The blog
Practical guides for showing up.
Practical guides on organizing help — meal trains, mutual aid groups, and coordinating volunteers for the people and communities around you.
Closer to home, we’re starting with
Madison County, Kentucky
Fayette County, Kentucky
What help already exists in Lexington and Fayette County
A plain survey of the help that already exists in Lexington — food, shelter, rent and utility assistance, school family centers, and the 211 line.
Read the guide →How to ask for help without feeling like a burden
Most people are glad to help and terrible at asking. Here's why asking is the harder half, and a few things that genuinely make it easier to do.
Read the guide →When a family in your kid's class is going through it
A parent in the hospital, a house fire, a diagnosis. How a class or school parent group can really help — without a phone tree, or the family running it.
Read the guide →How to get your Madison or Fayette County organization listed
We keep public lists of Madison County and Fayette County organizations that take volunteers. How to get added, corrected, or taken off.
Read the guide →What to use instead of a paid meal-train sign-up
Organizing meals for a family and don't want to pay for a sign-up tool? An honest look at the free options — what each is good at, and what to check first.
Read the guide →Where to find help in Madison County, Kentucky
A plain survey of what already exists in Madison County — food assistance, school family resource centers, the 211 line, and the help no directory lists.
Read the guide →How to organize a meal train that actually shows up
A practical, step-by-step guide to setting up a meal train for a new baby, a surgery, or a hard week — without the spreadsheet chaos or duplicate casseroles.
Read the guide →Starting a neighborhood mutual aid group, step by step
How to start a mutual aid group on your street — from the first conversation to a system where neighbors ask for and offer help without it all falling on you.
Read the guide →Coordinating volunteers for a family in need
When a family is in crisis, help pours in but lands unevenly. How to coordinate volunteers so the support actually reaches them — without overwhelming anyone.
Read the guide →