Juan Perez joined Bushwick Ayuda Mutua in August after hearing of the organization through social media. Photo provided by Juan Perez.

Juan Perez, 23, is a volunteer coordinator and administrator at Bushwick Ayuda Mutua (BAM), which is a grassroots organization dedicated to helping those in Bushwick impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Perez recently moved to Bushwick but has dedicated his time to BAM and has helped support hundreds of Latinx families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below is a Q&A with Perez on his perspective of BAM and the Latinx community in Bushwick.

What’s the most meaningful part of the work that you do?

Juan Perez: I think knowing how many different families we’re helping and how relatively often we’re able to help. We have about 50 or 60 families that tend to repeat on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. The rest are new families in Bushwick or in the surrounding areas. So the fact that we’re able to provide a service that really helps them survive another week. To see it so regularly it’s, it’s a nice feeling.

Can you share a moment when you felt the impact of your work?

I would say it’s, there’s not necessarily one moment. There are a couple of things that fan out. Recently, we got a shout out from someone that was aware of us in Teen Vogue, which is kind of cool that we’re given such a platform. And in another way it’s cool to see how many people are in support of our mission because seeing our donations consistently growing like we’re around, I believe it’s like $10,000 a month. Consistent donations which are for an organization that started in March, it’s just profound to me.

What changes would you like to see occur in Bushwick?

I say as a member of BAM, I would love to see even more support from the increasing gentrifying population in Bushwick. The population is progressively and progressively becoming more white or just well-off individuals as opposed to like the predominant working-class and immigrant population in Bushwick. So, if you’re going to come in here with a bunch of money just because rents cheaper but you’re still loaded the least you could do is, contribute in ways that offset what you moving into this community does. Also, I would love more opportunities for undocumented immigrants to receive help from our government, because so many of our programs, operate on the asterisk of so long as you’re a legal citizen, and for a lot of Bushwick that isn’t the case. So, just take taking down those barriers.

How can the Latinx community come together during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Just be proud of who we are, be a proud American and proud Cuban and proud Puerto Rican or whatever your background is. But also realize that at the end of the day, we’re all working-class people who want, not only the best lives for ourselves but to make sure that other people aren’t struggling like we either currently are or have struggled in the past.

What do you hope for in Bushwick’s future?

I hope that food insecurity becomes less of an issue. Or at the very least, if it continues to be an issue, which I certainly don’t hope it is. There are more program groups like us having more funding that addresses these issues so that way whether or not you are going to be hungry next week it’s not a worry of yours.

How can people interested get involved with Bushwick Ayuda Mutua?

We have an Open Collective, that’s essentially almost like a platform like Patreon. So, donate on a monthly basis or a one-time donation to support us financially there if you’re interested in volunteering at our grocery packing events or any other in-person volunteer opportunities, you can join our Slack channel, and reach out to me, and I’ll send them to the right place. Just be a good neighbor. Our Slack has over 1,000 members, which I’ve seen that kind of grow exponentially, and just in terms of our social media interactions and our open collective numbers just how much that’s gone up. Yeah, there’s a lot of different avenues in which I’ve observed interest grow.

Do you have a message for this article’s reader?

I would say if you have the means to support us financially, do it because it makes a big difference. If you don’t have the means to support us financially then either volunteer in person, or if you’re not even part of the community but still want to make a difference then you can start your own mutual aid group. So many mutual aid groups are coming up. It could start from just three people interested in making a difference, so contribute, or make the change you want to see.

This interview has been edited and condensed.