News

Madison MAN Newsletter 11/23/2025
 

Special Event
• HUMANs Solidarity Summit 12/20 & 12/21 – connect with the Humans United in Mutual Aid Networks community and learn more skills rooted in mutual aid, keep your eye out for more details! We'll host from the Social Justice Center 1202 Williamson on Saturday 12/20 and end with a nice little holiday party. Hope you can join us! Email if you want to help organize or host.

News
• New video from one of our awesome volunteers! Intended for HUMANs but a great introduction to our work as well. 
• Website updates coming soon. Look forward to a more user friendly website.
• Improving usage of our tech tools.
• Working on creating a pool of drivers to take other members on errands. We especially need people to drive between the SJC (1202 Williamson) and Occupy Tiny House Villages (1901 Aberg and 201 S. Stoughton) on upcoming weekends. Please reach out if interested - you can reply to our request (Edward posted it) in the marketplace or email - whether for the SJC and Occupy Tiny House Villages driver pool or future driver pools!
• We are looking for event hosts including for Swap! and Supper Club. Reach out if interested!
• Interested in contributing to a Health and Care Network? Reach out!

Wants
See our website for more details or find additional wants.
• Looking for those to spend vegan Thanksgiving with
• Transportation help
• Childcare on Dec. 5th southside
• Driver assistance for Occupy Madison events
• Carpool for free YMCA admission
 

Offers
See our website for more details or find additional offers.
• Cat boarding
• Teaching you autumn canoeing on Mendota/Monona
• Carpool for free YMCA admission
• Showing how to make vegan recipes
• Health/medical information
 

Recurring Events
Check our calendar for updates and more details.
• Peace Practice 11/24 and 12/27
• Swap! 12/1
• Dream Time 12/2 and 12/16
• Madison MAN Orientation every Tuesday
• Mutual Aid Supper Club 12/15
• SJC Peace Practice 12/22

Group Meetings
• RAD Funding and Housing Co-op collaboration group 12/5 and 12/19
• HUMAN Communications group Tuesdays
• MMAN Communications group 12/19
 

Featured Group
Communications – creates posters, videos, social media posts, newsletters, and any other means of communication. HUMANs communications meets Tuesdays at 3 in SJC or online. Madison MAN communications meets the 3rd Friday of the month at 3 in the SJC or online.
 

Featured Principle
Timebanking - our primary way to exchange, and we encourage you to give it a try! Every hour you spend helping another member earns you one hour's worth of credit - a 'MAN hour' (or human hour if you prefer!). You can use that credit for an hour of anyone else's time. Everyone's time is valued equally and we don't put a monetary price on our time. You can also spend before you earn if you need to. We expect everyone to engage in reciprocity, while we understand that sometimes in life we have more needs and other times we have more to offer.

Closing Notes
Thank you for your interest in Mutual Aid! Please contact us with any questions or ideas. Have a safe holiday season!

-Bailee Madison MAN Board Member

Hi friends,

There's so much happening at the Madison MAN Cooperative and we'd love for you to be part of any and all that interests you.

We're working on building up a pool of drivers to take other members on errands. We especially need people to help get others from the SJC (1202 Williamson) to the Occupy tiny house villages (1901 Aberg and 201 S. Stoughton) on some upcoming Saturdays and Sundays. Can you help? Would you like to be added to a list for future requests? Email us or reply to our wants at this site!

Also, contact us the same way if you want to help with our Communications work group, help set up a health and care network. or host events. In fact, we'd love for one or two of you to step up to host the upcoming Supper Club on Monday!

--

Supper Club

Monday November 17, 3:30-6:30 at the WilMar Neighborhood Center 953 Jenifer St.

Hello members of the Madison MAN Cooperative,

Thanks to all who made our last Supper Club and annual meeting! Fun and nourishing, in many ways.

We're very excited to welcome some new board members, and re-commit with some long-timers.

Our Board of Directors, the people responsible for the governance of our cooperative who also do much of the day-to-day work, was up for election. 

Stephanie Rearick and Rebecca Kemble are in the middle of their terms, so were not up for election.

Lisa Nunez, Jeanie Verschay, and The Artist were up for re-election. Bailee Mergen, Cindy Harrington, Andrew Glickman, and Tim Cordon were newly nominated. We voted unanimously to adopt all of those candidates as a slate, meaning we all voted to accept all of them at once. 

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Meanwhile, there are many ways to engage in mutual aid here in the Madison area. Check out our calendar to see what interests you, or bring your own dreams to a Dreamtime session to see what kind of support we might be able to connect you with.

Our next event is the monthly Everything Swap Monday November 3, 5:30-7pm at the Social Justice Center 1202 Williamson. Bring anything in good condition (or nothing, there's always plenty of stuff), take what you want.

Hope to see you soon

This Sunday October 19, 4-7pm SJC Jubilee! Featuring an open mic from 5-7 - bring your words, instruments, other talents to share! Plus an everything swap, bring whatever you like in good condition.
 

At the Social Justice Center 1202 WIlliamson (mostly outside if the weather's nice, moved indoors if not)

This fun fundraiser party for SJC will include our yearly Sharefest event, with workshops and shared learning throughout the event. Plus music, art, a swap, free food, drinks, and a silent auction.

Want to offer a workshop or skillshare? Want to host or help organize the swap? Get in touch! 

Plus you can earn hours for helping set up or clean up. Email us with your offers of help.
 

-- 

Monday October 20, 3:30-6:30pm at the WilMar Neighborhood Center 953 Jenifer St. 

Supper Club! + the Madison MAN Annual meeting and Board election

3:30-4 Create menu, get additional supplies, and get ready to cook. 4-5 Cook together. Teachers and learners and grunt-workers all welcome 5-6 Eat together 6-6:30 Pack extra food in to-go containers, clean up

We'll cook and eat together as usual, and during the meal we'll hold our annual meeting - including an overview of where we are with our mutual aid dreams and how we're going to move forward to build a more robust network for health and care. Then we'll elect our Board of Directors. Want to run? Get in touch!

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Lastly and mostly, the way we make a neighborly global economy is by sharing our time, talents, and needs with each other. BONUS: It's fun! EXTRA BONUS: You get to do more of what you like and less of what you don't. ONE MORE BONUS: You get some needs met you might not have otherwise. Please add and reply to offers and wants in our marketplace.

Thanks for reading this far and we hope to see you soon :)

--Stephanie (President, Madison MAN Coop)

Hello members of the Madison MAN (Mutual Aid Network) Cooperative,

First off, before anything else: We need to form a little care team to support a member on the west side, asap. Who's in? This will help our dear member, and it will also help us learn how to be better responders to our members' health needs. Please email info@madisonman.coop or text/call 608 443-8229 if you want to help.

We have many new members and many older members with expired ads, and this is a great time to reply and add to offers and wants on our website.

--

And - we'll host an everything swap on Monday October 6, 5:30-7pm at Social Justice Center 1202 Williamson st.
Bring items in good condition - whatever you like - and take what you wish. People bring plants, clothes, dishes, books, music, art, food, you name it. We do ask you to take what doesn't get claimed because we don't have a lot of storage space. We're still seeking co-hosting help, and will pay you MAN hours for your time. Please email info@madisonman.coop or text 608 443-8229 to offer your help.

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Sunday October 19, 3-7pm we'll host our yearly Sharefest event (workshops, music, swap 4-7), general membership meeting and board election (3-4), and Jubilee fundraiser for our home base the Social Justice Center (4-7). All at SJC 1202 Williamson. Mark your calendars!

--

We're seeking help in several areas:

• Help organize the Sharefest event
• Offer a workshop at Sharefest
• Offer art or music at Sharefest
• Run for the Board of Directors of the Madison MAN Coop
• Join our communications team or help with occasional communications work

Again, please reply to wants at this site, or email info@madisonman.coop or text 608 443-8229 to offer your help.

Thanks for being part of mutual aid in Madison, and please stay in touch with how we can help the network better meet your needs.

Take care,

Stephanie

Hello friends of the Madison MAN (Mutual Aid Network) Cooperative,

Our umbrella cooperative's (HUMANs) quarterly Solidarity Summit is coming up this weekend! This is where we come together to learn, have fun, and make lasting connections. This is how we build a neighborly global economy. And it's fun and enriching.

We hope you can join us Saturday and Sunday September 20-21, 2025. The full schedule and registration are here.

The theme for this is Back to School, and we'll focus on lots of learning. There's stuff for newbies, geeks, and people who just wanna have fun. 

We'll meet at the Social Justice Center 1202 WIlliamson for a light breakfast just prior to the summit start time each morning. We start at 9:30am CDT Saturday and 8:30am CDT on Sunday. We'll have coffee, muffins, and roasted potatoes. Feel free to bring additions or not, as you wish. 

We just added a new breakout session and the schedule is pretty much finalized, check it out!

--

And --

Have you checked out our marketplace lately? Please add and reply to offers and wants. 

Hope to see you soon,

Stephanie 

Director of the Madison MAN Coop, President of HUMANs

Monday September 15, 3:30-6:30pm at the WilMar Neighborhood Center, 953 Jenifer St.

Please join us for our monthly Supper Club!

Bring a friend! Pop in anytime - you're welcome to drop in for a quick bite or to stay and visit the whole time.

We make menus based on what's available, cook together, share a meal from 5-6, then package some food to go and clean up.

We host Supper Club the 3rd Monday each month at the WIlMar Center

--

Did you know the Madison MAN Cooperative (new home of timebanking + more in Madison WI) is the founding site of the global cooperative network, the HUMANs (Humans United in Mutual Aid Networks)? Well, now you do!

Every quarter the HUMANs host a Solidarity Summit where we come together to learn, have fun, and make lasting connections. This is how we build a neighborly global economy. And it's fun and enriching. What's more, we get to host it from here in Madison, at our home base The Social Justice Center!

We hope you can join us for our next one, Saturday and Sunday September 20-21, 2025. The full schedule and registration are here. 

You can join online with the rest of the world, or you can join us in person at SJC 1202 Williamson St. Madison. We'll gather 1/2 hour before each day begins, to share a light breakfast and get settled in. Want to bring a breakfast treat to share? Just email to let us know.

We start at 9:30am CDT Saturday and 8:30am CDT on Sunday. 

The theme for this is Back to School, and we'll focus on lots of learning. There's stuff for newbies, geeks, and people who just wanna have fun. 

--

Bracketing this Solidarity Summit - Sept 15 and Sept 29 -- I'll be featured speaker at two Solidarity in Action workshops offered by Indivisible.org. What a great opportunity! Learn more here, in case you'd like to join.

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Last and definitely not least --

Have you checked out our marketplace lately? Please add and reply to offers and wants. 

Dear members of the Madison Mutual Aid Network (MAN) Cooperative,

Hopefully you're enjoying a lovely end to your summer. We normally host a swap the first Monday every month, but this coming Monday we'll cancel for the holiday. But there's a lot of other stuff you can join in  on...
 

---

We have a great Solidarity Summit coming up 9/20-21 and we'd love to have you with us for it, in person or online. Here's the info and registration link with more detail to come. The theme is Back to School and we're focused on intensive shared learning sessions for this one, including Sunday morning's session Serious Money for Serious Purposes, where we'll share some local aspirations alongside 2 other projects from far-flung regions, all working toward the same solidarity economy dynamics.

This summit is hosted by Humans United in Mutual Aid Networks, our global umbrella cooperative network that we founded right here in Madison Wisconsin! Because of that, we're very fortunate to be able to host our global summit from our home base at the Social Justice Center, 1202 Williamson.

We will host the summit from our home base at the Social Justice Center, gathering 1/2 hour before the start time each day - 9:30 am Saturday and 8:30am Sunday - for a light breakfast to get ready. We invite you to join us in person. 

Want to go the extra mile and offer to help host the space, or bring food and beverages? If so, get in touch. You can earn MAN hours, and we can make a little event of it. It happens during the weekend of Willy St Fair and we hope to invite fair-goers to stop in for some cooperative community economics on their way to and from the fair (note the parade-friendly summit schedule :)

--

Lastly and mostly, the way we make a neighborly global economy is by sharing our time, talents, and needs with each other. BONUS: It's fun! EXTRA BONUS: You get to do more of what you like and less of what you don't. ONE MORE BONUS: You get some needs met you might not have otherwise. Don't forget to add and reply to offers and wants in our marketplace.