Introduction
This 12-page guide introduces the vision and model of a resilience hub, a place where neighbours can deepen a sense of belonging, learn new skills together, provide for basic needs, prepare for disasters, and build a more inclusive and joyful community.
This guide was put together by Shareable, an award-winning nonprofit news, action and connection hub for sharing transformation.
Nobody knows everything, but together we know a lot. Some of us are experienced teachers, some of us are eager learners, and many of us are both. When it comes to building a resilience hub with our neighbors, learning our day-to-day needs helps make life better now as well as in the event of an emergency. By combining our unique abilities, we can overcome greater challenges and grow. p.8
The Resilience we Want
This is a guide to making any space into a hub for resilience & mutual aid. We created this guide as a companion to “The Response,” Shareable’s documentary film about people restoring power after a disaster in Puerto Rico.
This guide introduces the vision and model of a “resilience hub” – a space where people can take more pride in their neighborhood, learn new skills together, provide for basic needs, prepare for disruptions, and build a more inclusive and joyful community.
After seeing our friends restoring power and building resilience in Puerto Rico, we began searching for more stories. Tom Llewellyn, producer of The Response, got inspired by Susan Silber and workshops promoting the Northern California Resilience Network. And in the summer of 2019, Shareable partnered with Danny Spitzberg, a sociologist based in Oakland, to turn this inspiration into a practical form.
Danny interviewed, brought together, and learned from dozens of people organizing with spaces around the world, from Oakland, California to Kathmandu, Nepal, as well as disaster response strategists, local government officials, and community leaders. Danny wrote and prototyped two versions of the guide. Erica Ruth Dixon, a communications strategist based in San Francisco, created a look and feel. And dozens of participants provided feedback on how it might be useful for their community space.
It is mainly for people with access to spaces they love, such as:
- Independent spaces – social clubs, art studios, and urban farms
- Public facilities – libraries, schools, athletic clubs, and civic centers
- Religious centers – places of worship, meeting houses, and more
- Small businesses – cafes, bookshops, and all kinds of storefronts
To help you and your neighbors make your space into a hub for resilience and mutual aid, the guide includes
- Six key strategies for co-creating a vision and plan for your space
- Six case studies of people are building resilience hubs in different ways
- Instructions on how to co-host your first and second gatherings
- A checklist to get started with your neighbors.
Contents
- The resilience we want
- The response in Puerto Rico
- How to use this guide
- 1. Finding inspiration
- 2. Seeing the magic
- 3. Combining our abilities
- 4. Learning how to help
- 5. Investing in assets
- 6. Working in cycles
- Checklist
Organizing skills give a community the capacity to build a vision that actually works. -p. 9
Excerpt
Here is a sneak peek into the guide.



Download Full Resource
How to Make your Community Space into a Hub for Local Resilience and Mutual Aid (PDF)
Explore Further
- The Response documentary, podcast series and ebook, Shareable
- How to share: 300 guides to help your community thrive
- The Response: Building Collective Resilience in the Wake of Disasters
- SolidarityWorks: Learning lab for mobilizing grassroots organizers to build new social infrastructure
- Mutual Aid Disaster Relief Workshop Facilitation Guide
- Leaderful Organizing Tool: Resilience Trees
- Resources for Disaster Relief and Recovery
- Guide to Developing Resilience Hubs, Urban Sustainability Directors Network
- Resilient & Ready Together: A Community Resilience and Disaster Preparedness Guide, Transition US