Berkeley's People's Park protesters dismantle 'free store,' organize pop-up resource
People's Park volunteers clear trash at the 24/7 mutual aid station at the corner of Dwight Way and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, Calif. on Feb. 10, 2024. (Bay City News)
BERKELEY, Calif. - People's Park supporters dismantled their "free store" at the corner of Dwight Way and Telegraph Avenue last week after more than a month of occupying the space and distributing resources to community members in need.
"I think what we came to the conclusion that it's going to be easy to do pop-up mutual aid," People's Park organizer Nicholas Alexander said in an interview Friday.
The free store served as a 24-hour resource center, offering people food, hygiene items, clothes and other related care, serving a similar purpose to what was formerly the kitchen area in People's Park, which was demolished on Jan. 3.
"We had plans to reopen the warming center the same day that the cops ended up coming, so obviously that didn't occur," organizer Rico Marisol said in a Feb. 15 interview at the free store.
Marisol explained that people began dropping off supplies to the protesters, which they began distributing from tables at the corner of Haste Street and Telegraph Avenue. They moved to their latest location as the free store grew.
Although People's Park supporters were able to host concerts and painting days around the free store location, staffing 24/7 shifts and keeping things under control became a problem.
"I think ultimately that this was an unsustainable situation," Alexander said. "There weren't enough volunteers. There was too much chaos. It wasn't a sober environment... people were actively making the space worse."
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Alexander explained that some men who spent time near the site were being inappropriate towards the women there, making them uncomfortable.
"That's not a good situation. We shouldn't have freshmen students coming into advocacy space, and then have to worry about being sexually harassed by these men that don't have anything better to do," the organizer said.
Plans are being considered for pop-up mutual aid stations to avoid the issues seen at the free store.
"We did not expect it to be going 24 hours for this long," Marisol said. "The goal is to make it [where we] pop-up during the day for supplies and then we have space for art and for music."
Peoples Park supporters established a mutual aid station at the corner of Dwight Way and Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, Calif. on Feb. 10, 2024, while 24/7 protests went on in the surrounding streets, which remained in service for weeks after daily pr
Pop-up mutual aid is expected to minimize the stress and scheduling issues volunteers running the store struggled with over the last two months.
Organizers are trying to secure a van to use for the pop-ups to avoid concerns about individuals simply taking all the supplies without permission.
According to volunteers, hand warmers, blankets and food were in the highest demand at the free store, while clothing was donated in excess.