WRECK runs on a flattened structure, while acknowledging the inevitable hierarchy of an affinity group with differing skillsets. Facilitation and decision-making are shared across our collective, with some people focusing on workshop building and meeting facilitation while others aid behind the scenes. You do not have to do both and we're always looking for all kinds of folks. People step into leadership when they have capacity and step back when they need rest, with the understanding that care, internal accountability, and creativity move in cycles.We aim to create a leaderful group and encourage those excited about facilitation to attend both general meetings and organizing meetings to better understand how WRECK operates.We are grounded in diversity that isn’t just demographic but intentionally intersectional. We recognize that experiences of harm, healing, and justice can’t be separated from race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, or other identities. Because of this, we work to actively uncenter power in how we approach community, language, and practice.People with access to various forms of power are welcome here, but they are not the default or the focus. We prioritize racialized and marginalized voices, with the acknowledgment that we may hold both positions of power and disenfranchisement at the same time.We do not shy away from difficult conversations for the benefit of anyone's comfort, including facilitators and organizers. We'd rather veer off topic to address conflict rather than stick to an agenda.At the end of the day, WRECK is about showing up in good faith, holding each other in complexity, and practicing Transformative Justice as a living, evolving process and political framework.Want to join us in organizing? Reach out to attend our next organizing meeting after you've attended a general meeting. We'd love to hear from you!

• Contact WRECK

Q: Is WRECK a formal nonprofit, a collective, or something else?
A: We are a collective of community members experimenting with how to make our communities more resilient from a mutual aid/affinity group model. Right now, it's a discussion group that holds workshops and events every so often. Ultimately, it's a work-in-progress! Want to help us shape the future? Reach out!Q: Do you need/have training or credentials to be doing this work?
A: Yes and no. What is your definition of training and credentials, especially in the context of community and mutual aid? Do you need formalized training to be a part of a culture that's growing outside The System?Here’s something to consider from the book From Conflict to Community by Gwendolyn Olton: “I don't mean this as a dig on any specific organizations that provide certification or specialized training. In many instances, seeing that someone has a particular certification might help people quickly find the support they need, or have some assurance that the support will meet certain standards of care, confidentiality, etc. However, I do want us to think critically about meeting all conflict needs through "certified" or "professional" support. For instance, not everyone who would be, or already is, skilled at conflict work, will have access to enough financial resources to obtain a certification. And I don't know about you, but I've known plenty of folks who have been certified to do something because they're skilled at sitting through lectures and/or passing tests and not necessarily great at performing the task they're certified to do.”Q: What happens if someone causes harm inside WRECK?
A: We practice what we preach. We focus on harm reduction and transformation via a survivor-led accountability workflow that aims to address the harm caused, identify the root cause, and attempt to prevent it from happening again in the future. It's not always successful as imperfect people do imperfect work, and we hope that you'll give us grace as we work together towards a more just future.Q: I have an active conflict in my life and I don’t know how to handle it. Can WRECK help?
A: First and foremost: thank you for taking time to think about ways to work through your situation. Conflict is often messy and painful and confusing, and requires care and time to work through. If you’d like to discuss your experience during a workshop or a meeting, we encourage keeping unnecessary identifying details out to prevent the potential for punitive gossip. We’ll try our best to help from a lens of Transformative Justice and talk briefly about different tools you might be able to utilize to navigate your conflict.Dean Spade has a section on this in his book Love In A F*cked Up World that discusses Right Sized Reponses to conflict: “Because we live in a culture that minimizes harm, most of us are afraid no one will listen to us when bad things are happening. This can cause us to not talk about what’s wrong, or it can make us unrelentingly hungry to see harm doers punished, sometimes to the point of insatiability. At the same time, this dynamic makes us afraid to admit any wrongdoing of our own, afraid of blame, retaliation, and punishment. This polarity is a setup—it means we rarely experience right-sized responses to hurt and harm.”If you’d like to discuss a conflict approach more in depth, please reach out so we can dedicate time to your specific situation.Q: What’s your policy on confidentiality?
A: There is no recording or pictures (outside of explicitly consented group photos) during discussions/workshops, and no tolerance for punitive gossip and cancel culture vigilantism.