Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice
Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice is a defunct program in the San Francisco Bay Area that was focused on providing assistance, especially to formerly incarcerated people, during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. This assistance was primarily given through scheduled video call check-ins to provide social interactions for isolated people, but the program also offered open submissions for aid requests, as well as offers of assistance. The program was a joint project of two restorative justice-focused left-of-center nonprofits in California, the Ahimsa Collective and Guiding Rage into Power. As of March 2026, the program appears to be defunct. 1 2
Contents
Founding and History
Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice was founded as a joint project between the Ahimsa Collective and Guiding Rage Into Power in early 2020 to provide check-ins and other assistance to people in need, especially people recently released from prison, as well as victims of crime in the Bay Area of California. The joint project facilitated people volunteering their services and connecting them with people for online check-ins and other mutual aid during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020. 3 1
Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice was not established as an independent registered non-profit but was rather a joint project of the Ahimsa Collective and Guiding Rage Into Power. Donations to the initiative were received via the Ahimsa Collective’s PayPal page. 3 1 4
Parent Organizations
Ahimsa Collective
The Ahimsa Collective is a California based left-wing organization that is focused on changes to the criminal justice system based on the concepts of restorative justice and conflict resolution. It offers various trainings and classes focused on alternatives to incarceration and helps former prisoners reintegrate into society. In 2020, it partnered with Guiding Rage Into Power to administer the Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice program during the COVID-19 lockdowns. 4 5
Guiding Rage Into Power
Guiding Rage Into Power (GRIP) is a left-wing nonprofit that works with prisoners in California to reduce recidivism and improve outcomes after release. The program is based on the principles of restorative justice and the supposed traumatic origins of the participants’ criminal behavior. It claims that among participants who have been released from prison, there has only been a 1.18 percent recidivism rate. In 2020, GRIP partnered with the Ahimsa Collective to jointly administer the Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice program. 1 6
Organization Philosophy
Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice asserted a left-of-center conception of criminal justice framed as “restorative justice.” The Ahimsa Collective especially emphasizes restorative justice and peacebuilding in its work and provides a variety of resources on the subject. 3 5
Projects and Initiatives
Starting in April of 2020, Mutual Aid and Restorative Justice’s main project appeared to be connecting people online during the isolation caused by the COVID-19 lockdown and quarantine orders. In addition to scheduled online check-in meetings, the group also had an open call for requests for aid, which it would provide when able. 3