“We aim to really build relationships in the community where everyone has a skill to offer, and that we can take care of each other,” explained Adrienne Totino, co-founder of Lebo Mutual Aid, a grassroots group where residents help each other without the barriers often present at charities and nonprofits. 

“Mutual aid is basically where people get together to meet each other’s basic needs — and that is through direct action,” said Totino, Osage Road.

The Lebo Mutual Aid Facebook page has more than 500 members as of November 2025 and is a place for people to offer and request help, whether that be a ride, meal, child care or money.

Totino and Tessa Watkins, Royce Avenue, started the group in August 2024. They both know what it’s like to live with little money and wish mutual aid groups were present when they were younger. Watkins grew up using food banks, where perishable foods like bread or a slice of cake were rare finds. During college, they worked two jobs while in school full-time and still needed SNAP benefits to survive. “I was doing all the things I was supposed to do to be able to support myself, but I just didn’t have enough money.”

Totino grew up in an upper-class community, but in a household that was not upper class. Mutual aid “is something we definitely could have used,” Totino said. “If my family could have had the same crew of volunteers offering us rides to soccer and cheerleading … meal trains, things like that, life would have been much easier for us.” Totino said mutual aid could’ve helped her as a young adult too, when she worked as a contemporary dancer making “poverty wages.”

Now, they’re both business owners with financial security. Watkins is a professional programmer and runs AuRise Creative; Totino is a clinical herbalist and intuitive eating counselor at Wellness with Adrienne.

The two were involved in other Pittsburgh mutual aid groups online but wanted to create a group closer to home.

“We need hyperlocal groups to emerge and because mutual aid centers marginalized people, I wasn’t really sure if that related to Mt. Lebanon, a community that is very well-resourced already,” explained Totino, who learned that “there is need in every neighborhood. You just have to find it.”

Watkins said the experience of helping a neighbor through mutual aid feels very different than helping someone in a different community, whom you are not likely to meet again. They’ve utilized the group for one-off needs and met new neighbors in the process. While recovering from surgery, they needed help carrying a dresser into their home. Two people from Lebo Mutual Aid showed up to help, and they learned their kids attend the same school. “I feel like that was one of the biggest differences,” said Watkins. “I know that is going to become a tighter and bonded [friendship], just from knowing more people in the community.”

Mutual aid ranges from helping neighbors with tasks, to preventing crises. For example, Lebo Mutual Aid helped residents avoid utility shutoffs and evictions. Charities are overwhelmed with requests for financial assistance, so mutual aid is a way to fill in the gaps, Totino explained.

“Everyone is helped by mutual aid, because when a financially secure neighbor becomes financially insecure, we can prevent emergencies from occurring where a person might not have food for the month, or a person’s lights will go out. When that person or family is made safe, everyone in the community is made safer,” she said.

Some of these connections were facilitated through the relationship Totino built with Mt. Lebanon Social Services Coordinator Jaqui Stilson, who sends residents to Totino when traditional charities and social services can’t provide what is needed.

One of the biggest needs that Lebo Mutual Aid hopes to further address is child care. “There’s always calls for nannies and nanny sharing. It’s just so expensive,” said Watkins.

“If you’re not on the webs at like 8 a.m. when Mt. Lebanon Aftercare Program goes on, you’re not getting it. So, I think child care is one of the biggest needs in Mt. Lebanon, and that’s something we’re going to be addressing pretty soon,” they added.

Lebo Mutual Aid’s future plans include a website launch and larger projects, like community clothing swaps or meal distributions.

Lebomutualaid.org will serve as a hub for requesting and offering services, plus more information about mutual aid. The Facebook group will remain active as well.