Neighbors Helping Neighbors: A Virtual Community And Aid Effort

MADISON, WI—A parent in need of spare baby clothes, folks who want to offer warm meals or those seeking consolation after losing a job or loved one all found a place to turn to during the pandemic: the Dane County Neighbors Helping Neighbors Facebook group.

But more importantly, the virtual group has built a better sense of community within the greater Madison area, founder and admin Paulo Delgado told Patch. Amid COVID-19 induced isolation and what Delgado felt was a disconnect in neighborhoods, the group was a place for people to gather—virtually, of course.

“COVID’s been bad for isolating people, but I think that the bonds that hold communities together have been suffering or were frayed before it,” Delgado said, while explaining that he thinks people just don’t know what is happening in their neighborhoods.

Collecting over 15,000 members in about 16 months, Neighbors Helping Neighbors primarily functions on Facebook. Since the pandemic, several mutual-aid-style organizations have been popping-up to provide things like food and rent assistance, with many being facilitated over social media to give members an accessible and safe route to care for one another.

Casting a wide net, the group has few limits to what people can offer or ask for. Some common posts, for example, are members wondering where they can donate extra food, ask for a ride to an appointment or get connected to other more specific assistance—such as housing resources.

Beyond personal inquiries, Delgado said the group has also brought awareness to other issues in Madison—such as the encampment in Reindahl Park. Members came to the chat asking, “what can we do?” and with limited existing resources, Delgado said a few members took it upon themselves to gather supplies for the encampment.

The effort showed that the group's impact was being felt in the real world and not just on the internet.

Melani Quarles, a member of the group, said it is a great way to connect with people and extend a helping hand.

"I love helping people," Quarles said in a message to Patch. "This group is so special to me because this group is what I’m about (helping people). I will sometimes private message someone to get their address to send things."

Delgado doesn’t know what the next step for the group is, partly because he never expected the group to have so many members and so quickly—a testament to how much it was needed.

“I thought when I started, it’d connect some people, help some people,” Delgado said. “It kind of went viral, like 6,000 members within a few days. So it was like building a plane while flying.”

The group began in mid-March, right around the time people began to panic-buy toilet paper, Delgado said. But issues like lack of access to transportation or food, which became amplified in the pandemic, weren't new or exclusive to it, Delgado said."

“A lot of those problems existed prior to the pandemic,” he said. “I don't think they were on people's radar, but they existed. Trying to do something that would build community was on my mind, prior. I would say COVID going on everyone's radar was probably the impetus for starting the group.”

And people immediately flocked to the group, which is still growing.

“It was the right place at the right time,” he said. “Everyone was worried and wanted to do something.”

With the loss and hardship community members suffered during the pandemic, the group showed the power of community.

“I think it's important to show people that however cynical people might be lately— and I think a lot of people are pretty cynical—there is still there are still people out there who just want to help,” Delgado said.