This is the post from Desireé B Stephens that I made the comments below in response to. https://www.facebook.com/share/1FDv6akAxi/?mibextid=WC7FNe
In case the link doesn’t work, it’s on her Facebook page and it’s titled: “Refuge Outside the Regime: How We Hold, Heal & Build in a Time of War
For those choosing not to participate in empire’s violence here’s what we can do.”
Here are some of my thoughts:
Right here right now, right where we live.
Redirecting resources from supporting war and prisons to forming a care and safety net.
I keep my money off of Wall Street because I don’t trust what it’s supporting, even in a so-called socially responsible fund. I’d rather support people in the local economy. Land and buildings, for anyone who can afford them, and then share them.
I always prefer to share my house (Which is also my place of business and hopefully also future bookstore/community house or something) with housemates, displaced people, People who just need time to think and refresh at the beach, etc.. It saves money, and offers many other benefits as well.
HyperLocal in our neighborhoods, and also can be in our online communities as well.
my neighborhood finally seems to be getting a critical mass of full-time residents including a number of families with children. The change is palpable, people are connecting and checking on each other. And it’s not some La La Land where everybody subscribes to some identical ideology etc. It’s just regular people looking out for each other.
Sharing skills and resources is just smart, plus there’s a lot more joy and satisfaction. and safety! A lot of main stream folks are concerned about safety, but what people don’t always realize is that the main way to have safety is to simply be connected and interact regularly. That’s what a safe neighborhood is. My neighborhood gets a bad rap for being dangerous but that is a skewed portrayal based on mainstream visual images of HOA “tidiness.” 
My house, a grassroots laboratory of various experiments in low-footprint living, Is small but equipped to sleep 8 to 11. If I can have 11 bike week visitors camped out here (Which I did almost before the ink was dried on signing the title back in 2018), I could certainly have 11 refugees or displaced friends. And, I always have housemates, visitors, etc. sharing this house.
I’m saying this as an example of sharing existing resources, assessing what we have to offer and exchanging that information with neighbors.
Even something as small and simple as a Little Free Library (Which I have out front, together with shaded benches that the public can sit on) can become an unofficial neighborhood comfort point and emotional support center. Great way to take the pulse of the neighborhood, exchange news, see how people are doing.
I’ve learned in the neighborhood that you have to work with the social structures that people trust. In this neighborhood it’s people walking their dogs that finally broke down the barriers and got more people connected and talking with each other. That has blossomed into some skills sharing and mutual aid.
Also, this being a hurricane prone area, people are always receptive to chatting about disaster prep so that is a good on-ramp. Not everybody wants to hear about or talk about big preps for The Big Stuff, you know, TSHTF / TEOTWAWKI level stuff. But the preps for hurricanes are the same thing as “Big Major Preps.” Both physical and social.
Kind of rambling here, But really great tips from Desireé, and I strongly suggest you follow her for lots of liberating and refreshing content! And read the tips in her post, let’s start that WhatsApp or Signal chat in our physical neighborhoods and or our virtual neighborhood!
And here I will close with one of my favorite quotes from Desireé’s post (the following quote also sums up the message I’ve been striving to promote with my Deep Green book, blog, and living demonstration laboratory):
“Divest Intentionally. Invest Communally.
Every dollar, every hour, every scroll is a vote.”