for Good, which operates food pantries including a mobile one to help feed area residents. It also works with Safe Passage, which provides shelter and advocacy for those suffering from domestic violence, and Family Service Agency of DeKalb County, an umbrella organization that provides social services and other aid to residents.

DeKalb Mutual Aid began in 2020 during the Black Lives Matter movement in DeKalb. Around that time, the nonprofit grew out of conversations shared by local activists who wanted to work toward positive change and brainstorm solutions to support area residents.

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Ash Rootes and Beck Garcia, from DeKalb Mutual Aid, talk Tuesday, June 10, 2025, about their focus for the future of the local nonprofit group. (Mark Busch)

Garcia said the group identified a need in the community. Five years later, he still sees a need for their work.

“The mission really is building equality and equity within the community in a way where we’re not really competing, but we’re more trying to fill in the cracks that services may not currently cover,” Garcia said.

Part of the new launch of DeKalb Mutual Aid includes Garcia handing the keys to the group to Ash Rootes.

Ash Rootes is DeKalb Mutual Aid’s new executive director. Garcia will slide into a new role as a board member and founder at the charitable donation hub.

Garcia said he believes a change in leadership is necessary.

“There’s always work to be done. There’s always ways to help people, especially when you’ve lost everything. That is not an overnight fix.”

—  Ash Rootes

“To be honest, my plate is very full, and I think the organization needs someone who has more time, who can really put in all that work,” Garcia said.

Rootes said she appreciates the opportunity to take lead of the group.

“That was part of why I left my job with Rep. [Amy Murri] Briel, is I’m more passionate about this project,“ Rootes said. ”I want to get this going, and it’s really important to me.”

When asked about the greatest challenge to getting people back on their feet following a disaster, Rootes said it’s keeping victims in the forefront of the community’s attention.

“People forget so quickly,” Rootes said. “You could lose everything, and then two weeks from now everyone forgot that it happened. But you still lost everything. And you still have to figure it out. It’s important to recognize just because we gave you some stuff doesn’t mean that the job is done. There’s always work to be done. There’s always ways to help people, especially when you’ve lost everything. That is not an overnight fix.”

DeKalb Mutual Aid has spent about $15,000 on supplies to support local residents since its inception, project leaders said. The nonprofit operates annually on about $5,000.

That doesn’t mean the group doesn’t face its own struggles to make ends meet.

Rootes said DeKalb Mutual Aid soon will begin seeking grants and fundraising for the cost of its storage space, which keeps everything for the group’s supply drives.

“One of our major operating costs that we are close to not being able to meet is the cost of our storage unit that hosts all of our supplies,” Rootes said. “We can’t afford an office or anything like that.”

Rootes heaped praise on DeKalb Mutual Aid’s holiday supply drive and what it allowed the group to accomplish.

“People really depend on them,” Rootes said. “And I think it really makes a huge difference in people’s lives. That impact – it’s been really cool to watch."

Garcia touted the success of the nonprofit’s public Facebook group and the online presence grown since 2023.

As of Tuesday, DeKalb Mutual Aid’s online group has about 1,300 members.

“There are a lot of people in the DeKalb Mutual Aid group, and DeKalb Mutual Aid pushes out a lot of community resources that we see and amplifies those opportunities for people,” Rootes said. “And I think the way in which we help spread the work makes an impact, as well.”

Organizers said they intend to use the meeting Saturday to disseminate information, solicit input and establish a plan for moving forward.

That way, project leaders said they will have a more concrete idea of how best to continue helping families.

Rootes said she’s staying busy ahead of Saturday’s meeting.

“One of the things that I’m doing right now up until the planning session is meeting with leaders in different communities to talk about needs that are unmet,” Rootes said. “I want to be able to bring those things to the table. So, I’m working on meeting with different people in the community who have different voices and perspectives than mine.”